Cigar Aficionado

Apparently half a million dollars is the new barrier to entry for anyone who hopes to take home a humidor at the Habanos Festival auction. Most sold for more than $1 million, and that seemed to be no problem on the final evening gala. Cigar enthusiasts from all over the world reached very deep into their pockets to bid on a series of one-of-kind humidors filled with hundreds of Cuban cigars. Not only did the auction break a record for the most money ever raised in one evening—more than 17 million euros (about $18.5 million)—it also broke the record for the highest bid on a single lot.

Although the final night of the Habanos Festival was dedicated to Trinidad, it was a Cohiba humidor that stole the spotlight, selling for 4.5 million euros (about $4.9 million), a new record for most expensive humidor ever auctioned at the festival. 

The last evening of the Habanos Festival is the most formal, the most exclusive and the most expensive. It’s also the most important from a philanthropic standpoint, as all the proceeds from the auction go to funding Cuba’s public healthcare system. Held in Havana at the PabExpo Center, the gala is a long, festive night of live entertainment and new releases that goes into the next morning. 

This year, Habanos celebrated the 55th anniversary of the Robusto Extra, a previously discontinued size that was re-issued and re-packaged for the 55th anniversary. 

After various live music performances—and an introduction by Habanos co-presidents Luís Sánchez-Harguindey and Maritza Carrillo González—the auction began. It was an unorthodox auction of uniquely whimsical humidors led by an unusual auctioneer. She refused to stay at the podium but, rather, strode up and down the stage like a singer and even, at one point, into the audience, making the auction as much theater as it was fundraiser. Odd as it was, the approach worked. Every lot save for one sold for more than $1 million euro.  

The first item up on the auction block was a surprise lot that wasn’t part of the official program: the Cohiba Tributo, which is a Year of the Dragon humidor by Elie Bleu. The special lot stood out from the rest of the lots in large part due to its size. Unlike the others, which are huge, and are built to hold hundreds and hundreds of cigars, this one was more traditional, and was filled with 55 Cohiba Lanceros. It’s a numbered humidor, and this was No. 1 out of 128, and it’s designed for the Asian market. It sold for 550,000 euros (about $597,000). It would be the least expensive humidor of the entire evening.

Next up was a Hoyo de Monterrey humidor filled with 375 cigars that closed for 1.15 million euros (about $1.2 million), followed by an H. Upmann humidor of 350 cigars that sold for 2 million euros ($2.2 million) and a 400-count Romeo y Julieta humidor that sold for 1.6 million euros (about $1.7 million). 

Partagás (425-count) and Montecristo (450-count) humidors sold for 2.2 million euros (about $2.4 million) and 2 million euros (about $2.2 million), respectively. 

These numbers are particularly impressive considering the fact that no single auction item at the festival ever reached 1 million euros before 2020. On this night, every official lot quickly shot to the million-euro mark nearly as soon as bidding began. 

The final humidors were auctioned off by a new auctioneer, Brazil’s Alexandre Avellar, who was ed on stage by Habanos vice president José María Inchaurbe. And the high bidding continued and picked up serious momentum with the Trinidad humidor, a decorative cabinet produced by DeArt S.R.L., the same Italian producer that made Trinidad’s 50th anniversary humidor five years ago. 

This year’s 55th anniversary humidor is filled with 450 cigars, some of which are special editions from the past such as Torre Iznaga and Cabildos, the 2024 Edición Limitada, which is yet to be released. In an impressive showing, the Trinidad commemorative humidor sold for 3.8 million euro (about $4.1 million). 

Despite the night being dedicated to Trinidad, nothing commands the dollars like Cohiba. The Cohiba humidor goes up for auction. This year, the Cohiba humidor was rendered as a branded cube that swivels on a base. According to Habanos, the rotating humidor is meant to evoke “the continuous development and growth of the brand.” Within the cube are 500 Cohibas including regular-production cigars like Robustos and Lanceros, and more specialized cigars such as the Novedosos, Ambars and 55 Aniversarios. At the end of the night, a new record was set when the final bid was made for 4.5 million euros (about $4.9 million), suring last year’s Cohiba humidor for the most expensive lot in the history of the Habanos Festival. 

The winner was personally congratulated by Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel, who was in attendance and who took to the stage near the end of the auction for the final lot.

Thanks to the auction, he now has a grand total of 17.8 million euros (about $19.3 million) that will the country’s health system. It’s the most money ever raised in a single night by the Habanos festival. Prior to this evening, Habanos had raised a cumulative total of 36 million euros since 1999. The festival raised nearly half that amount in a single night. 

And the night wasn’t over. While the auction may have closed, the entertainment continued with the headlining act The Village People, who started performing around 1 am. At that hour in Havana, the night is still young. 

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