Talented hoteliers with a passion for cigars met in Dubai earlier this week for the third annual Habanos Cigar Sommelier regional competition, hosted by Baqer Mohebi Est (BME).

Baqer Mohebi Est business development manager in charge of the Habanos brand Hadi Sleiman explained: “This is a precursor to The World Habanos Sommelier Competition, a worldwide event that takes place each year in the last week of February, during Cuba’s Festival de Habanos.

“This is the 12th edition of that show, but for us in this region, it’s our third year of taking part.

“Three years ago, our regional winner participated and came in second; last year our winner here went to Havana and won — so we have a lot to live up to!”

The event for local cigar aficionados was held at La Casa Del Habano Shop and Lounge at Jumeirah Beach Residence.

Participants from different hotels, carefully chosen based on their skill, knowledge and passion for cigars, vied for the title over the course of the day-long event.

First-time competitor Rajan Rengasamy, from Zuma Dubai, said he had decided take part because the event was “a great opportunity to learn and have a new experience”.

“To progress, you have to show an interest and get involved in competitive events,” he commented.

“And even if I do not win this time, it gives me a good basis for learning and growing ahead of next year’s event.”

After taking a written theory test, each of the participants gave a 15-minute presentation to the judges, recommending certain cigars, discussing their history and flavours, and advising which drinks could accompany them.

The judges spent a long day watching each of the 14 competitors’ presentations, and said the competition was extremely close.

BME’s Sleiman noted: “All the participants were very well prepared, and scored extremely highly — which is good, because this year we decided we would only fly the winner over to take part in the finals if they scored over 90% overall, so the pressure was really on!”

Last year’s regional winner — and the overall winner of the 2009 World Habanos Sommelier Competition — was Felix Hartmann from the Burj Al Arab.

“The standard here today was very high; the contestants had obviously prepared well and learnt a great deal about the product. The bar is obviously raising here,” he commented.

But the eventual winner was Nerissa Orinday, assistant bar manager at Blends in The Address Dubai Marina.

“I did not compete thinking I would be the winner, but just to experience and be a part of the event — so to actually win has been an amazing bonus; I can’t quite believe that it’s happening!” she said.

“It’s a very new field for me. I originally studied wines, so that has been my concentration, and I did serve cigars before but only on a basic level.

“But once I started learning about cigars, I really got caught up in it, and from there I just found it really interesting.

“I don’t smoke cigarettes, but I do sometimes smoke cigars, and it’s a wonderful experience and one that everyone can enjoy,” she continued.

“As people say, a cigarette is fine, but a cigar is divine!”

Orinday will now be flown to Cuba, courtesy of BME, to represent the region at the World Habanos Sommelier Competition to be held in Havana in the final week of February.

According to Burj Al Arab’s Hartmann, the Habanos competition is an extremely valuable one for the industry.

“You get more knowledge about cigars and also learn to communicate that knowledge to guests. It’s ideal for practicing interaction skills, and how to convey product information to the customer,” he added.

Hartmann also highlighted the progress of the cigar industry over recent years.

“Cigar sommeliers are now coming forward in this region; there are more here. Two years ago there were just eight participants at this event, now there are 14,” he said.

“This is a reflection of cigar smoking’s increasing popularity in the Middle East; many new hotels opening have cigar lounges, to cater to this demand.”

As last year’s Habanos champion, Hartmann will also go to Cuba at the end of this month, as a judge.

Baqer Mohebi Est is the official Habanos distributor in three Middle East countries: the UAE, Oman and Iran.

“We look after these countries in the domestic market and for duty free, and we also have our La Casa Del Habano outlets in each of these countries — the biggest one being at JBR,” explained business development manager in charge of the Habanos brand Hadi Sleiman.

“Smoking Habanos is really picking up in this region; people are graduating from cigarette to cigar smoking,” he continued.

“We are always trying to educate people, in how cigars are a very different proposition to cigarettes: it’s very nice to smoke a cigar, it’s a relaxing experience.

“Cigars have a certain image, and people like to associate themselves with that.”

HADI’S TOP CIGAR TIPS

“This past year we saw the launch of Cohiba Gran Reserva, which is the first of Cohiba’s Gran Reservas. There were only 5000 boxes worldwide, each box containing 15 cigars. They are aged for five years, and really great cigar to smoke.

“Then we have our original edition, Punch Robustos — Exclusively Emirates, which we started in 2008. This is an exclusive cigar for the UAE market.

“And this year, we’re going to see the new regional edition of the Emirates range, which is a Bolivar Sublimis, called Bolivar Emiratus. Again this is exclusively for the UAE market, in appreciation of the great cigar smokers that we have here. That’s coming out in the last quarter of 2010.”

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