our founders
Scott Vines and Ricardo Carioni are respectively the CEO and the Chairman of the Diplomatic Cigar Club. They met in London in 2016 and founded the Club in 2019. They're on a mission to open up and share their knowledge and passion about the handcrafted premium cigar industry, culture, tradition, ideas and trends, but more importantly, to deepen the knowledge of the value and importance of this primarily family owned artisanal industry, and what positivity it brings to local and international communities. They also endeavour to promote its sustainability, equality, diversity and inclusion, supporting initiatives with a fundamentally social and environmental impact, focused on education, human development and climate action.
London 2019 London
scott vines
A successful Director for more than 35 years, Scott has spent the last 20 of them steeped in the tobacco business. Through a number of multi-national companies, including Philip Morris, Rothmans and British American Tobacco, Scott became a Director of Fox Trading of Jersey in 2003. In 2008, he took over the helm of Tor Imports, and became the owner in 2012. Since then, the importer of popular New World Cigars™️ has brought fine, handmade cigars from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Mexico to the UK. Tor Import’s market share has steadily increased and the development of in-house brands such as Charatan™️, Chieftain™️ and Torjet™️ have all become cornerstones of the company’s export business. While Tor Imports continues to grow, Scott remains dedicated to providing the very best service to retailers and high quality representation for manufacturers.
London 2019 London
ricardo carioni
Ricardo is a cigar lover, diplomat and creative leader with a 15+ years track record of successfully growing and scaling teams, brands and businesses across the globe in the tech industry and government. He's passionate about empowering people and harnessing innovation, as he's done for companies such as TripAdvisor and William Hill. Since 2016, Ricardo serves as Deputy Ambassador of Nicaragua to the UK, Ireland and Iceland, Trade Commissioner, Representative to the United Nations' International Maritime Organisation and the International Coffee / Sugar / Cocoa Organisations. Ricardo is former Director of the Latin American Trade & Investment Association, and ex-President of the Latin American & Caribbean Group of States at the United Nations' IMO. He has an MBA from the University of Manchester Business School. He studied Law of Treaties, Protection of the Marine Environment, Governance & Ports at the International Maritime Law Institute, and Negotiations at United Nations Institute for Training & Research.
London 2019 London 
