Habanos Festival 2015 Recap

Habanos Festival 2015 Recap

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The 17th annual Habanos Festival took place from February 23 to 27 in Havana, Cuba. More than 1650 cigar lovers from around the world, including a larger than ever US presence attended the cigar lovers’ festival.  The festival is an ideal venue for both cigar enthusiasts and the cigar industry to enjoy and experience what is new, and old, in the cigar world.  Many new cigars are introduced, and we’ll give you a sneak peak at them below.

Official Galas

The Habanos Festival  officially kicked off with the opening night gala dedicated to the launch of the Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill Gran Reserva, Cosecha 2009.  The event was held in Old Havana at the former Tobacco and Wood Warehouse that currently houses the Avenida del Puerto Brewery.  Guests received a beautiful black lacqured box with 2 of the new Wide Churchill Gran Reserva, along with the Romeo Y Julieta Piramides Anejado, and a Petit Corona Mille Fleur.

Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill Grand Reserva

La Casa del Habano 25th Anniversary Party.

XVII-Festival-del-Habano-La-Gloria-Cubana-Humidor-Especial-La-Casa-del-Habano

To highlight the 25 years since the first opening of the franchise’s first store in Cancun Mexico, Habanos dedicated its’ Wednesday night event to celebrate its world renowned franchise.  The event was held at the El Laguito protocol hall.  The franchise now has 147 stores in 65 countries.

“La Casa del Habano has managed to achieve its goal: to become a store specialized in the sale of habanos, featuring the best service and advisory, and where lovers of the ultimate smoke can buy and puff on the world’s finest cigars, let alone have access to the most exclusive assortment of items related to this deluxe product,” said Javier Terrés Ercilla, Development vice president with Habanos S.A.

To celebrate the 25-year history, Habanos presented a Humidor with an intriguing design. This artisanal piece of work that has been delicately carved in fine woods by Cuban artisans, has the shape of a colonial styled house with the colors that identify with its graphic image, and includes 30 La Gloria Cubana cigars; 15 Pirámides -ring gauge 52 x 156 mm in length- and 15 Robustos Extra -ring gauge 48 x 170 mm in length-.  Participants were able to sample the exclusive Habanos selected for this humidor, each receiving a case which housed 1 of each of the cigars being showcased.

La Gloria Cubana 25th anniversario

At the closing, each table was given a bottle of the new Havana Club Cohiba Atmosphere Union to enjoy.  A very smooth and rich tasting rhum, which can be found in Havana shops for a (modest) 350 CUC.

Montecristo 80 Anniversario closing Gala Dinner

The closing gala of the Habanos Festival 2015 was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Habanos’ most iconic and recognized brand.  1000+ guests arrived at PabExpo Fairgrounds to celebrate the closing of the week’s festivities.  The closing gala is annually frequented by international celebrities.  This year was no exception with Paris Hilton, Naomi Campbell, Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart (Fidel’s son), and David Tang drawing  paparazzi style attention.

The evening showcased 2 new releases from the Montecristo line.  The “80 Anniversario” with its impressive 55 ring gauge  x 165 mm long is the biggest size ring gauge in the brand’s current production.  At the other end of the size spectrum, a small but powerful “Media Corona” was presented.  This half corona was a hit with many guests whom all agreed was packed with flavor and smoked “like a bigger cigar”.

Montecristo 80th anniversario

HUMIDOR AUCTION.

The highlight of the closing gala is undoubtedly the auction of the luxurious, handcrafted branded humidors.  These one of a kind pieces are the work of highly skilled master craftsmen.  The proceeds of the auction are donated to the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba.  This year, over 740,000 EURO was raised, including 250,000 EURO for the Cohiba humidor.  Stay tuned for a dedicated blog entry with photos and details of each humidor shortly.

Highlights of the Unofficial parties

Throughout the week, there are several unofficial events and parties around Havana.  Here are three that stuck out from the pack.

John DeCosta Partagas Jewellery Launch.  This private invitation only event was held at a private residence in Miramar to showcase the officially licensed Partagas jewellery, designed and manufactured by British company, Cigar Sanctum.  The event has a reputation of great cigars, mojitos and a who’s who of cigar industry folk.  A great way to spend a few hours enjoying the hot Havana sun indeed. Here is a quick recap video made by Alex from Conexao Tabaco:


Canada Party.

Hosted and organized by Roger Lanteigne and Havana House on the Tuesday evening.  This casual poolside dinner is a great place to meet up with local Cuban cigar rollers, and many of the Habanos staff.  Havana House, the exclusive distributor of Cuban cigars in Canada, offered its guests samples of the Canadian regional cigars.

Pacific Cigar Company.

One of the week’s most highly sought after tickets is for the annual Pacific Cigar Company party.  When asking party organizer, Toby Brocklehurst on where the party was being held, he simply answered “cross the Plaza Vieja diagonally, take the first left.  Two blocks in, look for two lanterns and two gents dressed in black at the door.  That’s the door.”  Surely enough, that door lend to a small, steep staircase which opened up to a huge roof top patio, filled with fresh lobster BBQ, Cuban music, Cuban models, a great atmosphere.  The evening was complete when Toby offered his guests 2 custom rolled cigars along with a “flying Pig” cigar.  One of the most delicious cigars tasted on the trip.  See photo below.

Farm Rolls

Summary

Overall, the experience was a pleasant one for myself, and for the majority of the friends and collegues who attended.  La Casa Del Habano shops were well generally well stocked, with the exception of Cohiba Behikes, Cohiba Supremo Robusto 2014, and the recently released, Trinidad Vigia.  It should be noted that most of the box dates on the cigars was 2014.

The common topic of conversation throughout the week was the US and what will happen in the future.  There are many speculations, educated ones, and just plain guesses.  For now, no one truly knows what will happen, but we do know that if one wishes to experience old world and old school Havana, time is running out.  The addition of new restaurants, new boutique shops, and new construction that is seen all over Old Havana, Vedado and Miramar, are a sign that change is coming.  It might be just want the Cubans need for a higher quality of life.  Let’s hope the cigar quality maintains its’ high standards.

It is Spark ‘O Clock!

Antonio Marsillo, Lazaro Batista from H.Upmann and Simon Robillard
Antonio Marsillo, Lazaro Batista Miranda from H.Upmann factory and Simon Robillard.

 

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