Archive | March, 2017

John Bongo on Humidores Habana

29 Mar

Having seen pictures of what I can only describe as works of art, that are used to house cigars, I was really looking forward to our trip to the Humidores Habana workshops. Going by the quality of work I had seen before arriving, I was expecting a reasonably modern building with some fairly tricky pieces Read more…

Visiting Hector Luis Prieto with John Bongo

28 Mar

As John wrote, this was to be the “cherry on top of his Cuban cake”. The cherry for Hector Luis and all other tobacco growers in the Vuelta Abajo was that the 2017 harvest was one of the best in recent years. All factors, weather, sunny days, cool nights, little rainfall, were in perfect alignment Read more…

Ziqui’s MRN Inspired Chinese Cigar – A Tasting in Havana

26 Mar

It was a pleasure to meet up again with my long-time friend Ziqui, a Havana resident for many years, and it was an honour for me and John to be invited to a tasting of unique cigars he specially commissioned inspired by the second fermentation of Chinese tea as described in Min Ron Nee’s “bible” Read more…

Havana – JJ Fox And Other Cigar Events

24 Mar

Both John and I did not fly to Havana for any of the official Festival events but were quite happy to attend private events organized by friends from all over the world visiting Havana at the time. We were happy to meet many good friends at Keith’s & Luke’s party with the Stagnettos, Andy Ryan, Read more…

John Bongo’s Cuba Experience

23 Mar

First of all let me start by saying, that I am in no way a cigar aficionado of any sort. I’m just a guy who enjoys a cigar. I am however, very interested in culture and people and it was this, more than the Habanos Festival that attracted me to Cuba. Fortunately I was able Read more…

Cigars With The Five Cuban Heroes

22 Mar

Anyone travelling to Cuba since early 2000 has seen the billboards and noticed all the memorials in public places, schools, factories, literally everywhere, demanding the release of “Los 5 Heroes” and promising “Volveran” – they will return. Little I did I imagined then that I would one day spend time and smoke cigars with them. Read more…

Havana Cuba February March 2017 – Picture Gallery Three

21 Mar

Even after visiting for almost 15 years, there are always new experiences when travelling to Cuba. Never a dull moment in the island. These last three weeks were exhausting, even without attending anything official at the Festival, but then again they were exhilarating and extremely interesting. Having Justin and then John along for a good Read more…