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The Premiere screening
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Honduras’ first Humo Jaguar cigar festival was incredibly difficult to organize, but the festival itself also proved to be quite incredible, which was more than enough to compensate for all our efforts! Among the two hundred guests, there was a great deal of Europeans, which can most certainly be considered a success. Cigar aficionados and the press made a great journey not knowing exactly what to expect. The slogan of the first Humo Jaguar festival promised: "Honduras will reveal all its secrets!" I think no one would argue with that now – we certainly kept our word.
Day One The five-day program of the festival started on Sunday, February 13th, in San Pedro Sula, the second-biggest city in Honduras. The industrial capital of the country was founded in 1536 and today boasts more than a million residents. The agricultural and textile industry is concentrated in this region, and railroads connect the area to two major ports. San Pedro Sula alone is to thank for 55% of Honduras’ GDP. When guests arrive, a bit tired after traveling, they are immediately invigorated again by the surroundings and beautiful weather (26C degrees), and the welcome gift-boxes of Humo Jaguar cigars certainly do the trick! At the press conference, not a single seat was left unoccupied. The party to mark the festival’s opening was rowdy and fun – and it ended well past midnight!
Day Two On the second day of the festival, the guests went to Santa Rosa de Copan, a small town in the west of the country. They were accompanied by representatives of Honduras’ cigar industry – Rocky Patel, CEO of the company Rocky Patel Premium Cigars; Melo Bueso, chief master blender of the Flor de Copan factory; Nestor Plasencia, head of the company Plasencia Tabacos; Maria Portal, owner of the Raices Cubanas factory; Alfredo Alvarez, owner of the company Alianza Cigars; and Adin Perez, in charge of production at the San Judas Tadeo factory. It was truly a special occasion considering that this was the first time ever that all of these people have banded together. Santa Rosa de Copan is remarkable for the fact that in 1765, the Spanish founded a cigar factory here that is now considered the oldest in the Americas. The second day’s program started with a visit to this point of interest. Although the La Real Factoria de Tabacos factory is no longer operating, at the time of the excursion, a few cigar rollers were still there working. The guests even received freshly rolled cigars straight from their hands – very limited edition! The next site of the program was the La Flor de Copan factory. In 1966, Don Jorge Bueso and a few other tobacco growers founded the company Tabacos Hondureños. The company grew and exported tobacco up until 1976, when Bueso and his friends opened their own factory, La Flor de Copan. The first famous brand produced at the factory was Zino, for the company Davidoff. That was all the way back in 1980. Visitors to the factory were accompanied by the best specialists – Freddy Santos, in charge of raw materials; Elmer Suazo, production manager; Melo Bueso, master blender; and Eric Piras, sales vice president of Altadis U.S.A. In the evening, the guests were treated to Flor de Copan cigars over dinner – the best way to get a feel for the character of the local tobacco.
Day Three The third day, Tuesday, was filled with adventures, rather than cigar experiences. We showed the guests something that we couldn’t possibly include in the program – the small town of Copan Ruinas. The town’s main point of interest is the world-renowned historical archaeological complex of pre-Columbian civilization, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The excursion was led by Rene Viel, one of the most respected specialists on Mayan civilization. In addition, just to intensify the experience, we organized a picnic right in the shade of a century-old tree. On the way back, the buses were abruptly brought to a halt – local inhabitants dressed in Indian costumes appeared quite literally out of nowhere. It was priceless just to see the look on some of the guests’ faces! They will certainly remember that costume show for a long time to come. Incidentally, what happened next will also be hard to forget. We arrived at the San Pedro Sula airport, where two tiny planes were waiting for us. The flight to the capital is a very short one, but the adventure-seekers aboard that plane definitely got their fair share of excitement. In Tegucigalpa, a reception and festive dinner organized by the country’s foreign affairs minister, Mario Canahuati, awaited the guests. And with that, the first cigar festival of Honduras kicked off!
Day Four The second part of the program started the next day. After making a journey of 92 kilometers, we found ourselves in Danli. The department of El Paraiso (which means “heaven” in Spanish) is famous for tobacco and corn plantations. Danli itself has a second, unofficial name: the City of Hills. Today, though, Danli is known for much more than its hills; it’s also famous for its twenty-three cigar factories, which, all together, provide 12,000 jobs and make up 40% of the region’s economy. The city’s mayor greeted the guests, and then we headed for the tobacco plantations in Jamastran Valley. Lunch took place on the property of the company Camacho. The breathtaking view of the valley distracted all the guests from not only their food, but also their conversations, and even cigars! In the second half of the day, the factories awaited us. The time shortage forced each guest to select only one factory from a rather imposing list. In total, ten factories took part in the festival. Among them, five were family-owned enterprises: Alianza, Fabrica de Puros Internacional – Columbus, Raices Cubanas, San Judas Tadeo and Flor de Selva. And the five remaining factories belong to huge international and local companies: La Flor de Copan (Altadis U.S.A.), Tobacos de Oriente and El Paraiso (which both belong to Plasencia Tobacos), HATSA (the Honduran division of General Cigar) and Camacho (Oettinger Davidoff Group). It must be said that everyone left completely satisfied. The busy day was wrapped up with a party in Danli’s central park, and then we returned to Tegucigalpa that night.
Day Five The last day of the festival was set aside for recreation and the sharing of impressions. In the morning, all the guests gathered in the Juan Carlos Exhibition Center to take part in seminars and pose questions to key figures in the Honduran cigar world. After the seminars, press conferences were held, and later in the evening there was a gala dinner to officially conclude the festival’s program. The main intrigue of the evening was the presentation of the Humo Jaguar Trophy 2011. But first, there was competitive tasting. Six different factories (Alianza, Raices Cubanas, San Judas Tadeo, La Flor de Copan, Tabacos de Oriente and El Paraiso) presented one cigar each for a jury to judge. The jury, made up of professionals in the tobacco industry, aficionados and representatives of local and international media, performed a blind taste test to choose the best cigar. The Tabacos de Oriente factory (which belongs to Plasencia Tobacos) won. The prize was the right to produce and put on the market cigars under the Humo Jaguar brand name. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds will go to a fund for the education of children of workers in the country’s tobacco industry. The fund is overseen by APROTABACOH. Everybody smoked quite a bit on that final night. All the brands of the Humo Jaguar family were presented to the guests. We, the organizers, were incredibly tired, but at the same time very pleased. The way we saw it, the first attempt was in no way a disaster, so that means it was a success! Without a doubt, there will be a second festival. Congratulations on a beautiful beginning, Humo Jaguar! |
