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The
15th Habanos Festival
Cigar
News | 26 February 2013 |
Posted
by Jeandré Hartman of Cigar Affection
THE 15th
HABANOS FESTIVAL STARTS TODAY!
The 15th Habanos Festival has started, a
must go event which every year brings together Habano aficionados from more than 70 countries, as well as international personalities who love the best tobacco in the world. All of them will experience the main launches that Habanos
S.A presents in 2013, and enjoy the wide-ranging programme offered by the Festival until Saturday 2nd March.
From
Tuesday February 26 to Saturday March 2, 2013, Cuba is once again
the meeting grounds for unconditional lovers of some of the world’s
best cigars. This time up, the 15th edition of the festival
will put two prestigious brands in the
limelight: Montecristo andPartagas.
Two new Montecristo vitolas: Petit No.2 and Double Edmundo, the first Partagás Gran Reserva, as well as the re-launch of the Vegueros brand focus the interest on the XV anniversary of the Habanos Festival..
Habano
lovers coming from over 70 nations, as well as boldface names from
around the world, will have a ball among friends and traditional
hedonists of Cuban
tobacco, and they’ll be the first to puff on the new
vitolas that Habanos
S.A. will roll out this year.
The
complement to the Habano Festival’s program will count on
traditional functions and activities, such as the visits to the
best tobacco plantations in Vuelta
Abajo, Pinar del Rio, and to the historic habano
factories. In the same breath there will be lectures, blind
tasting sessions, the famous master class on Cigar Hand Rolling,
special pairings and the highly anticipated International
Habanosommelier Contest.
Those attending the XV Habanos Festival this year include music,
and gastronomy personalities: the former number-one tennis player
in the world, Boris Becker; NBA star Gary Payton; Italian tenor
Darío Balzanelli, widely regarded as Luciano Pavarotti’s
successor, who, together with the legendary Cuban singer Omara
Portuondo, will act in the Gala Evening.
Avant-garde
Croatian chefs Grgur Baksic, Zoran Simunic, and Pantelija Pekic,
members of Gastronomadi, will present their high cuisine
creations, made using the best tobacco in the world. They may be
sampled during the Cooking Show “Tobacco and Gastronomy” that
will take place during the Festival.
The Alliance between Habanos and Rioja, with a selection of the best pairings between both Denominations of Origin, will be another high point of the Festival.
The
International Habanos in Images Contest likens
the pleasure of tobacco with the arts. This second edition will
focus on photography and on the Habano as the great show star.
The
Welcome Night, dedicated to Montecristo,
will take place in a one-and-only historic venue of the city of
Havana: the Morro Castle Fortress that dominates the entrance of
the bay.
During
the course of the festival, an alliance between Habanos P.D.O. and
a benchmark denomination of origin with longstanding presence in
the market - Rioja - will be forged.
On
Thursday Feb. 28, the figure of the Tobacco Planters will be
honored with a very special dinner, and for good reason because
without their toilsome job it’ll be impossible to revel in the
magnificent Habanos.
The
Festival’s closing ceremony is scheduled for Saturday March 2.
The Gala Night will feature top Cuban performers of all time, like
Omara Portuondo, and will pay tribute to Partagas. During this
function, the traditional auction of humidors for the benefit of
Cuba’s public health system will unfold.
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