Dissecting the Cigar Clubs of Cuba

[El Presidente]

Dissecting the clubs! by Punch Joe

Let me start off with this: Cuba has high smoking prevalence of over 3.070 000 smokers of 18 YO and older. The majority are cigarette smokers as you should have guessed. But here´s the good news. Cigarette smokers don´t have a club. We, cigar smokers, have three instead.

As of today, there are three active clubs as follows

· Bayamanaco Club Sommeliers and barmans mainly

Founded 4 years ago, January 2007 by José Luis Calderón. (depicted here) Formerly the Maitre at the Presidente Hotel. With the help of other friends, they came up with the idea of starting a cigar club one way or another and they finally linked this activity to spirits and liqueurs thus widening the spectrum for more people.

Members are welcome to join the ever increased number of Gourmet chefs, sommeliers, barmen and whoever is involved in offering the cigar service with professionalism and elegance. The club is aimed at discovering the best pairings possible and with only one goal: to offer a better cigar and drink service.

Main Venue: Hotel Presidente, Calzada Avenue and G, Vedado. Used to be the headquarters of said Club and the herf is named El Balcón del Habano (literally The Balcony of the Habano) because is held on the terrace, in the open, outdoors. They are able to gather the most varied audience in every meeting. Rollers, growers, collectors, executives, coffee tasters, sommeliers, TV artists, tourists, winemakers visiting the Island,…etc. César Adames from Brazil, Yves Belaubre from France, Gino Ianillo from Italy, Phillip Ili from Chile, Kenneth Lindsay from the UK (Chivas Regal worldwide Ambassador) are some of the members of this enthusiastic club. Until now, all the gatherings have been held at the Presidente Hotel but now they move to different locations, mainly Hotels in the last days of the month. Along these years they have been pairing up cigars with Vodka, Scotch Whisky (Malt and Blended) Bourbon Whisky, Cuban Rums, Armagnac, Cognac, Brandy, Champagne, Orujos, Grappas (Italy), Pisco (Peru), Cachaça (Brazil) and Awamori (Japanese liqueur). Been sharing with them so many times that when I miss one, they call home to find out why I could not attend to the gathering.

For me, it´s the most active and interesting club of all three. The recently appointed President is the winner of the last Habanos sommelier International Contest (13^th Habanos Festival), Mr. Juan Jesús Machín, now working as Maitre of the Presidente Hotel. Here´s a picture of him.

· Amigas del Habano

Well you have to be a woman to belong this club. That´s all you need! You can come as a guest but unless you have legs or breasts, you can´t be a member. This club is a project developed by the Habanos Museum. Officially opened doors during the celebration of the XII Habanos Festival in 2010. In its customary venue, the Piano Bar at the 11^th floor in Panorama Hotel located in 3^rd Ave and 70 St, Miramar, they get together every three or four months. I was there ONCE!

Just when the "Amigas del Habano" Club tasted the Romeo and Julieta Short Churchills: a robusto size to be paired up with liqueur Café Mulata. What?…Not to me. Nothing against the cigar but the liqueur. I pulled a chair at the bar and ordered a line of Rum. Thanks God I brought my own stogie anyways. Cigars are only offered to members.

So I spent there half an hour or so. Basically a friend working at the bar told me that the only drive for him is to have gathered some interesting chicks in one place. So we would be like two drops of water in the middle of the desert. Indeed there were some people that draw my attention but we are here to taste, talk, and learn about cigars and else. Well, 15 minutes went by, and over 80% of the cigars were resting in ashtrays while the majority of the audience seemed to me more focused in other subjects than their own cigars. I was puffing on my Lusitania (unbanded) while renowned Cuban painter Zaida del Rio, who self entitled years ago a Habanos passionate lover was discussing about the new naïf style or else. Not my thing. I noticed the waiters were paying attention to badly lit cigars, keeping the best ones for later puffing on them I assume. Seriously, the only woman doing things right was lovely Debora García, formerly the Head of Quality Control Department at Partagás. Here´s a picture of her so you can judge by yourselves.

The room was filled with a fine smoke and I finished my drink in one shot. I just got bored of listening ladies and girls chatting indistinctively about purses or what to wear and no cigar talk. I was like ¨Holy ghost…what am I doing here?¨ but at the end they were happy around the smoke so you get the idea.

· The Ambassadors´ Club

Founded in late 2008 by His Excellency Mr. Yan Yoke Heng, Malaysian Ambassador to Cuba and President of the Club until November 2010 when he handed out the chair to the Ambassador of Kuwait who shortly after did the same with the Ambassador of Guinea who is in charge now. Initially, only diplomats were allowed to join the club but in a matter of weeks they realized that was not a good idea to let Cubans out. That way, they were asking many of us to join the club free of charge to help develop the project and add more sauce to the mix. Managers of different Casas del Habano, growers, photographers, prominent rollers, executives…were invited to become members.

They managed to issue an online newsletter service, a monthly gathering in different embassies, and a celebration to mark the anniversary of the Club. I have only participated in the last one (Dec, 2010). Membership now has a fee of 50 cuc and you have the right to come with a guest. They have only one rule: No politics talk. Only cigar talking.

And… where´s the founder of the Club? Well, now he is based in Croatia, appointed as the Malaysian Ambassador and getting involved with the smokers club on that country.

I hope you have enjoyed this little summary

[BobKincaid]

Rob, what kind of cigar is Sr. Calderon lighting in the first pic? That band doesn't look like anything I've seen. Is it a special banding for a Quai d'Orsay or something?

[laficion]

The room was filled with a fine smoke and I finished my drink in one shot. I just got bored of listening ladies and girls chatting indistinctively about purses or what to wear and no cigar talk. I was like ¨Holy ghost…what am I doing here?¨ but at the end they were happy around the smoke so you get the idea.

Great post José, I love to hear & read about clubs

I would willingly go for the women's club.

As president of a cigar club, I can take it, I know how to suffer.