Dominique Gyselinck’s rise to prominence in the male-leaning world of cigars is inspirational, best taken in over a leisurely puff of Cuba’s finest.
In the early 2000s, Dominique Gyselinck was walking past a Belgian pen and cigar shop when her gaze was drawn by a small walk-in humidor, containing three cigars. “They were smiling at me,” she says of a flash of intrigue which spawned one of the world’s most prestigious cigar institutions. Gyselinck—who had never smoked previously—returned home that day and a weekend of cigar discovery with her husband Frédéric followed. A slow-burn journey of discovery had begun. “Six months later I realised I wanted to run a cigar retail establishment,” she recalls of the epiphany that led to the opening of Plumes & Cigares in 2003 in Sint-Martens-Latem.
The next 10 years, she says, were a struggle. With no prior retail experience, she and her husband navigated the labyrinth of investment, logistics and supply through instinct and tenacity. They weathered the storm and, in 2011, she decided to deepen her expertise at source: Cuba beckoned. Immersing herself in tobacco culture in a country inextricably linked to cigars thanks to its microclimate and over 400 years of agricultural tradition, Gyselinck became a certified specialist in a field then dominated by men.
There were doubtless plenty of incredulous squints through the fug when she was awarded the Hombre del Habano award, or “Habanos Man of the Year”, at Havana’s Habanos Festival in 2016. Emboldened by industry accolades and knowledge accumulated over more than a decade, Gyselinck and her husband expanded their business, first across Belgium, then outward across Europe.
Today, their network spans 35 outlets, from Ghent and Antwerp to London, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. The empire also includes an online auction house specialising in rare, aged and vintage Cuban cigars as well as humidors, plus the Snowdonia Distillery in Wales, where Y Bet vodka, Forager’s Gin and Marsette coffee and chocolate liqueurs are made. “Our expansion into Monaco last year, a private members’ club in the casino, was the cherry on the cake,” says Gyselinck, with justified pride, referring to a partnership with Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer which resulted in the opening of an indoor and outdoor members’ space, set over 200 m², including a smoking room, bar, walk-in humidor and a terrace facing the sea.
In March this year, Dominique London opened its flagship at 26 Pall Mall in London. A plush sanctuary for cigar aficionados who seek to deepen their knowledge among like-minded fellow patrons, it exudes a museum-like reverence for the craftsmanship about which Gyselinck and her ilk are so impassioned.
The key to connoisseurship, she says, is patience—a philosophy which even impacts the vocabulary around this most esoteric of pastimes. “A cigar is not ‘smoked’: it’s appreciated,” she says. “It is a piece of art, which starts from a tiny seed. Planting, growing, nurturing, drying, wetting them again, letting them age again, rolling, ensuring each vitola is perfect—the construction is so important. Even putting the bandlet around them and boxing them, making them ready to start their journey, is done with love.”
A cigar, in her telling, has narrative structure. “Good cigars should have a beginning, a middle and an end.” It is a philosophy that resonates with connoisseurship in its broadest sense. As with wine, whisky and the finer nuances of test cricket, this is a world in which the more you discover, the more you realise how little you know.
Even now, Gyselinck insists she is still learning. “Twenty-five years on, I’m still discovering new cigars or vintages or vitolas, because your tastes evolve,” she says, adding that her own palate has shifted over time, from sweeter, creamier profiles to something more complex. “I love elegant cigars now: herbal, spicy, a little bit rock ’n’ roll.”
For newcomers, she advocates a discerning approach from the outset. “It’s better to buy one top-quality, hand-rolled cigar than several machine-made ones,” she says, adding that her suggested entry points are gentle classics such as Hoyo de Monterrey No. 2 or Romeo y Julieta, cigars that introduce without overwhelming.
The new Pall Mall flagship, meanwhile— concurrently with a new boutique opening this spring in Luxembourg, the group’s 35th establishment—is the latest chapter in an unravelling tale that promises more to come. In a world increasingly intent on speed, mass consumption and disposability, cigars—demanding time, attention, patient appreciation—offer the ultimate respite. “There are still babies on their way,” laughs Gyselinck.
