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All eyes on Cuba when
It’s a heady mix of glamour, music, bags of atmosphere and
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the Havana Cigar Festival kicks off each spring.
the finest cigars. Bill Knott lights up
HolySmoke
The wave hits you as you stroll through the lobby
of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba: an ethereally sweet, spicy, earthy smell,
wafting in from the terrace. Technically, it is the smell of combusted
leaves from the plant nicotiana tabacum; less prosaically, it is the unique
aroma of Havana cigars.
—The hotel’s Bar Galeria welcomes cigar-smokers at any time of
year, but - for a week in late February or early March - it becomes
the unofficial base camp for hundreds of cheroot-toting visitors to
Havana’s annual cigar festival.
—As you amble on to the terrace, the aroma of fine tobacco is joined
by the occasional clink of mojito glasses and the strains of a Cuban
band: this may well be the first time of the week that you hear the
strains of Guantanamera, the deeply patriotic and annoyingly catchy
Cuban folk tune. It will not be the last.
—Guantanamera is also the name of a machine-made cigar: but you
can do better than that. The festival features visits to many of the
finest factories, glitzy dinners featuring the new vitolas (sizes) being
launched that year by the top cigar houses, and visits to Viñales, the
beautiful region west of the capital where the finest tobacco is grown,
cured, fermented and dried. Organised by Habanos SA, the
promotion, distribution and export arm of the Cuban state tobacco
company, it is easily the world’s biggest cigar festival, popular both
with tourists and the cigar trade alike: deals are closed more often
than the bars.
—Ranald Macdonald, the ebullient owner of London’s cigar-friendly
Boisdale restaurants, takes a group of like-minded souls to Havana
—
Far left, David Eberhart
(left)and Eddie Sahakian
(centre) take a Cuban cab.
Above, cigar boxes and a
Gurkha cigar
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each year for the festival: this year was
his 13th ‘jaunt’, as he calls it. ‘They come
for the cigars, of course,’ he explains, ‘but
Havana has plenty more to offer. The people
are amazingly friendly, the musicianship
in Havana must be
greater than anywhere
else on Earth, and
the architecture is
gorgeous. And you get
to smoke great cigars in
the city where they are
made: what could be
better than that?’
—Macdonald puts
much thought into the
organisation of the trip,
‘rather like boys take
their clubs at school
really seriously’. He
produces an annual
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guide, The Boisdale Breast Pocket Guide to
Havana, and the trip attracts an eclectic
bunch of people united simply by their
love of cigars. ‘The ages on the 2012 jaunt
ranged from 23 to 74 and included several
restaurateurs, a host of bon viveurs and a
Latvian model. Not at all the usual suspects.’
—Havana cigars seem to be disproportionately
popular among stars of stage and screen, as a
glance at the covers of Cigar Aficionado, the
industry’s monthly bible for the past 20 years,
will confirm. This year’s Hollywood guest
was actor (and impromptu harmonica player)
James Belushi, whose appearances both at
the H. Uppmann dinner on the Wednesday
and Friday’s gala dinner were enthusiastically
received: ‘a colourful performance’, as
Macdonald puts it.
—Belushi once told Cigar Aficionado that
cigar smoking is ‘very male, and women
should stay away from it. It’s none of their
business.’ It is a sentiment with which the
elegant managing director of London-based
cigar importers Hunters & Frankau, Jemma
Freeman, would politely, but firmly, disagree.
Her company holds the exclusive rights to
sell Havana cigars in the UK and Ireland, and
she is the sixth generation of her family to be
involved in the cigar industry.
—‘This is my 14th festival, and the event has
grown enormously: at the gala dinner, for
instance, there were 1,200 guests, and
the event was hugely over-subscribed. What
is really special about the festival from our
point of view is meeting up with old friends
- the Hunters & Frankau “family”, I suppose and it gives dealers from all over the world the
chance to sit down over a drink and a smoke,
and just chat about cigars.’ Cigars launched at
this year’s festival included a Romeo y Julieta
Petit Churchill, just four inches long but with
a chubby 50-ring gauge, continuing the trend
towards shorter, fatter cigars, aimed (in the
wake of smoking bans in many parts of the
—
Far left, Bill Martin and Ranald Macdonald.
Below, The Boisdale Breast Pocket Guide
to Havana. Above, central Havana
world) at connoisseurs looking for a proper
smoke in a much shorter time. Freeman
approves: ‘They are very difficult cigars to
make, but they seem to have mastered it.’
—It is not just the cigars that have changed.
Havana itself has changed hugely, she has
noticed, especially in the past few years,
as Cuba has taken its first cautious steps
towards private enterprise. ‘The restaurants
are really, really good now, which they never
used to be. There were always one or two
good places to eat, but now there are dozens:
El Templete, for example, which has amazing
seafood. And the bar and music scene is as
lively as ever. Now is definitely the time to go.’
—Eddie Sahakian, another member of the
cigar world’s aristocracy, agrees. He and his
father, the legendary Edward Sahakian, are
co-proprietors of Davidoff in London. His
father may be semi-retired but that doesn’t
prevent him from enjoying either his cigars or
the splendid new restaurants that have sprung
up in Cuba. Their favourite is Café Laurent,
occupying the penthouse of an apartment
block with a magnificent view over the city.
‘The last time my father and I were together
in Havana’ says Eddie, ‘we ate there six times
(lunch and dinner) in three days. In fact, if
they’d served breakfast, we’d have been there
nine times in three days.’
—But back to the cigar festival. Jemma
Freeman has particular cause to remember
this year’s gala dinner. ‘They’d decorated the
room beautifully in red, in tribute to Romeo
y Julieta, and I think they’d sorted out the
ventilation, which is rather important when
you have so many cigars alight at once!” The
highlight for many was the launch of Romeo
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y Julieta’s magnificent Churchill Reserva,
Cosecha (vintage) 2008; like fine wines,
great cigars improve with time, and this
new vitola was generally agreed to have
extraordinary potential.
—For the first time, Hunters & Frankau
splashed out on one of the lots in the famous
auction of humidors: a beautiful Hoyo de
Monterrey humidor in art nouveau style,
purchased for ¤40,000 They did not,
though, have to spend nearly as much as the
anonymous Italian bidder who bought the
Cohiba humidor, a model of Cohiba’s famous
El Laguito factory, for ¤360,000. It contained
and Aguilas, which sold for ¤130,000, and
humidors from H Upmann (¤60,000),
Partagas (¤60,000) and Montecristo
(¤80,000), all of which featured hard-to-find
or specially made vitolas.
—The reason that Jemma Freeman will never
forget the gala dinner, however, was not the
calibre of the cigar glitterati present - fashion
and restaurant mogul David Tang, Havana
distributor for the Asia Pacific region, as
well all the top brass from Habanos SA and a
smattering of high-ranking Cuban politicians
- nor the fine cigars on offer, nor the humidor
auction, notable though they were.
520 Cohiba cigars, including the celebrated
2009 Gran Reserva and some cigars rolled
especially for the humidor. Even so, some
people clearly have money to burn.
—The auction, conducted by the urbane
Simon Chase, also from Hunters & Frankau,
raised an impressive ¤730,000, all of which
will go to help fund the Cuban state health
system. Other lots included a Romeo y Julieta
humidor filled with 350 cigars, including
Fabulosos No 6, Seleccion de Luxe (a vitola
not made since the 1960s), Petit Piramides
Görel Palmer enjoys a quiet smoke among the plants
—No, Freeman’s moment came as she was
summoned to the stage to be presented
with an angular silver statue - ‘It looks like
something from Mad Max’ - and, more
importantly (and slightly bizarrely) the title
of ‘Havana Man of the Year’.
XV Habano Cigar Festival
26 February to 2 March 2013
[email protected] for more details
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—For more than 200 years, politicians,
celebrities and assorted bon viveurs have held
accounts with JJ Fox. The cigar vault, lined
floor-to-ceiling with cabinets of aged smokes,
is a closely guarded treasure store. Ask very
nicely and Jean will dig you out the perfect
smoke to suit your mood – which you can
enjoy upstairs while the rest of London
goes about its business.
—
19 St James’s Street, London SW1
020 7930 3787 jjfox.co.uk
London has long claimed to be cigar
capital of the world – and no wonder.
Its merchants are meticulous in
keeping and ageing fine cigars and,
despite the UK’s smoking ban, there
are wonderful places to ‘sample’ and
buy. Nick Hammond selects the best
—Fancy a traditional wet shave or some new
cuff-links and a designer leather wallet? You’ll
find them offered here, alongside an on-site
cinema, spa and bespoke tailor. Down in the
basement you will find the humidor, where
some of London’s finest Havanas are kept in
splendid, humidity-controlled isolation.
—You can rent your own locker to store
your cigars and draw on expert advice before
deciding on which boxes to buy. And, of course,
you can select a cigar from the humidor to
enjoy upstairs on the beautifully appointed
courtyard terrace – a suntrap in summer,
equipped with heat lamps for cool weather.
—
2 Davies Street, London W1
020 7853 4440 dunhill.com
Sautter of Mount Street
JJ Fox Ltd
History settles gently upon you like a fine
layer of dust as you step inside Fox of St
James’s: welcome to the oldest cigar shop in
the world.
—Oak panelling, ancient client ledgers and
the cigar museum – complete with former
customer Winston Churchill’s favourite
armchair – are a large part of what makes this
store unmissable.
—Added attractions include the congenial
presence of manageress Jean Clarke, the
chance to test out the wonderfully convivial
‘sampling’ room on the first floor and a range
of fine cigars from which to choose.
Alfred Dunhill
at Bourdon House
Never mind Aladdin’s Cave, this is a Batcave.
Cool, suave and combining old-fashioned
luxury with cutting-edge gadgetry, Bourdon
House in Davies Street is every sophisticated
gentleman’s dream home.
This tiny store is rammed with fine Habanos
and has garnered a strong regular clientele
over the years. Located opposite The
Connaught Hotel in Mayfair, the shop was
originally owned by Desmond Sautter, a wellknown character on the London cigar scene.
—Today it’s owned by the larger-than-life
Laurence Davis, and Sautter includes a
cabinet of aged smokes and plenty of customrolled ‘specials’. Brave souls who have lunched
well are encouraged to try a ‘Flying Pig’ – a
monstrously short, fat cigar that might just
give you a new outlook on life.
—Look out for sales assistant Magali, a
Cuban lady who really knows her cigars. She’ll
happily give you the benefit of her expertise
while serving a delicious espresso. On a warm
day, it’s pleasant to wander the surrounding
area with its gunsmiths, galleries and
hostelries while enjoying a Sautter special.
—
106 Mount Street,
London
W1
020 7499 4866 sauttercigars.com
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Davidoff of London
Tomtom Cigars
Alfie Turmeaus
Coffee beans and cigar tobacco make a great
match. They have many things in common as
well: each comes in a wide variety of blends
and tastes; they grow in similar geographical
regions; and both attract aficionados obsessed
with finding and tasting the very best that
each has to offer.
—Tomtom has cleverly brought the two
together in a tranquil corner of Belgravia.
Your first stop on Elizabeth Street should
be the boutique-style cigar shop, its walls
colourfully adorned with an array of fine
Havanas. Once you’ve made your choice, take
a few steps up the road to the coffee shop,
a real home from home. Here you can sample
a filter blend from Nicaragua, or perhaps
enjoy a high-octane espresso from Ethiopia.
—Under the awning at the outside tables,
enjoy the warmth of the heat lamp and relax.
This is a great place to rest and recuperate
while smoking a cigar.
Shepherd Market is perhaps the hottest
property in Mayfair at present. There’s
alfresco dining, luxury outfitters, real
alehouses and now a gem of a cigar shop.
—Small but perfectly formed, Alfie
Turmeaus is packed with top-class smokes.
It’s worth spending time examining the stock
here, as you may unearth something aged
or unusual in the walk-in humidor. Once
you’ve made your selection, stroll through
the narrow lanes to enjoy your smoke (this
is one of the best places in London for
people-watching) or descend to the ‘secret’
underground sampling room.
—You enter this subterranean oasis via a
gravity-defying spiral staircase, at the bottom
of which customer lockers and freshly ground
coffee await you. It’s best to come early to this
popular new store; short visits can too easily
turn into long stays.
Your London cigar education is
not complete without a visit to
the reassuringly urbane Davidoff
on the corner of St James’s Street
and Jermyn Street. Within
its walls is a wealth of cigars,
humidors, accessories – and
knowledge.
—Run by the legendary
father-and-son team of Edward
and Eddie Sahakian, the store
boasts a large walk-in humidor
where you can spend a dreamy
half-hour perusing the display of
aromatic sticks from across the
tobacco-growing world.
—If you are fortunate enough
to be served by either Edward or
Eddie, you can expect to learn a
wealth of cigar lore. The array of
top-end humidors, cutters, lights
and accoutrements throughout
the store is unrivalled in town,
while the staff ’s advice on
buying, storing, collecting and
investing is both unbiased and on
the money.
—Once you’ve selected an
appropriate cigar for the
occasion, you could do a lot
worse than settle down at one of
the comfortable outside tables
at Franco’s restaurant directly
opposite the shop. The food is
superb and after your meal you
can smoke your cigar in comfort
as you watch the world go by.
1 White Horse Street,
Shepherd Market, London W1
020 7495 7330 cgarsltd.co.uk
35 St James’s Street,
London SW1 020 7930 1361
[email protected]
63 Elizabeth Street, London SW1
020 7730 1790 tomtom.co.uk