Day Two at the Encuentro Amigos de Partagás festival began a little slower than Day one, thanks to the Cuban rum and dancing into the early hours. We began the morning by taking breakfast at our hotel and smoking some of our Cuban cigars online by the pool, such as the Behike 56 from Cohiba and then made our way back to beautiful Borgo Lanciano.
11AM
We took a look around the hotel and admired the sponsors of the festivals who had set up stalls around the restaurant. Italian leathers a plenty from Antonio Pilo Mele and Italian jewellery from Marchegiani, as well as Hotel Resort Albergo Miramonti were all but a few friendly faces we saw whilst there.
1PM
After a Peroni by the pool, we enjoyed some lunch with fellow attendees, said our hellos to our host Francesco Minetti and of course smoked some more Cuban cigars, including some Cuban cigars for sale on our website at an excellent price. Lunch consisted of an impressive buffet of sorts, with mozzarella di bufala in abundance, the plumpest and richest red tomatoes and pastas in all varieties.
We then carried out some fantastic interviews with some very interesting people in the cigar industry, including the likes of Habanosommelier World Champion of 2017, Felipe Rojas Bruna and Jeppy Style- style and cigar blogger.
2PM
Felipe Bruna was both charismatic and charming, which proves why he was awarded Habanosommelier of the year last year. We spoke about many cigars online, his hotel in Dubai ‘Above 21’ and his recent endeavors in the cigar industry. We’ll be writing a more in depth post on our Cuban Cigar blog, so keep any eye out for that!
We then spoke with Jeppy Style, who has been making his mark in the blogging world with his style and love of Cuban cigars. As well as this we spoke with curator of the event, Francesco Minetti and many others which we’ll also be reporting on in a later blog post.
Not only is this event fantastic for meeting like minded individuals on their own journey in the Cigar industry, but its also an opportunity to get to know the cigar world a little better, with blind cigar tasting and training and torcedores schooling, its an event for every type of individual. As well as this, in the lounge of the hotel, there was an extensive and exceptional collection of bespoke humidors, including some of the most unique storage cases for only the best Cuban cigars.
4PM
After this we got some much deserved rest before the gala dinner that evening, which was sure to be a beautiful one set in the medieval town of Matelica. After a couple of hours catching up on some zzzz's and getting into our suits and gowns, we were ready for another night on the town.
7PM
We arrived to the Piazza around 7:30pm and wandered down the cobbled streets just as the sun cast its warm glow across the city. Cuban and Italian flags cascaded down upon us from the centre of the street and vintage, classic cars filled the small road. As you can imagine, it was incredibly atmospheric and we felt very special being a part of it.
The Piazza Enrico Mattei was set up spectacularly and cordoned off from the public for the night as to allow for the Amigos de Partagas to fill the square. Already a beautiful setting, with the Octagonal Fountain in all its white stone glory taking centre stage it was obviously going to be an unforgettable evening.
9PM
We enjoyed dining with fellow guests including our dear friend Felipe Bruna and were entertained by a complete band including a brass section, truly charming. Our five course dinner consisted of various delicious dishes, but the most memorable was an exquisite mussel linguine with plenty of garlic and chilli. But of course, the wine and rum which complimented it were the perfect accompaniment.
The cigars given out to us over the course of the evening included the Montecristo No.5 cigar, Montecristo Edmundo Cigar and understandably the one we were all waiting for, the Partagas Serie No.1 Limited Edition (2017) Cigar. This is the first time the Italian market was able to see and sample the No.1, so it was a very exciting moment for all. We were even giving a tutorial by Felipe himself on how to cut and light the cigar, which we captured on our Instagram- check it out below!
The evening was tied up by another performance from Cuban talent Haila Mompié, who stunned guests by singing in-between the tables giving us an up- close show of her unbelievable voice. A magical end to a majestic event.
Despite such a beautiful evening, it was clear that many were feeling a little tired from the late night the day before and energy was really lacking towards the end of the event. After speaking to the organisers it was clear that they were planning to shake things up for next year and were in the midst of making changes to the event’s format so as to keep the momentum up- very exciting.
The event ended with a number of guests winning prizes in the raffle, including two people sat at our table, including us- and no, it wasn’t rigged! Unfortunately, none of us won the trip to Cuba, not actually sure who did as the winning raffle ticket was left uncollected- we’ll take it!
Did any of you attend the event this year? What are your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comments section below…
THE CIGARS ATTENDEES WERE GIFTED:
Montecristo Edmundo: 320.00 CHF/ £248.07 (Box of 25 Cigars)
Partagas Serie No. 1 Edición Limitada 2017: 675. CHF / £515.23 (Box of 25 Cigars)
Montecristo No. 5: 175.35 CHF/ £132.46 (Box of 25 Cigars)
