It began on a cool summer's day in 1989.

  I was 11 years old, when I had my first smoking experience, by rolling my own recipe of flavoured grape leaves in a paper that I took off from my summer's school note-book. I simply picked up a few fresh leaves from the vineyard beside my family's town house, and laid them under the sun to dry for a few days before being immersed in a tasty aged honied red wine, brought from the nearby monastery for some time to give the leaves a sweet aroma, and then proceeded to dry them again before I took pleasure in my first puff.

 

23 years later, and after this wonderful experience, I was called upon, as an Interior Architect to design a Cigar Lounge featuring a walk-in humidor for a client. 

At this time, I began to discover and appreciate the real world and etiquette of fine cigars. It was when I decided to be part of the Cigar smokers community.

 

Remembering the past and my innocent energy childhood memories, I found myself attracted to the idea of growing my own tobacco leaves, which  I then proceeded to do in my own backyard at home. 

It was then the conception and birth of  Testa Di Leone transformed from a vision to reality.