Alberto Mendoza Mirabal. Cigar House General Manager Meliá Havana Hotel

CND: The Cigar Festival has already become a tradition. What’s the reason behind this?

A: The Cigar Festival is an event that has rightfully turned out to be a tradition for cigar aficionados all over the world. We’re now holding the fifth edition (Feb. 24 to 28) and this time around we’re marking the 510th anniversary of cigar’s arrival to the Old World and the fifth birthday of the Trinidad brand. Some 60 countries are attending this major event.

This festival serves as the perfect setting for the exchange of ideas and experiences among cigar aficionados, professionals from different walks of life, exclusive dealers and distributors, as well as businesspeople from around the globe.

CND: What major activities are scheduled within the Festival’s framework?

A. First of all, we must say this festival has been growing with each passing year, so we’ve been bound to look for larger venues. Among the scheduled traditional activities, we have the Opening Dinner, visits to tobacco plantations, the Commercial Fair, the Aficionados Seminar and the much anticipated Gala Dinner –with the traditional auction and the Cigar Person of the Year Awards. We’ve picked Pabexpo Fairgrounds for this year’s Gala Dinner and auction on Feb. 28. The venue will put on an exhibit recreating cigar history in Cuba from Columbus’s arrival to the island all the way to today’s tobacco plantations.

The Fifth Festival will likewise hold the Second International Cigar Sommelier Contest. There’ll be scheduled grand tours to tobacco plantations in Pinar del Rio and a visit to El Laguito, the exclusive cigar factory where the Cohiba and Trinidad brands are hand-rolled.

CND: Who are the Cigar Festival’s major planners?

A: The major organizers are Habanos S.A., the Tobacco Entrepreneurial Group (TABACUBA), and other institutions and personalities that have contributed to the organization of this festival.

CND: What specific activities has the Cigar House at the Meliá Havana Hotel scheduled for this year’s festival?

A: Well, we held the franchise meeting yesterday in which we reviewed the quality of those brands we’re currently putting in the market and the different mergers we can establish among them.

On the other hand, we all attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Cigar House at the Meliá Havana Hotel, formerly known as the Robaina Sampler. This is Cigar House number 89 in the world. By the way, Mr. Robaina –who’s one of Cuba’s best-known tobacco growers with a great experience under his belt- attended the opening ceremony.

CND: What’s in store for Meliá Havana Hotel’s Cigar House?

A: First of all, we’re committed to working harder and harder to make all of our dreams come true. Secondly, and given the edge of our House’s location, hemmed in by hotels and embassies, we’ve got a project in the pipeline to open a Smokers Club that could clinch a clientele of cigar aficionados, you know, people we could offer our tailor-made services to.