At the annual Habanos Festival, the most expensive humidors in the world are auctioned off. This year, an artistic Cohiba cabinet fetched 4.5 million euros.
For the Cuban cigar industry, the «Festival del Habano» is as important as the Basel watch fair was for the Swiss watch industry in the past. This year marked its 24th edition.
Every year, at the end of February, around 2,000 dealers and cigar enthusiasts from around the world gather in the Cuban capital.
A Show Like Las Vegas
The highlight and conclusion of the week-long festival is the grand closing gala with a cigar auction. For this purpose, the «Palacio de las Convenciones,» the largest convention center in the country, is decked out as if you were in London or Las Vegas.
A red carpet awaits the visitors and the tables are festively set. A huge stage for cultural and musical performances is flanked by speakers blasting Latin American music at maximum volume.
Upward Price Pressure
The «Festival del Habano» is perhaps the event where the otherwise politically and economically distant island comes closest to the rest of the world.
This also applies financially. Not only are the prices for admission tickets at the level of developed countries, but the Cuban cigar industry also demonstrates new room for upward pricing every year.
Cohiba Leads the Way
This is especially true for the art humidors specially crafted for the auction on gala night. Each of the sometimes very voluminous and elaborately decorated cabinet constructions is dedicated to a specific cigar brand. They contain the standard models of the respective brand.
The top performer at this year's auction was the Cohiba humidor, which houses twenty examples of the 25 famous formats of this brand. Among them were also twenty cigars in the three coveted Behike sizes.
China's Hunger for Luxury Goods
After lpatient persuasion by the auctioneer, this humidor achieved a price of 4.5 million euros ($4.9 million). Which corresponds to an average of 9,000 euros per cigar. In total, the eight auctions amounted to 17.8 million euros. The proceeds officially benefit the Cuban healthcare system. For political reasons, the auction is carried out in euro, not US dollars.
At least four of the eight humidors were purchased by Chinese guests. Another indication that Chinese demand for the luxury good that has become the Havana cigar is driving the general upward price pressure observed in Cuban cigars for years.
In 2020, a Chinese consortium based in Hong Kong bought Spanish Altadis' 50 percent stake in the Cuban export monopoly Habanos S.A. The other half belongs to the Cuban state.
