FESTIVAL DEL HABANOS |
The "Amigos de Partagas" were called to the stage to receive goodie bags
which included a book of memories from past Festivals. I counted 5
photos of me! (glad I never wore the same jacket twice!) |
This blog comes to you from the Hotel Nacional in sunny Havana where I
have been enjoying the annual Partagas Festival week. I decided to take a bunch of friends to meet Alejandro Robaina on Thursday (with the kind assistance of my friend Amir) but thought as we are travelling quite a distance we would also take in The Indian Caves, Viniales and a few other stops on the way.... it was a long day but with a comfortable minibus and a few bottles of Santiago rum in the bus as well as some great smokes, a great day was had by all. I have some great photos for the website in a couple of days time. Robaina seemed to be in good spirits considering he is over 90 and as he lit up a rough looking little cigar that looked like he had just bunched it, he quipped that he is "proof that you live a long life if you smoke Havana cigars"! Friday morning we had the pleasure of a tour of El Laguito where we saw a great deal of Cohiba Robustos and Siglo VI being rolled as well as various other vitolas. Note that code LBT NOV 09 is El Laguito :-) The gala dinner was held at the Habana Libre Hotel (Havana Hilton before the Revolution) and it was the best event I have attended in the last 10 years, The entertainment was splendid and the cigars rolled by La China plentiful and quite beautiful (photos to follow as soon as I get back to London) The charity auction raised over 30,000 C.U.C's and the event was attended by over 300 Friends of Partagas. |