 Plus: Q&A about Cuba’s Cohiba
Doha, Qatar, April 13 – Here’s the last in our series from the Arab Emirate of Qatar, a country about the size of Connecticut, perched on a peninsula on the eastern end of Saudi Arabia.
The capitol is Doha, a picturesque place, especially along the shore on the winding road called the Corniche. It will be the host city for the 2006 Asian Games, a giant 40-sport regional event in the style of the Olympics, but limited to participation by 45 members of the Olympic Council of Asia. Nonetheless, some 10,000 athletes and team officials are expected to descend on Doha in December of 2006.
When they arrive, those who appreciate cigars will head straight for the elegant Ritz-Carlton hotel and its sensational Habanos Cigar Bar, located behind closed doors just off the main lobby.
Once inside, you’ll find all the comforts of any of the best cigar bars in the world:
• An elegant, five-seat bar well-stocked with worldwide favorites including, of course, Havana Club rums. There was also a small menu for those desiring food before their drinks and smokes;
• Comfortable seating for nearly 50 inside, with an outdoor patio seating another 20-30 unless the winds are up and a sandstorm kicks in . . .
• Three stunning “tallboy” style cabinet humidors stocked with some of the world’s great cigar brands: Bolivar, Cohiba, Hoyo de Monterrey, Montecristo and so on from Cuba and a small selection of Macanudo and Macanudo Maduros from the Dominican Republic. In all, about a dozen brands.
On our night at the Ritz, we repaired to Habanos after a sumptuous dinner at La Mer, the Ritz-Carlton’s French–themed restaurant on the penthouse floor. We found not only some happy cigar smokers, but a cigars, Scotch and cake birthday party for a 20-something soldier celebrating with five of his buddies.
And sterling musical accompaniment from “Cubanas Sun,” a three-piece all-girl group which played and sang at a furious pace that drew cheers from everyone in the bar.
Under the watchful eye of Senior Head Bartender Marin Sararu (originally from Sinaia-Prahova, Romania), the Habanos Bar opened in October 2001 and has become the most popular place to celebrate with a cigar in Doha. We found no cigar shops per se and even the biggest shopping mall in the city had only a small booth concession for tobacco – frowned on in the Arab world – with a few Havana cigars in a humidified tray. (There was an entire wall of cigarettes on sale by the carton, however, in the mall’s supermarket.)
What about the cigars? They are served from a stunning illustrated menu that nearly resembles a cigar box itself, with padded brown covers and individual pages illustrating each brand on sale.
During our visit, there was an excellent selection of Cohiba, Montecristo, Punch and Romeo y Julieta, with just a one or two sizes of Bolivar, El Rey del Mundo, H. Upmann, Hoyo de Monterrey, La Gloria Cubana, Partagas and Vegueros. All of the cigars were perfectly maintained and the servers offered to dip the heads in Cognac to get started on a even richer note.
We passed, preferring prime tobacco all by itself and the cigars were delicious. But they weren’t cheap.
A Montecristo No. 1 – a classic Lonsdale at 6 1/2 inches long by 42 ring – cost 95 Qatari Riyals, worth about three to a U.S. dollar, so each went for about $31.66. The same cigar at the Doha International Airport’s football-field-sized Duty Free shop went for the equivalent of about $8.
A Partagas Serie D No. 4? This 4 7/8-inch by 50-ring robusto sets you back $30.
The most expensive cigars on the menu were the churchill sizes, at about $40 each for Punch and $42 for a Romeo y Julieta Churchill (7 x 47, tubed).
Right there with them were all of the Cohiba sizes: a Robusto (4 7/8 x 50) or Siglo IV (5 5/8 x 46) was $40 and the most expensive stick on the menu was the Cohiba Siglo V (6 5/8 x 43), which cost QR 130 or about $43.33.
But no one was complaining.
If you make it to the Asian Games, check out the Habanos Bar. Marin and his team will be happy to see you.
Q & A:
While we were checking out the Habanos Bar, a question popped up from one of the hotel staff about the Cohiba (Cuba) line:
“What does ‘Siglo’ mean in the context of the Siglo series?”
It’s a good question and one with a clear answer.
In 1992, the Cubans added to the Cohiba line by introducing the Siglo Series to celebrate the five centuries since the discovery of the Americas by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. There were five sizes in the original line, one for each century, which in Spanish, is called “siglo.”
With the start of the sixth century since Columbus’ 1492 voyage underway, the Cubans introduced the Siglo VI in 2002.
So, now you know.
~ Rich Perelman
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