My Favorite Cigar
Roberto Fonseca • Jazz Pianist • Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2
“I’m a very religious person, but my religion is a peculiar one: Santería,” Roberto Fonseca says of a faith native to Cuba. “And at Santería celebrations, having a great cigar is very important.”
Also essential to Santería is music, and music is what made Fonseca a star. He spends the greater part of the year traveling the world, sharing his unique blend of Afro-Cuban music, traditional Cuban music and jazz. It was early in his career when his stint with the renowned Havana ensemble The Buena Vista Social Club introduced him to travel and cigars.
Fonseca hesitates to pick his favorite, but settles upon the Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2, while also name-checking Cohiba and Romeo y Julieta. Whatever the cigar, the experience is contemplative for him: “You need to feel the body, feel the smoke inside your mouth.”
Fonseca smokes most of his cigars on his balcony back home in Cuba. He says it is difficult to find time for cigars on the road, especially with smoking restrictions. When musicians get together, however, and “they’re talking about music and life and someone has cigars, it is like ‘Oh, that’s great man.’”
