Highlights of Havana

[android]

Thanks for the update about the trip and I look forward to the photos.

[thechenman]

A dalia would pique my interest. Thanks for the update, and safe travels.

My favorite vitola...

[Nino]

Just back in from HAV myself,

would like to share your views -

meeting Andy was a highlight, great guy - he should have taken me to those outings too ...

BHK 6 was the best cigar hands down.

The Don was feeling better when we were there.

As for Low Lights :

Absolutely agree on the Pigs at the dinners - had to twice forcibly press the used glasses back into the a'holes hands that left them on my eating table w/o any regard of courtesy. Was ready to punch the next guy on the face.

Have heard of people stealing other guest's stuff and .... even at the Gala event the ashtray's would disappear within minutes ...... absolute pigs.

Saw this Sunday's march of the Damas de Blanco on Quinta - they were wearing a black band, heard that a disident died.

Mindboggling but true - things and situations in Cuba are worse than they were a year ago.

Never smoked so many useless & tasteless crap cigars in Cuba before - except for some the average quality was poor.

Happy to say : Adios Festival !

Nino

Havana Highlights.

1. Meeting Andy Ryan and the boys from JJ Fox....Stuart and Rob Fox. Way too many 5 am finishes than were sensible with these lads but we had a hell of a time! In terms of sheer love of life the Irish and Aussies are natural allies !LOL!

2. Cohiba Behike. Loved the flavour profile, rich mouth feel, dense smoke. Take away the factor of price, they have made a very good line of cigars. Unfortunately the size of them precludes me from including them in my personal rotation but a Behike sub 46 gauge is being talked about.

4. Don Alejandro Robaina continues to battle kidney cancer but is feeling better. Enjoying family and life at home. Not bad for 91.

Havana Low Lights

2. Pigs at the dinners. I will punch the next person who steals ashtrays, free cigars (one per person), other peoples gift bags. There is plenty of trash that comes to the Habanos Festival and it is one of the reasons we do our own thing so much.

3. Crackdown. The police were out in force this week after the death of a dissident. You never saw locals on the street in groups larger than four, no street stick ball, police and military everywhere.

4. Empty markets. You are OK if you can live on tinned Tuna and Mango Youghurt.

Look forward to posting pics in a few days!

[compitaveggie]

Just back in from HAV myself,

would like to share your views -

meeting Andy was a highlight, great guy - he should have taken me to those outings too ...

BHK 6 was the best cigar hands down.

The Don was feeling better when we were there.

As for Low Lights :

Absolutely agree on the Pigs at the dinners - had to twice forcibly press the used glasses back into the a'holes hands that left them on my eating table w/o any regard of courtesy. Was ready to punch the next guy on the face.

Have heard of people stealing other guest's stuff and .... even at the Gala event the ashtray's would disappear within minutes ...... absolute pigs.

Saw this Sunday's march of the Damas de Blanco on Quinta - they were wearing a black band, heard that a disident died.

Mindboggling but true - things and situations in Cuba are worse than they were a year ago.

Never smoked so many useless & tasteless crap cigars in Cuba before - except for some the average quality was poor.

Happy to say : Adios Festival !

Nino

Awesome, cant wait to read your blog and the pictures you have from Cuba!!!!

Jose

[Colt45]

Never smoked so many useless & tasteless crap cigars in Cuba before - except for some the average quality was poor.

Nino, festival cigars or cigars in general?

[BobLobLaw]

Not bad. Light-Medium cigar trying very hard not to upset anybody so does lack a little character. They are my first impressions as I only have smoked two and they were over humidified. Give them a few weeks. Packaging is gorgeous.

Thanks for the update. Forgot this is the "womans" cigar and was hoping for a full bodied little firecracker with some spice and wood to it. Will probably still pick up a box or two as they should not be too pricey.

[Nino]

Cigars in general,

especially custom rolled by certain rollers. I was warned ahead and avoided buying/ordering but tried them anyway and the rumour was true. So much so that I know of people returning cigars because of bad quality. Reasons were no or bad raw material, quality problems, wrapper problems, you name it, etc.

My perception was that these issues were true plus you had a very humid week, torrential rains, cigars just wouldn't stay lit - but funny enough the good cigars would stay lit and taste good, so what gives ?

Again, the BHK line was first class and a great cigar. As were other cigars we tasted at the factories, so it was just an isolated problem.

Just my 2 cents to roundabout 30 cigars smoked and tossed away in that week - plus another 10 that were good and another 10 that really hit the spot.

Nino, festival cigars or cigars in general?

[stargazer14]

Nino - I have that ashtray you asked me to grab for you....

[laficion]

Absolutely agree on the Pigs at the dinners -

2. Pigs at the dinners. I will punch the next person who steals ashtrays, free cigars (one per person), other peoples gift bags.

I absolutely agree with both El Prez & Nino on that point.

In 1999 I went to the first Festival del Habano and I truly enjoyed all of the cigar events

that took place during the whole week in Havana. I smoked some great & unique cigars

whike meeting some very passinate cigar aficionados, I did not go to all of the cigar dinners

during the day except sometimes at the convention hall for a quick lunch, because I had

my own plans already worked out, BUT, I did go to the Gala dinner on the last night and on

the whole I enjoyed it very much simply because at our table was seated Compay Segundo

and we really had a great time.

At the end of the dinner the 5th and last cigar that we recieved to spotlight the evening was

the TRINIDAD Robusto A, a fantastic looking DC and still up to today a unique cigar, well,

we were close to about 800 people at that night and almost half of them did not get the chance

to smoke one because some of the guests that evening had already passed in the back of the

kitchens to grab a few plus when the girls passed out the trays with the cigars, hands were plunging

to get as many as possible, leaving the other half of the dinning room without the unique smoke,

Plus all that was stolen, from napkins to forks & knives etc etc. remember, a lot of these guests

are the ones who are bidding in the big Humidor auctions at the end. Yes Pigs indeed.

Money cannot buy courtesy or proper manners.

[El Presidente]

Out of Courtesy I attend the opening night and the PCC event but have long ago given up the Gala dinner. I simply can not stand the behaviour of what goes on. I found myself in a pickle last year where I shirtfronted a distributors guest for theft. The distributor who I know well said "just let it go Rob, everyone does the same." They don't.

We had 3 great parties at my house this year. Anyone who attended understands that those events are what cigars and friendships are all about. Life is too short to hang around dipshits.

[MIKA27]

WOW, I can't understand why people can stoop so low as far as stealing an ashtray or gift bags, cigars etc especially if cigars are being passed around?

What happened to courtesy, manners, respect, cigar etiquette?

I think 'Pigs' is an understatement...

[Jimmy2]

I hate Scumbags like that!!!!

Also i think alot of these low lifes sell this stuff when they get back home or collect it for them selves.

[bunburyist]

oh dear that's pretty low - travel around the world, pay shed loads to be there....and swipe an astray??

sounds like kids on a school trip. Does the mind of the **** never stop to think ''this is fairly twatish, I should stop being a **** and just chill out and have a smoke''

Still, it's an event I want to at least experience - thanks for sharing guys

[Ken Gargett]

As for Low Lights :

Absolutely agree on the Pigs at the dinners - had to twice forcibly press the used glasses back into the a'holes hands that left them on my eating table w/o any regard of courtesy. Was ready to punch the next guy on the face.

we've seen it too many times before. the buffet at the opening night out at the club near the beach was more like tossing rice to starving refugees and i swear they would have been better behaved. women as bad as the guys. mostly eurotrash on the occasion i specifically recall tho it has happened several times (and that is not to suggest aussies blameless as one of our number - no names but nothing to do with our group or rob at all - is well known for shovelling free cigars into his bag and stealing what he can, a real grub).

i have extremely limited patience with that crap and one of the benefits of being large is that one can wade in with elbows slashing and one then just utters a perfunctory and completely insincere apology to the bloke/woman (i see no need to play chivalrous in such circumstances - as joh used to say, you fly with the crows, you'll get shot with them) who 'accidently' copped the elbow. and then do it again. size tends to be a wonderful cover for so much. people mistakenly think you might be brave or tough.

[Stalebread]

The kind of bad behavior you guys are talking about is infuriating.

And it is not limited to the Festival.

Five or six years ago I attended a cigar event at the Grand Havana Room in NYC.

Same story . . . gift bags were stolen, I don't know what else.

All I could do was shake my head in disbelief.

[PoohBore]

I'd convinced my girlfriend that we should attend one of these events and after looking at the Habanos website she whole heartedly agreed.

I'm now thinking that I won't bother it's put me right off.

[riderpride]

Out of Courtesy I attend the opening night and the PCC event but have long ago given up the Gala dinner. I simply can not stand the behaviour of what goes on. I found myself in a pickle last year where I shirtfronted a distributors guest for theft. The distributor who I know well said "just let it go Rob, everyone does the same." They don't.

We had 3 great parties at my house this year. Anyone who attended understands that those events are what cigars and friendships are all about. Life is too short to hang around dipshits.

The theory of relativity as it applies to morality???

[gfoster]

I have to say, reading that kind of stuff makes me sad. What goes through people's minds? What ever happened to simple courtesy, let alone morality?

My mother would've beat me senseless if I had grown up to be the sort of man to steal stuff from hosts (or anyone for that matter). Even now, she's 1500 miles away and if I did something like that I'd expect the hand of doom to come winging out of the central US and backhand me so hard my ears would ring.

I think more people need to have parents that were willing to smack 'em around when they weren't capable of acting like human beings. And for those namby-pamby handwringers that think spanking is bad... I deserved almost every spanking and smack I got. In fact, there were several I deserved that I never did get (because I never got caught) so whenever I did get the rare one I didn't deserve I just chalked it up to "payment owed". In return, I'm a high-functioning adult who can hold a steady job, pays taxes, goes to church regularly, contributes to society, has a strong moral code and the good sense to not act like a complete **** at events like that (unless I've been drinking tequila and then, well, it's sad and ugly and I spend a lot of time apologizing). I'd venture those thieving twats never had parents who cared enough to bat them back into play when they stepped out of bounds.

Good on you, Rob, for "shirtfronting" that guy (never heard that term before but seems pretty self-explanatory). Sometimes that sort of physical "checkup" is the only thing that makes those asses open their eyes.

-- Gary F.

[Bartolomeo]

Life is too short to hang around dipshits.

My motto exactly

Bart

[DrunkenMonkey]

I have to say, reading that kind of stuff makes me sad. What goes through people's minds? What ever happened to simple courtesy, let alone morality?

My mother would've beat me senseless if I had grown up to be the sort of man to steal stuff from hosts (or anyone for that matter). Even now, she's 1500 miles away and if I did something like that I'd expect the hand of doom to come winging out of the central US and backhand me so hard my ears would ring.

I think more people need to have parents that were willing to smack 'em around when they weren't capable of acting like human beings. And for those namby-pamby handwringers that think spanking is bad... I deserved almost every spanking and smack I got. In fact, there were several I deserved that I never did get (because I never got caught) so whenever I did get the rare one I didn't deserve I just chalked it up to "payment owed". In return, I'm a high-functioning adult who can hold a steady job, pays taxes, goes to church regularly, contributes to society, has a strong moral code and the good sense to not act like a complete **** at events like that (unless I've been drinking tequila and then, well, it's sad and ugly and I spend a lot of time apologizing). I'd venture those thieving twats never had parents who cared enough to bat them back into play when they stepped out of bounds.

Good on you, Rob, for "shirtfronting" that guy (never heard that term before but seems pretty self-explanatory). Sometimes that sort of physical "checkup" is the only thing that makes those asses open their eyes.

-- Gary F.

I really don't think that people who act like assholes all do so because their parents didn't smack them enough. Not that it wouldn't be a good idea now for them to get smacked around a bit.

[smll2]

Rob,

Thanks for sharing. You make us all feel like we were there for the good and the bad. My thoughts are you made it good...better in spite of some of the nastiness.

We appreciate your great attitude and generosity in sharing. I do however take exception to using the word Pig on this forum in a negative way.

Thanks again.

[El Presidente]

Sounds really disgusting indeed & doesn't make me feel like attending the festival, even if I'd get the opportunity to go.

On another note, given the turn the discussion has taken, maybe the heading of the thread should change to "Low-Lights of Havana"....?

Don't let it put you off. There are plenty of great people there to hang around with. Plus you can meet Jose, Hamlet, Frida, Toby, Yaima and the team...head to the Tuerto and have a shout on me

[PoohBore]

Don't let it put you off. There are plenty of great people there to hang around with. Plus you can meet Jose, Hamlet, Frida, Toby, Yaima and the team...head to the Tuerto and have a shout on me

It's now only 5 weeks before I go on holiday to Cuba. Can I be so bold and ask what Tuerto is ?

Always on the look out for great things to do and great places to get cigars from.

Thanks

[Nino]

It's now only 5 weeks before I go on holiday to Cuba. Can I be so bold and ask what Tuerto is ?

Always on the look out for great things to do and great places to get cigars from.

Thanks

Wonder if you can get cigars there, but if you have a nice watch nothing is impossible in the drinks sector ........

Seriously now, El Gato Tuerto ( the one eyed cat ) is a great live music place across from the Hotel Nacional, head out the driveway of the Nacional, turn right, walk down 100 yards, it's in a house on your left, can't miss it.

[Kangaroo495]

I really don't think that people who act like assholes all do so because their parents didn't smack them enough. Not that it wouldn't be a good idea now for them to get smacked around a bit.

Agree, but I think Gary has a point. There's a deficit of diciplining going around at the moment.