The 17th Habano Festival opened yesterday, ready to welcome lovers of this unique product, who travel to the island from every corner of the world. Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo are the brands taking center stage at this edition and their vitolas, as well as the rest of the Habanos S.A. launches and new features for 2015, will be available for exclusive tasting by attendees.
Our first visit was to the Casa del Habano on Fifth Avenue, known as Quinta Avenida. It's a large shop, with many rooms, a bar, a restaurant, and a uniquely shaped walk-in humidor that hugs the wall in an angled fashion.
World-class pop star Tom Jones was one of the boldface names that attended the 16th Habano Festival, an event that came to an end Friday night with a gala dinner and a humidor auction that raked in over a million dollars for Cuba’s healthcare system.
It was the Cohiba Robusto Supremos Edición Limitada 2014, and it was a historic smoke. It's a bit over five inches long, but that's not the important part. The smoke has a ring gauge of 58, making it the thickest cigar created by the Cubans in modern memory.
Just about to turn its first five years, the Sikerei Paris Project attended the 16th edition of the Habano Festival and had its moment on the limelight. The humidors presented to the guests were spruced up by fine artists. This time around, they were exhibited at the Casa del Habano right behind the Havana Capitol.
During the closing of the International Seminar and Tradeshow of the 16th Habano Festival, organizers announced a number of major prizes, such as the winner of the contest for the longest burning ash, the best booths in different categories and the top honors in the Habano in Images contest.