2023-09-14 01:16:08
Using a planer dating from the Soviet era, Cuban craftsman René Reyes smooths an old cedar wood door which he will transform into a cigar humidor, these ornate boxes intended to store cigars in optimal conditions. famous Havanas.
“People don’t imagine (…) that such cigar humidors could leave here,” the 55-year-old carpenter told AFP, showing people around his workshop in central Havana where there are piles of old beams, doors and used furniture, the raw material for his art.
While the craftsman works on a door that is “over 80 years old,” the smell of old cedar fills the room. This “cedar smell is so good. It’s like gold, old gold,” marvels this inveterate cigar smoker, holding a handful of sawdust to his nose.
René Reyes works for Tania Duyos, a 53-year-old independent trader, who has been designing these boxes for around twenty years, which allow optimal conservation of cigars, i.e. in humidity between 65% and 70% and a temperature between 16 and 18 degrees.
Dozens of other workshops of this type are scattered across the island. According to experts, cigar humidors can maintain the qualities of a Havana for fifteen years, or even improve them.
In Cuba, whose cigars are considered the best in the world, artisans use several types of wood such as mahogany or ebony, but tradition dictates that the interior is made with old cedar.
“Cedar is very favorable” because “it protects the tobacco from bacteria and provides it with the humidity” necessary for its conservation, explains Ms. Duyos, whereas in an unsuitable environment, even the best cigar can lose its quality.
– Unique finishes –
Sculpted in relief, decorated with metal embossing, painted or inlaid, some of these boxes, coveted by collectors or cigar lovers, sometimes constitute true works of art that can reach astronomical prices.
Artisans sell certain models directly to luxury restaurants or businessmen abroad for a few thousand dollars. Less elaborate boxes can also be purchased at craft markets for more modest prices.
Every year, an exceptional auction takes place in the Cuban capital during the closing of the Havana Festival, which attracts professionals, amateurs and celebrities. During the last edition, in February, the auction of six particularly elaborate cigar humidors reached the record figure of 11.9 million dollars.
The big star of these auctions was sold for $4.4 million: a 100 cm deep circular piece of furniture made of precious wood, cedar and mahogany, embellished with titanium and bronze. It contained 500 of the best cigars from the Cohiba brand, the most prestigious in the country.
René Reyes is currently working on a replica of a more modest cigar humidor that belonged to Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), Nobel Prize winner for literature and great fan of Havanas. The original is on display at Finca Vigia, the house owned by the American writer in the east of the capital, now transformed into a museum.
After the carpenter’s workshop, each piece passes through the hands of a team made up of goldsmiths, cabinetmakers and varnishers for unique finishes.
Ms. Duyos recognizes that in Cuba, under American embargo since 1962 and which is going through its worst economic crisis in 30 years, we have to know how to adapt to the lack of glue, putty, varnish, sandpaper or tools.
“We practically do wonders with nothing,” confirms René Reyes. “The secret is love” of the profession.
Tania Duyos can boast of having had celebrity clients such as former US President Jimmy Carter, footballer Diego Maradona (1960-2020) and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger.
She also gave Barack Obama a cigar box when he came to the island in 2016 on a historic visit. “Thank you for your present,” the American president wrote to her in a letter that the merchant keeps carefully.
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