Cigar Weekly

DEFIANT Jack Priestly is still puffing on cigars and downing whisky at the age of 100.

The retired baker has puffed an estimated 153,000 cigars and 715,400 cigarettes since his first drag at the tender age of nine.

His other vice is whisky, which he took up on the advice of his mother-in-law. He has taken a tot in his tea for 75 years and never looked back.

"She said the best thing for a woman is for her to drink whisky before she does anything, every day, " he said."It's the best advice anyone ever gave me, " said Jack, who celebrated his century with his family and friends.

Incredibly, the father of two, grandfather of five and great-grandfather of six has suffered no serious health problems related to smoking or drinking despite downing around 925 bottles of whisky and watching GBP 650,000 go up in smoke over his lifetime.

"I love my cigars. I wouldn't be without them. I don't care about the brand - a cigar is a cigar. But I'm not a fan of the small ones. The bigger, the better, " he said.

Jack's wife, Louise, died in 1993 at the age of 83 after a 27-year battle with cancer. Jack cared for her throughout her illness. "I've been operated on from toe to head but I've still got a good set of lungs.

There's nothing wrong with them, " he said.

Jack, from Pinchbeck, Lincs, was a baker from the age of 14. During the Second World War he was not allowed to fight. He was ordered to stay on the home front and bolster the public supply of bread.

He has spent his retirement keeping chickens and pottering in the garden. He was forced to stop driving two months ago after he was refused insurance and now uses a motorised scooter to get about.