After a great opening day meeting people, smoking some great cigars and drinking rum, we managed to get adjusted to the pace of the festival. The festival goers were boarding buses very early in the morning to head to Pinar del Rio for the official plantation tour, but we had other plans in mind.
We started our day with an early morning trip to El Laguito, the home of Cohiba, to see some old friends and get our usual private tour. El Laguito is very different to the rest of the factories in havana. Situated in a quiet part of Marianao, El Laguito is housed in a mansion that used to be the home of Marques de Pinar del Rio, a wealthy sugar producer. After the revolution, El Laguito became state owned and was used as a school for female cigar rollers. Then, shortly after the Cohiba brand was created in 1966, El Laguito became a factory that has been the home of Cohiba since.
After El Laguito, we took a short trip to the Palacio de Convenciones in Miramar, for the traditional trade show, where companies showcase their cigar related products. New releases, impressive humidors and accessories where showcased in the convention, with an impressive large humidor, replica of the iconic Bacardi building, capturing everyone’s attention. A quick walk along the stalls and a quick chat with some friends, we headed back to the Nacional for some lunch and to get ready for the long evening that was ahead of us, with an itinerary full of events.
“In Puros Amicitia” means “In Cigars there is friendship”; that is the motto of Cigar Sanctum, a new company that focuses on stylish, cigar themed jewellery and accessories for the passionate cigar smoker. Away from the festival buzz, in the beautiful garden of Espacios, we had the chance to meet old friends and make new ones, in the launch of Cigar Sanctum. While shipping on mojitos and smoking farm rolled cigars, we had the chance to peruse the first collection of Cigar Sanctum. Cuff links, rings, bracelets and other accessories, all themed around cigars, were capturing everyone’s attention. Our host, John DeCosta has done a great job with this new line and you will be able to find some of his products on our shelves soon!
A short taxi ride to Plaza San Francisco in Habana Vieja to the Galleria Nelson Dominguez for the Montecristo No.2 event, hosted by Cigar Aficionado, where our hosts Gordon Mott and David Savona presented Mr Luis Sanchez-Harguindey, co-president of Habanos SA, with the prestigious award for the #1 cigar of the year. Amongst some delicious lobster bites and mojtos, we all got the chance to sample the Montecristo No.2 with the winning box code, a magnificent smoke. One of the highlights of the evening was Gordon Mott’s speech in perfect Spanish!
After the Cigar Aficionado Event, we headed back to Vedado and the Melia Cohiba Hotel for the 10th anniversary party of the Casa Del Habano in the Melia Cohiba. The first floor of the Melia Cohiba was booming with a huge crowd of partying Cubans and festival goers, with the commemorative humidor being the center of attention. Santiago rum and Mojitos were on offer to wet our appetite for the Romeo No.2 that was the cigar of the night. Apart from a great band and a dexterous artist, the stage hosted a long ash competition, where all volunteer competitors tried our best to smoke a Romeo No.2 as far down as possible!
After a long but most enjoyable evening, we found ourselves in Vista Mar, a beautiful palladar in Miranmar that is renowned for its great food and its infinity pool! A great place to finish of the night, relatively early though as the following day we had plans for an early start and a trip to Pinar del Rio.
More stories to follow soon on the rest of our trip, but in the meanwhile, you can log in to Facebook check out our photos from the second day.
