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Ernesto Aguilera Reina, artist

“I Make Working Fun”

This is what Artist Ernesto Aguilera Reina, creator of the Montecristo-brand humidor poised to go under the gavel during the 9th Habano Festival, told Caribbean Habano Special.

A genuine Cuban specimen born and bred on this island nation, Ernesto Aguilera Reina is a humble, blissful and generous man who loves his family and his country, but above all, feels great passion for his job. This silversmith –a trade he loves with all his heart- became spellbound by the charms of wood a dozen years ago and since then he has been carving pieces with metal ingrained in them.

Thus, with humidors that are easily singled out for their style and originality, he tried his hand at the world of Habanos, and even started smoking cigars in an effort to get to know them better and unravel their most intimate secrets.

Exquisite products designed to preserve Habanos come out of his talent and able hands, items in which the soberness of different metals is elegantly mixed with cedar –his favorite wood for the softness and excellent properties it has to offer.

“Wood is a lady that deserves respect. It’s slender, elegant and when it comes to decoration with metals, you ought to take your hat off to its natural beauty.”

His ties with Habanos go back to five years ago. A couple of years ago, he signed up for the traditional humidor auction with a Punch coffer –the money collected in the public sale is poured into Cuba’s healthcare system. This is one of the works he cherishes the most, alongside the Rey Duende Collection. During last year’s Habano Festival, he came up with a Montecristo humidor. For making this artwork, he whetted his imagination with the reading of Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Montecristo.

This time up he’s back in the auction with a bold fusion of metals and wood. The result is a piece he’s labeled The Return of the Count of Montecristo.

Now he’s breathed life back into the larger-than-life brand’s coffer, and it’s all happened in his workshop with the help of a valuable team of artisans. The humidor is made up of a cabinetwork-decorated ship mounted on wheels, featuring a bronze-and-silver figurehead. The interiors keep a writing desk crowned with the shapes of an elephant and a dinosaur.

Mr. Aguilera is a member of the Cuban Association of Artisans and Artists (ACCA) and his artworks are exhibited in France, the U.S., Mexico and Canada.