Habanos Festival 2024
Giant humidors of outrageous proportions sat on the upper tier of the stage like a modern art exhibit. Men in tuxedos and women in evening dresses posed in front of them, taking photos, while the rest of the guests below were finding their seats in the smoke-filled room. The orchestra played light dinner music and everyone who saw this lineup of humidors was probably asking themselves the same question: Who would be taking home these over-the-top creations?
This was the final evening of the 24th Habanos Festival—the most formal, the most exclusive and certainly the most expensive part of the weeklong affair. The auction not only broke a record for the most money ever raised in one evening it also broke the record for the highest bid on a single lot.
All week long, enthusiasts from all over the world had been immersing themselves in Cuban cigar culture. The Habanos Festival is the yearly retreat where Cuba’s famed cigar factories and tobacco fields are open for tours. It attracts not only retailers and cigar distributors, but Habanophiles of the most loyal dedication. There were conferences and presentations, two other evening events, pairings and, of course, plenty of cigars. On the final night, every auction lot save for a special addition (a smaller, Cohiba Tributo Year of the Dragon humidor by Elie Bleu) sold for more than $1 million each. Several went for 2 million euros apiece or more, including an H. Upmann humidor with 350 cigars (2 million euros), a Partagás humidor (425-count, 2.2 million euros) and a Montecristo humidor (450-count, 2 million euros). The high bidding picked up some serious momentum with the Trinidad 55th anniversary humidor, a decorative cabinet filled with 450 Trinidads of various sizes. It sold for 3.8 million euros (about $4.1 million).
Despite the night being dedicated to Trinidad, nothing commands the dollars like Cohiba. This year, the Cohiba humidor was a rotating cube that holds 500 cigars, including regular-production Cohibas and more specialized sizes such as Novedosos and 55 Aniversarios. A new record was set when the winning bid was made for 4.5 million euros (about $4.9 million), surpassing last year’s Cohiba humidor for the most expensive lot in the history of the Festival.
The winner was Xiaohong Hu, a woman who serves as chairman of a Chinese media company. She was immediately congratulated by Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel, who was in attendance.
The auction raised a grand total of 17.8 million euros (about $19.3 million) for Cuba’s health care system, the most ever raised in a single night by the Habanos Festival.
