My Favorite Cigar
Bob Lutz • Auto Industry Mogul • Oliva Serie V Double Toro
Bob Lutz is always on the hunt for a new cigar. He started this hobby at the bottom rung. “If I was feeling exceptionally lush, I’d have a Dutch Masters,” he recalls with a laugh—a 15-cent stogie was a splurge when Lutz was a Marine Corps pilot in the 1950s. His early auto-industry career took him to Europe, where he got to sample fine Cuban tobacco. By the time the Swiss-American businessman moved to Detroit for successive executive roles at each of the Big Three car companies, his taste befitted an industry titan.
As vice chairman of General Motors, Lutz pushed to build cars to the quality standards of European luxury brands. He brings that same scrutiny to his humidor. Lutz’s daily driver is the Oliva Serie V Double Toro. “Not only is the Nicaraguan tobacco blend superb, the construction is flawless,” he says. The 91-year-old also keeps La Aroma de Cubas and Flor de las Antillas on standby, but just as often he’ll test-drive an unfamiliar brand. “I tend to get somewhat bored with routine,” he says.
Lutz spends considerable time at his home in Montserrat, where temperature and humidity hover in the high 80s most of the year. “The cigars just lie around open, soaking up the humidity and thinking they’re back home,” he says. Not bad for a guy who started out on Dutch Masters.
