With the release of the programme for this year’s 20th Habanos Festival and with only a week to go until the renowned and world-famous event takes place, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk about the proceedings taking place at the festival and what attendees can expect from it.
Exciting highlights from the Habanos Festival:
- Habanosommelier and cigar aficionados worldwide will be attending this year’s festival (2,000 expected attendees)
- Welcome evening dedicated to the flagship brand Cohiba Cuban cigars and its presentation of the Robusta Reserva 2014
- Special Habanos and Brandy Torres tasting, premium wine and Habanos pairing and a gala night dedicated to Partagás línea maduro
The Habanos Festival was curated twenty years ago to unite Habanosommeliers and enthusiasts of Cuban Cigars from all over the world to learn about the diverse aspects of the cigar industry and to celebrate the brands and cigars that have come out of it.
Habanos S. A’s flagship brand, Cohiba, is going to be one of the brands that are going to be celebrated over the course of the festival. The welcome evening on Monday the 26th of February is going to be a night devoted to this year’s highly anticipated line of Cohiba Robusto Reserva, from the 2014 harvest. Those fortunate enough to attend will be the first people in the world to taste them and will be gifted with a sample box (we are very excited about this one).
This annual event is held to educate and entertain cigar enthusiasts from every corner of the world. Therefore, as well as evenings dedicated to sampling cigars, pairings with premium wines and fine brandy, there will also be visits to tobacco plantations and cigar factories. On these visits, attendees can expect to be given a full tour and explanation of the procedures and processes which take place there, as well as the chance to appreciate the beautiful plantations in western Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province.
Furthermore, some very exciting lectures and classes will be taking place over the course of the festival. With lectures from the likes of Natalia Bolivar, respected anthropologist who will be giving a talk about the religiosity in Habanos and Eumelio Espino Marrero, tobacco genetics expert, will be giving a talk on the genetic improvement on Cuban Tobacco.
Lastly, something we are very much looking forward to this year, is the Habanos World Challenge. The first one to be held at the festival, this challenge will see countries competing to win first place and become the champion who knows the most about the world of Habano. This exciting challenge will test contestants on their knowledge of brands like Romeo y Julieta Cigars, Montecristo Cuban Cigars, their tasting skills as well as their cutting and lighting skills. We are very excited to see how each country fares and are looking forward to finding out who is the ultimate winner.
Last year's festival presented some fantastic cigars and we have some of these cigars for sale, such as The Partagas Limited Edition 2017 and the Montecristo 80 Cigar.
For more information on the festival, have a read of our previous blog post and be sure to check our Instagram and blog for daily updates on it next week.