Charity Auction Raises 1,5m Euros For Cuba’s Health System

The traditional gala dinner wrapped up the XX. Habanos Festival in a night that presented two new sizes in the Partagás Maduro line. The Maduro No.2 (55 x 120mm) and the Maduro No.3 (50 x 145mm) joined the Maduro No.1 (52 x 130mm) presented in 2015.

In a night filled with performances by renowned Cuban artists the highlight was the expected humidor charity auction which raised 1,567,000 euros.

The first auctioned humidor was the El Rey del Mundo containing 325 cigars, it went for 185,000 euros purchased by Reza Valibalouch, owner of a La Casa del Habano and a Cohiba Atmosphere in Belgium.

As expected the Cohiba humidor went for the highest value of the night. This unique piece resembling a burning cigar and carrying 550 cigars was purchased by Hamed Abouzahr, Habanos distributor for Andes (Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador), for 340,000 euros.

For the first time ever, a humidor was auctioned off through “closed envelopes” where the bidder put the amount he was willing to pay. During the Festival week the humidor was exhibited at the Habanos booth where offers could be placed in a ballot until the closure of the commercial fair on Friday’s noon. The piece was produced by Humidif Group and contains 120 cigars – 20 of each of the six main Habanos brands (Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás, Romeo y Julieta, Hoyo de Monterrey and H. Upmann). The winner of this auction was Alex Wong, from Hong Kong, who also was the highest bidder on the Partagás humidor at the Gala. The humidors went for 82,000 and 250,000 respectively.

The complete list of humidors:

El Rey del Mundo
Quantity of cigars: 325
Price: 185,000 euros
Buyer: Reza Valibalouch

H. Upmann
Quantity of cigars: 350
Price: 100,000 euros
Buyer: Badar Zeidan

Hoyo de Monterrey
Quantity of cigars: 370
Price: 150,000 euros
Buyer: Hamad Al-Shamisi

Romeo y Julieta
Quantity of cigars: 400
Price: 260,000 euros
Buyer: Hamad Al-Shamisi

Partagás
Quantity of cigars: 420
Price: 250,000 euros
Buyer: Alex Wong

Montecristo
Quantity of cigars: 445
Price: 200,000 euros
Buyer: Hamad Al-Shamisi

Cohiba
Quantity of cigars: 550
Price: 340,000 euros
Buyer: Hamed Abouzahr

Umidor 20^th Anniversary
Quantity of cigars: 120
Price: 82,000 euros
Buyer: Alex Wong

Photo: Alexandre Avellar