Festival de Habano VIII

Cinema just had the Oscars, Sports will soon have the Olympics and the Cuban Cigar recently celebrated the VIIIth Festival Del Habano. Running from the 27th of February to the 3rd of March in Havana, Cuba, the Festival offered a meeting point for distributors, specialists and lovers of the Cuban leaf.

Highlights included -

Welcome Night - Launch of the Romeo y Julieta Short Churchills
The Gran Teatro de la Habana was the setting for a wonderful ballet, 'Shakespeare and his Masks', performed by the Cuban National Ballet in celebration of the Romeo y Julieta brand. Joseph Fiennes ('Shakespeare in Love' actor), guest of honor, declared he 'found the same harmony, strength and passion present in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet'. The evening also saw the introduction of the new Romeo y Julieta Shorts Churchill (double banded, 47 ring gauge, 122 mm), which is sure to become a favorite amongst aficionados.

Habanosommelier International Contest
For the first time, a Spanish woman, Manuela Romeralo, sommelier at the La Sucursal restaurant in Valencia, Spain, competed and won this prestigious Contest. She outclassed her two rivals with her in-depth knowledge and passion for the cigar.

Visit to Pinar del Río area
With the best soil in the world for growing tobacco, Cuba has only a few fields, or “Vegas”, that are considered suitable for growing the kind of tobacco used to make Habanos. This year we visited the famous Vuelta Abajo region, in the province of Pinar del Río. It still amazes me to see that the entire process, from seed, to harvest, the curing, the rolling (for hand rolled cigars) and the packaging is done totally by hand.

The Gala Dinner
The VIIIth Festival del Habano reached its climax on the Friday, with the traditional Gala Dinner (presence of President Fidel Castro's son) celebrating the 40th Anniversary of its famous brand, Cohiba. The auction, fantastically hosted by Mr. Simon Chase, marketing director Hunter & Frankau, saw a Cohiba 40th Anniversary Humidor go for a staggering $300'000, which when you consider the average salary of a Cuba cigar roller is just $19 a month, begs a few questions.