Dominique Gyselinck is a devotee.

The Belgian had her first cigar in 2001 with her husband. But in 2011, after opening her “first box of La Casa del Habano cigars,” she became an ardent collector.

Gyselinck has since been buying only the special series, handmade Cuban cigars. Today her collection features 150,000 pieces of the finest of varieties including some of the most coveted limited edition and vintage cigars.

Gyselinck, who also owns five cigar stores across Belgium, has so far invested 3m euros ($3.38m) in her personal collection of “special series, limited edition, vintage, aged and pre-embargo cigars,” she says.

Thanks to sought-after pieces such as Cohiba Behike from the original launch in 2006, worth 5,000 euros ($5,632), her collection’s value has grown to 5m euros ($5.63m), she says.

Gyselinck only buys Cuban brands which she considers “more unique” than other types of cigar and describes them as “collectible as French wines.”

The appeal

The appeal has widened according to the experts. “At one time the cigar smoking demographic was composed of, and marketed towards, the more distinguished and refined consumers,” says Rocky Patel, the owner of Florida-based Rocky Patel Premium Cigars Inc. but he says today smokers from “all walks of life” are interested.

This democratisation has opened up new frontiers. The US is no longer the biggest market. “The largest markets by far include Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Macao and Japan,” says London-based Mitchell Orchant, managing director of C.Gars Ltd, sellers of handmade Cuban cigars. “There are collectors all over the globe, though the main ones are in Europe and the Far East.”