The Habanos Festival Program

-Visit to emblematic Cigar Factories
-Trade Fair
-Seminars
-Tastings and Pairings
-Habanos-Sommelier contest
-Visit to tobacco plantations

Cigars like fine wine, taste of top tobacco depends much on the soil and climate in which it is grown.

Sun drenched plantations in the western province of Pinar Del Rio made Cuban cigars famous for centuries, most of cigars produced here are hand rolled and intended for the premium market.

According to legends, when Admiral Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba in 1492, he sent two of his best men with introduction letters from the Catholic King and Queen of Spain to the Emperor of China, since he thought they had arrived in that Asian country.

For Rodrigo de Xerez and Luis de Torres, the two men sent by Columbus, reality was completely different when they met with aborigines holding rolls of leaves between their lips.

The natives lighted one of the ends of the roll and absorbed the smoke from the other end. That way, unintentionally, Columbus discovered one of Cuba's biggest treasures, and even some of his companions, including Xerez, became aficionados to these aromatic leaves, so the words "tobacco" and "cigar" were incorporated into the vocabulary of the inhabitants of the old continent.

The best soil for this crop is located in western Pinar del Río province - especially in Vueltabajo, which is considered the region of the world's best tobacco.

A perfect combination of soils, climate and humidity. Experts say that the secret of a good cigar lies in a perfect mixture, where dry and light leaves are combined in the right proportion. Pinar del Rio