Celebrating Cigars: Global Cigar Fests

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Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic… aficionados have a real and strong passion for the best-known production of these countries and might have recurrent dreams about them, but how many actually visit the birthplaces of their favourite cigars?

By Eric Piras

The best opportunities are really found during the cigar festivals held in several countries of origin.

Cuba’s Habanos Festival: the most glamorous

The 18th edition of the Habanos Festival was held in March, and a very special edition it was, since it marked the 50th anniversary of Cohiba. Held in Havana, the event saw about 2,100 aficionados and industry professionals flock to the island for a week of commercial showcases, tours to plantations and cigar factories, lectures, and glam events. 

This year, Hoyo de Monterrey was honored during the opening night in the Wood & Tobacco Warehouse, a newly renovated structure along Havana’s waterfront, with Hoyo de Monterrey Reserva Cosecha 2012 revealed to the attendees. Cuaba had a special showcase during the cigar rollers dinner two days later.

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© Åke Hultqvist

Celebrating Cigars: Global Cigar Fests

Habanos Festival's Gala Dinner

During this exciting week, hotels and restaurants are all bursting with cigar smokers and gossip flies in the Cuban wind as to which celebrities will attend the gala dinner. For the distributors and retailers, it can be an intense week of meetings and presentations, as for any trade show, but for the consumers it is the perfect time to see behind the scenes and visit plantations and factories.

The epitome of the week is traditionally the gala dinner on the last night. This year, it was dedicated to Cohiba and almost saw fighting for the expensively priced tickets. Decked in gold and black, the ballroom of the convention center was stunning and buzzing with the conversation (and heavy smoke) of more than 600 guests. After entertainment by Grammy-award winner Chucho Valdèz and several high-quality shows, guests enjoyed the traditional auction of special Habanos humidors, which raises money for the Cuban health system.

Dates of the 19th Habano Festival have not been announced yet, but it is usually held in February-March.

Dominican Republic’s ProCigar: the most entertaining

Organized by the Association of Dominican Cigar Manufacturers and usually held just before the Habanos Festival, ProCigar’s 2016 edition was its ninth. It is a unique opportunity to discover the beautiful Dominican Republic, both leisurely and with a focus on one of its most famous industries.

The first portion of the festival focuses on leisure activities in Punta Cana, one of the Caribbean’s top tourism destinations, with beach activities, golf, snorkelling, and horse riding by the ocean. This year, it was followed by a tour of the Tabacalera de García in La Romana, one of the eastern region’s top tobacco factories and the biggest cigar factory in the world.

Participants then headed to Santiago, the heart of the “cigar country” for three days, where they enjoyed guided tours of Quesada, La Aurora, General Cigar, Tabacalera La Palma, Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, De Los Reyes Cigars, Tabacalera La Alianza, La Flor Dominicana, and Davidoff factories and tobacco fields.

In addition to the cigar-themed activities, Pro Cigar also offered the opportunity to participate in its 6th Annual ProCigar Poker Tournament and its first “long ash” contest.

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© Cigarro Dominicano Magazine

Celebrating Cigars: Global Cigar Fests

ProCigar - David offfactory tour

Cigar festivals wouldn’t be the same without their formal dinners and this is no exception: a welcome dinner in the gardens of the Teatro del Cibao where all ProCigar members presented either a new, limited, or special cigar to all the guests; a white attire dinner at Santiago’s Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración to the sounds of Bossa Nova; and a gala dinner and live auction of one-of-a-kind humidors or limited edition cigars, their proceeds benefiting non-profit organizations.

This year, the auction concluded with Manuel Quesada being challenged to shave his moustache. The bidding began at $4,700 ($100 per year that the moustache had been on Quesada), and a group effort of contributions brought in a total of $15,000 to the evening’s total to remove Quesada’s moustache. Overall the auction raised a record-breaking US$201,000, more than double the amount raised the previous year.

The 10th Annual ProCigar Festival will be held during February 19-24, 2017.

Honduras’ Humo Jaguar: the most exclusive

A fairly new cigar festival, Humo Jaguar has only seen one edition so far, in 2011. Named in honor of Humo Jaguar, the dynastic Mayan ruler of the ancient city of Copan in western Honduras, the festival is hosted by APROTABACOH, the Honduran Association of Tobacco Growers and Cigar Makers and has been created under the impulse of the president of the association, Maya Selva.

Honduras is known as “the cradle of tobacco”, where tobacco growing and cigar making originated with the ancient Mayans, and the word “cigar” is derived from the Mayan term “sicar”. The festival included a series of cultural and gastronomic activities in the cities of Tegucigalpa and Danlí, as well as tours to Santa Rosa de Copán and the Copán Ruins.

For the first edition in 2011, each cigar maker was asked to prepare a special blend kept a secret to all but themselves. Over 200 well-versed panelists tasted each blend, taking in every aspect of cigar making and enjoyment into consideration, and the Humo Jaguar brand was born.

The next edition of Humo Jaguar should be held in 2017 but it is still very hush-hush, watch this space for more details.

Nicaragua’s Puro Sabor: the most tobacco-focused

Named Puro Sabor Festival del Tabaco, this festival is organized by the Nicaraguan Chamber of Tobacco as a celebration of Nicaragua’s rapidly growing cigar industry and tobacco culture. This year was its fifth edition and an opportunity to meet the people behind the brands for the 200 attendees from 27 countries.

The number of cigar companies participating in the festival is growing (24 companies in 2016), and so is the festival in size and resonance. Most of the members open up their fields and factories, and make themselves available for casual interaction. They are also available for closer conversation during the Puro Humo night, an interactive cocktail party where each manufacturer has a display booth.

The events are varied and this year included a tour of the Flor de Caña rum factory and an equestrian show. But mostly the focus is on tobacco, as the Nicaraguan tobacco industry has seen 10% growth every year for the past 10 years. Highlights of the festival were the tours of the most famous tobacco factories and plantations in Esteli, “tobacco’s capital city” with the traditional “white party” at the end of the day where attendees were able to listen to traditional tunes and wear the ‘guayabera’ made in Nicaragua. There were a few more tours of the tobacco plantations and factories, and the event concluded with the closing gala where attendees and personalities of the industry danced the night away.

The sixth Annual Puro Sabor is scheduled for 16-21 January 2017.

China’s Cigar Festival: the most unusual

Since its inception in 2012, the China Cigar Festival has been a gathering for the international cigar industries. With all eyes on China, the festival is growing in attendance and gaining international significance.

The first two editions (2012 and 2013) were ‘itinerant’ festivals, with visits of the Hainan tobacco plantations and the “cigar town” as well as dinners on the Great Wall. The most recent two editions have been held in Shanghai over a few days with seminars, dinners, conferences, and tasting as well as events such as cigar and rum pairing, whisky tasting, lighting cigar with cedar wood, and the longest ash competition.

With all major players eyeing China, this festival is an interesting one, with a good mix of international producers and distributors as well as the major actors of the cigar business in China. It is also an excellent opportunity to sample some of the Chinese cigars brands made in the four cigar factories of CT Sichuan, CT Hubei, CT Anhui, and CT Shandong, which have gone through many improvements in the last few years.   

The next edition of China Cigar Festival has not been announced yet; watch this space for more details.

Why wait longer? These attractive cigar festivals are an enticing opportunity to leave your vintage leather club chair in an air-conditioned cigar lounge and get a feeling of what it really means to be behind the scenes!