Humidor, made of old cedar, featured a silver sculpture on its upper part, and an ink drawing on the inside of the cover, both made by artist Roberto Fabelo.
During the week of February 23-27, 2015, the 17th Habano Festival took place, organized by the joint enterprise Habanos S.A.. The event brought together some 1,600 people from 70 countries: distributors, producers, collectors, artists and lovers of Habanos, or Cuban cigars.
Some of the most important activities included visits to the best plantations in Cuba’s tobacco-growing country, Vuelta Abajo, in Pinar del Río province, and to some of the most emblematic factories; tributes to various Habanos brands, but especially two of the most prestigious and well-known: Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo; and the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Casa Habano.
The closing gala ceremony for this year’s event brought together more than 1,000 diners in the halls of the Pabexpo fairgrounds, including supermodel Naomi Campbell; heiress, model and designer Paris Hilton, Indian actor Kabir Bedi and Stephen Frey from the UK.
The gala’s highlights included the awarding of the Habanos 2014 Prizes and the auction of luxurious boxes, which were immediately made available to the proud buyers for preserving the mostly exclusive Cuban cigar brands, all 100 percent hand rolled. The auction ended after midnight, and raised $1.7 million, which was donated to Cuba’s public health system.
Humidor Auction XVI at the close of the Habano Festival held at the fairgrounds PABEXPO of Havana, Cuba.
Collateral activities took place at an event sponsored by the Hotel Meliá Habana’s Casa del Habano, which was organized by manager, Regla Álvarez Torres and chaired by Jorge Luis Fernández Maique, vice president of Habanos S.A. Dedicated to the most populous country in the world, China, the celebration’s highlights included a dance show by Roberto Vargas Lee’s school, a performance by singer Haila María Mompie, and a rum and Habanos tasting. The grand finale was the auction of a humidor filled with 50 Cohiba Behike Habanos. The humidor, made of old cedar, featured a silver sculpture on its upper part, and an ink drawing on the inside of the cover, both made by artist Roberto Fabelo. It was auctioned for $40,000 and awarded to Spanish Luciano Méndez, director of Sabadell Bank in Cuba.
From left to right: Mario José Hernández, Regla Álvarez, Luciano Méndez, Yolanda Medina, Jorge Luis Fernández Maique, Marila Delgado y Maximiliano Meneses.