Max Zechbauer Tabakwaren Named Germany’s Habanos Specialist of the Year 2018

> 5th Avenue Marketing Manager Christoph Puszkar (left) and Sales Manager Ino Mühlmann (right) present the award “Habanos Specialist of the Year 2018” to Mirko Pettene, Managing Director of Max Zechbauer Tabakwaren, Munich. (Photo: Ina Fassbender)

MÜNCHEN, GERMAN—At the InterTabac 2018 Trade Fair in Dortmund, Max Zechbauer Tabakwaren GmbH was named “Habanos Specialist of the Year 2018” for Germany by 5th Avenue Products Trading Gmbh, Habanos’ exclusive German distributor. The award was presented by Heinrich Villiger, 5th Avenue president, to Mirko Pettene, manager of Max Zechbauer Tabakwaren shop in Munich.

Max Zechbauer Tabakwaren was founded in 1830 by Max Zechbauer as the first tobacconist to import cigars from Havana to Germany, transforming a small family business that began in 1795 with the grocery store whose products included chewing tobacco and snuff, developed into Germany’s first specialty shop for cigars.

The flourishing family business subsequently opened a grocery store in the arcades of the Munich Hofgarten and was appointed official purveyor to the royal court in 1886, supplying the Vatican, the Russian Tsar court, and Europe’s royal houses.

In 1911, Zechbauer acquired the house on Residenzstraße, which has since become known as the Zechbauer-Haus and which still houses the original shop. The company is still owned by the Zechbauer family, who continue the founder’s legacy with a keen sense of enjoyment and tradition. In 1998, Zechbauer Tabakwaren became one of the first tobacconists to conduct retail sales on the Internet, and now offers over 500 tobacco products through its online store.

Zechbauer Tabakwaren regularly organizes tastings, promotions and other cigar enjoyment events. For a few weeks there is another cigar business operated by Zechbauer in the Munich Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten featuring a beautiful cigar lounge, no small achievement in Bavaria, a state with a total ban on smoking.