(Photo: CGTN)
Cuba is famous for its hand-rolled cigars made from high quality tobacco leaves cultivated on the island. It's the result of a tradition passed from generation to generation and highlighted by the Habanos International Cigar Festival held every year in Havana.
Western Cuba has lands gifted with high fertility levels and local climate, which favor the cultivation of tobacco, an aromatic plant grown here for over five centuries.
"I have grown tobacco since I was 7 years old. My father owned a plantation, and when I came home from school, he would teach me how to plant tobacco and water the seedlings. For me, a tobacco grower is someone who loves these plants and takes care of them from planting to harvest. If you want to be successful, you must follow the development of each plant day after day," said Jesus Aurelio, a 76-year-old successful tobacco farmer.
Tobacco is a short-term kind of crop. As harvest takes place, tobacco leaves are carried to curing barns where mostly women string bundles of tobacco leaves onto large sticks and hang them up to dry.
Then the leaves, dried and cured, go to the cigar factories and are turned into the famous Cuban Habano cigars.
Cigar rolling is an ancient tradition on the island currently kept by many young Cubans like 27-year-old Sheila Estrada. "I come from a family of cigar rollers, like my grandparents, uncles and cousins. This is something I liked since the very moment I joined this factory, where I want to keep rolling cigars," she says.
Habanos cigars are sold around the world. Top markets include Spain, France and China.
More than an estimated 300 million Chinese people smoke, according to the World Health Organization, almost a third of all the smokers in the world.
Every year, the Habanos S.A. company launches the International Habanos Cigar Festival, which is attended by business people, cigar fans and tobacco growers from around the world, showcasing new cigar products.
During this year's festival, Habanos leaders said their company is currently marketing 27 cigar brands worldwide and that the company earned over $500 million in 2019, which affirms the importance of this export product for the Cuban economy.
"China is a very strategic market for us because we are growing quite a lot in emerging markets, and China is a major market ranking number two in terms of sales, and we are sure it will continue to hold that position in the future," said Luis Sanchez-Harguindey, Habanos S.A. Cigar Company co-president.
Every year, Cuban and foreign cigar lovers meet here to share information on the latest developments in the world of cigars and make time to share the captivating taste of a premium Habanos cigar.