Festival Humidors in Havana
When I first arrive at Humidores Habana
on the outskirts of town, Alex Perez - the
company’s commercial manager, and my
translator - is not in. So Ernesto Aguilera,
the founder, starts giving me a tour, as he
does his best to understand my Spanish,
which is actually heavily accented
Portuguese. He guides me - our heads
constantly bowed for fear of smacking into
ceiling beams - to a tiny room with three
work tables. There are young guys at each,
lost in concentration, doing impossibly
fine work in silver and wood. This is where
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Ernesto’s company began in the 90s when
he was a silversmith, working mostly on
his own. Then, Ernesto met cigar smokers
and rollers and their passion soon spread
to him. “They can get to love the cigars
and the world around it even as much as
their wives or their families,” Ernesto tells
me seriously, “and therefore they want to
provide a good home for those guests who
are the cigars.” Not only did he bring his
silversmithing background to humidors,
he also brought his intense and almost
unbridled creativity.