Cigar festival
contributes $1.3 million to public health in its
first decade
BY
JOAQUIN ORAMAS
Photos: Alberto Borrego
• WITH an auction featuring several cigar cases
signed by President Fidel Castro that fetched
530,000 euros, a total contribution of $1.3 million
to Cuban public health has been made during the
first decade of festivals dedicated to the best
cigars in the world.
At the final gala dinner held in one of the
pavilions of Havana’s Expocuba exhibition complex,
some 1,300 traders and aficionados from 56 countries
enjoyed a show by famous pianist Chucho Valdés, his
sister Mayra Caridad, flamenco dancer Joaquín Cortés
and a group of acrobats.
Vice President Carlos Lage and Ricardo Alarcón,
president of the National Assembly of People’s Power,
attended the dinner, along with Agriculture Minister
Alfredo Jordán.
Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons, who was
visiting Cuba for the first time, obtained the
coveted Habano Man of the Year award in the category
of communication. Cuban researcher Eumelio Espino
won the same prize in the category of production;
Zaubak Nigebl, of the United Arab Emirates, in
business, and Vahe Gerard from Switzerland won in
the sales category.
During the dinner, Irons, Cortés and Alarcón each
received one case of Reserva Partagás, a cigar that
was launched at the festival, as was the Partagás
Serie P No.2.
The auction was another highlight of the gala,
and included humidors and artwork that sold for a
total of 530,000 euros, the currency chosen for the
event.
For the sum of 55,000 euros, Romanian Karim
Bandach bought a humidor named after the 10th
Anniversary Man of the Year Award, made by jeweler
and sculptor Raúl Valladares. The piece is made of
silver, copper, steel and granite, and it contains
150 cigars.
The second lot was bought by Paraguayan Mabel
Lerese de Pintos for 45,000 euros. This beautiful
humidor, named for the130th Anniversary of the Romeo
y Julieta brand, was decorated by Cuban artist Zaida
del Río, and contains 130 cigars.
For the sum of 50,000 euros, José María Cases of
Andorra bought the 160th Anniversary of Partagás
humidor, made by Cuban jeweler and sculptor Pepe
Rafart. This piece contained 75 cigars from the new
Partagás Serie P No.2 cigar band.
The fourth lot was sold for 50,000 euros to David
Tang from Hong Kong, and featured a painting of the
late Cuban singer Compay Segundo by journalist and
artist Milton Bernal, based on a photograph by
Miguel Puldón. This lot was composed of the 70th
Anniversary Montecristo humidor, made by writer and
artisan J.L.Milán Domínguez, and features five
compartments, two of them for loose tobacco, one for
ten drawers and two humidifier trays. This humidor
came with 170 cigars.
Saad Audeh, of Cyprus, bought the 165th
Anniversary Punch humidor for 80,000 euros. This
elegant piece contains 265 cigars.
The sensation of the auction was another humidor
by Raúl Valladares, dedicated on this occasion to
Cohiba and bought for 250,000 euros by José M.
Niñez-Lagos of the ALTADIS firm. Made of precious
woods such as mahogany and cedar, and metals
including gold, silver and brass, as well as Carrara
marble, the piece contained 200 cigars.
A FIVE-DAY SMOKING PARTY
Participants of the 7th International Cigar
Festival had little time to rest during this five-day
event, where they enjoyed dinners, attended
workshops, visited plantations and factories, and
exchanged ideas about business and the art of
smoking the best tobacco in the world.
One visit that aroused great interest was to the
tobacco plantations of Havana province, where 70% of
wrapper leaves in Cuba are produced. This tour also
included visits to the Institute of Tobacco Research
in San Antonio de los Baños, as well as plantations
in that area and in the Alquizar region.
AT THE COMMERCIAL FAIR
A new year of excellent results in the marketing
of one of our main export products, coincides with
this 7th International Festival adorned with tobacco
products, commented Raúl de la Nuez, minister of
foreign trade, in his opening remarks to the
festival’s inaugural event at the International
Conference Center. Participants included 106
exhibitors from seven countries.
A commemorative silver Cuban Cigar coin, freshly
minted, made its appearance at the opening event,
with 2,000 coins issued by the Cuban Mint as a
tribute to the Cuban cigar.
Other activities included a presentation of the
Vegas Robaina guayabera [a traditional Cuban
dress shirt], cigar tasting and a panel from Casas
de Habano ( cigar houses) , of
which there are 90 worldwide. Especially successful
Casas de Habano included those at Beirut’s airport
and the United Arab Emirates.
Festival participants also visited the Real
Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás, a factory that produces
one of the most prestigious brands of Corporación
Habanos. The event was dedicated to the company on
the occasion of its 160th anniversary.
A Partagás is immediately recognizable for its
delicious and intense flavor, the product of an
exceptional mixture of leaves from Vuelta Abajo, San
Juan, Martínez and other areas in the eastern
province of Pinar del Río.
Cuba possesses a vast tobacco culture, an
industry in which over 250,000 Cubans currently work
in activities ranging from cultivation to marketing
of the famous cigars.
At the Partagás factory and during other
activities, festival participants enjoyed the ritual
that accompanies the pleasure of smoking Habanos,
including the selection of the brand and cigar band,
the way in which the tip is cut, lighting it and
smoking it – all decisive operations when enjoying a
good cigar. All these activities involve the senses
of sight, touch, smell and taste.
Manuel García, commercial vice president of
Habanos S.A., explained that this joint venture
company is already distributing 34 Cuban brands to
120 countries throughout the five continents, and
sold over $300 million in 2004.
As a sign of distinction, the 7th festival
included more of the most prominent Cuban brands,
including Hoyo de Monterrey, Romeo y Julieta,
Montecristo and Cohiba, which were also in the
forefront of the festivities.
The festival – based in Havana’s International
Conference Center – is known as the most important
cigar festival in the world, because experts
consider the Cuban cigar to be the best in the world,
due to a perfect combination of soil, climate and
the experience of producers who make the cigars by
hand.
