Cigar lovers get whiff of paradise at Havana festival

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP)

More than a thousand cigar lovers from 60 countries ringed the center of the cigar universe Monday in Havana, comparing notes and celebrating Cuba's finest smokes.

Distributors, specialists and simple aficionados packed opening day of the Eighth Habanos Festival, an annual event sponsored by Habanos, a global distributor of the esteemed Cuban cigar.

British actor Joseph Fiennes was among a hundred celebrities on hand for the festivities, dedicated this year to Habanos' leading brand, Cohiba.

The presence of the 36-year-old actor at the event, who played the lead of Will Shakespeare in the 1998 film comedy "Shakespeare in Love," coincided with an opening performance based on the Bard's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Havana Grand Theater.

The performance of "Shakespeare and His Masks" by the Cuba National Ballet marked the 131st anniversary of the Romeo y Julieta brand.

"We dedicate this festival to the emblematic brands of premium Cuban cigars" which total 34 brands of pure, hand-rolled tobacco, said Enrique Babot, marketing director of Habanos SA, the Spanish-Cuban-French company that virtually holds a monopoly on Cuban cigars.

The festival will present newcomers to the Habanos stable in 2006 -- among them Top Cohiba -- and includes a trade fair, an auction of humidors and visits to tobacco fields and factories. The annual event ends with a gala dinner Friday.