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TENTH HABANOS FESTIVAL SET FOR FEBRUARY Print E-mail
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TENTH HABANOS FESTIVAL SET FOR FEBRUARYPlus: an old Montecristo is new again!

Los Angeles, December 13 – Organized as a way to focus attention on the Cuban cigar industry at single point in time in 1999, the Festival del Habano has expanded into the largest celebration of the Havana cigar anywhere in the world.

The 10th such festival will be held from February 25-29, 2008 in Havana, with a full program that will entertain up to 1,000 guests. Highlights:
  • This year’s field trip will be to one of the most famous of all the areas in the Vuelta Abajo tobacco-growing district: San Juan y Martinez.

  • Visits to Havana-area factories will include the new facilities for H. Upmann and La Corona.

  • Lectures will include presentations on the history of tobacco, the architecture of cigar factories and warehouses, women in the tobacco industry and how the “Habano culture” has been promoted over the last 15 years.

  • The standard competitions will be held once again: the Habanosommelier and the Armagnac Trophy.

  • Special classes will be given on matching Havana cigars and cocktails and how to roll a cigar.

  • The Festival del Habano trade show will showcase cigar-related products from around the world.

  • The closing dinner will again feature an auction of unique, one-of-a-kind humidors with the proceeds to be given to the Cuban Health Service.

    The attendee list for the event includes smokers, journalists and cigar-industry members from around the world and it isn’t cheap. Registration for the entire event package – including the final-night gala – is 1,260 “Cuban Convertible Pesos” which are exchanged at roughly $1 U.S. each. That does not include airfare or housing.

    Even though U.S. citizens are not supposed to go to Cuba to attend such events, the registration information includes specific instructions on monetary issues that will be faced by American travelers! A number of American guests have attended each Festival; some with a license from the U.S. government and some . . . who did not.

    For those who are not going, information on the new products to be introduced into the Habanos line in 2008 will be announced on Wednesday, February 27.

    An old Montecristo is new again:
    Although the history of some Havana brands stretches back into the 1700s, the most popular brand in the world – Montecristo – dates only from 1935. It was introduced in just five sizes, numbered one to five, with no new shapes introduced until 1969.

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    Did you know?

    “"Clear Havanas" refers to cigars made in the U.S. but with tobacco imported from Cuba.