Cuba celebrates its cigars in annual Habanos Festival



It is a cigar lover’s paradise.

And at Cuba’s annual Habanos festival, aficionados have been able to indulge their passion to the full – not only smoking but learning how to make the perfect cigar in special workshops.

Experienced puffers from around the world could show their prowess in a competition for who could create the longest chain of unbroken ash – apparently it improves the taste.

The 18th edition of the Habanos Festival was held in the Cuban capital Havana from February 29 to March 4.

Despite challenging weather conditions for crops, sales of Cuban hand-rolled cigars are said to be on the up
worldwide and a detente in relations with the US has producers eyeing up more profits.

The traditional auction of cigar storage humidors raised hundreds of thousands of euros for the communist-ruled island’s Pubic Health System, in a festival celebrated with music from the likes of Cuba’s own Grammy-winning pianist and composer Chucho Valdés.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-03-06

I am waiting for the day Fidel Castro goes 6ft undercand Nacional becomes Hyatt and the money from tobacco goes to the peple of Cuba and not the Spanish, who own part of Habanos SA and Fidel who uses the funds to stay in power by making opposition dissappear.

There are several other one party run states then you have many two party states that neither party can run that state.

Mr cigardog is an old reds under the bed man, Cuba my not be perfect but then again the American embargo only helped to push them in a certain way...another loss to uncle sam.

Edited March 7, 201610 yr by AlexRRR

Communism is a synonym for dictatorship. N.Korea Cuba and many other nations have that problem.

But about Castro....he and Che Guevara killed too many ppl and he should be put up in front the war Tribunal. The Black & White cadillac that Castro is seen in....belongs to a friend's family. It was taken like many other things for ex.liberty.

Castro should have been taken out like Osama. He is a criminal. My friends owned a cigar factory which was taken off them without making any compensation. Criminal criminal and criminal is all that castro is. BTW...for your knowledge the cuban cigars that are being sold to the world are made with tobaccos from Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru.

Major supplier is a grower called Plasencia. He grows organic tobacco in Danli and alsoon Ometepe island in Nicaragua. Check the facts and when confirmed write back to me and I'll tell you more secrets about the cuban cigars. In the meanwhile enjoy that puros.

Thanks for some insights, I don't smoke, you find pretty much every where winners enjoy the spoils, che and co had there own version of war trials at the end of the war that lead to the deaths of many, there still having them in Germany by the way.

If Uncle Sam had of being more lenient towards the new republic some things might have been different, but let's not forget they were also part of the problem to begin with.

Many stories like yours, me I don't have a view far to complex.

Edited March 7, 201610 yr by AlexRRR

You are absolutely correct when you mention about Uncle Sam being part of the problem.Since Uncle Sam now ONLY represents the interests of the Vanksters that totally control it, we can see more wars break out and more red flags every where.

I don't think that these peple believe in KARMA.

BTW...Smoking cigar is a hobby. Cigarettes - an addiction.