For those that have a penchant for fine cigars, bespoke tailoring or sought-after watches, Shary Rahman certainly won’t be a stranger. By far one of the most charming, charismatic and delightful people we’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing a cigar with, our latest instalment of #EGMeets is certainly not to be missed.
EGM: It’s been a very long time since we last met, let alone had a cigar together!
Ahmed Shary Rahman: Yes that’s true. The last time we had met together was on a park bench, during a sort of post-Covid, end of the lockdown kind of a thing and we had a coffee and shared a cigar together.
EGM: With Tom Chamberlin!
ASR: With Tom Chamberlin. Where we had to be outdoors.
EGM: You’re well known in the menswear world, the watch world of course, and the cigar world. But for those that don’t know, tell us a little more about yourself…
ASR: Not much to say here…
EGM: Also purveyor of very good smoke rings!
ASR: Haha, that’s an old bad habit. I moved here as a teenager to pursue my higher education from Bangladesh, where I hail from originally. We’re clothing manufacturers, have been for a while. But I’ve always been interested in clothing and product as a whole. I love looking at nice clothes, I’m a huge fan of classic films like James Bond and all the classic Scorsese movies. It gave me a lot of inspiration to get into dressing up, really.
EGM: Trapped on a desert island. This island can only produce one cigar. As many of this one cigar as you could smoke in a lifetime. What cigar would it be?
ASR: It’s a very tough question!
EGM: I ask you this because I’ve asked myself this and I have no idea what I’d say. It depends on the mood!
ASR: Yeah, I think it depends on the current mood. Right now for me, it would be the Trinidad Topes, which is what we’re smoking now. I can smoke this any time of the day, at any point in time. I really enjoy it, it’s not too crazy punchy, it’s got the right balance and for me the most important thing about cigars today is, because again there is so much of it around, especially Cuban cigars, consistency is very important.
Watch the complete interview above. Video by Marcus Ebanks, interview and photography by Rikesh Chauhan. Special thanks to Guiliano Santilli at Oscuro at The Arts Club for their hospitality.