Reaching this busy golfer who’ll spend a few days in Havana as a guest to the 12th Habano Festival was possible thanks to the combined efforts of several people and also –as one of those people told me– to the fact that when it comes to any of these two topics, the interviewee is as passionate as it gets.

12th Habano Festival-s special guest

It was in late January and Miguel was in Abu Dhabi on a tight schedule. But our collaborating writers spotted him there and sent him a few questions we had put together in a bid to interview him for this special issue of the Excelencias magazine. Indeed, rather than sticking to the technical guidelines of the academic questionnaire, we simply thought of a conversation among friends. And we started out by asking him: that image that made the rounds all over the world a few years ago, of you celebrating the victory at the Ryder Cup with a habano, is still remembered with tremendous interest and now bears out your passion for habanos. “Well, it’s true that the moments of that Ryder Cup are unforgettable. It was the first time that a golfer could win by such a large score, setting a new record, and there was no better way to celebrate that win than with the habanos we had taken there.” But, can you tell us how you first got close to this one-and-only and so traditional Cuban product? “My arrival in the world of habanos goes a long way back. I used to smoke cigarettes, yet I was always drawn to people with Habano cigars and the aromas they used to give out, so I used to puff on one from time to time. Then in the year 2000 and after being suffering from a cold for quite some time, I decided to quit cigarettes and stick to habanos, something I feel great passion for.” But you have to have your preferences. Can you tell us what your Habano brands and vitolas of choice really are and why? “I like thick vitolas because I feel they draw better and burn more evenly. Among my favorites I should highlight Partagas D4, which I like very much and I chuck out only when it’s burning my lips, so I always regret it’s not just an extra inch longer. That’d do the trick for me. “However, the one I like the most is the Cohiba Siglo VI, a mildly strong cigar that keeps its features all through the burning, while each and every puff on it leaves that kind of taste I like so much and that you can feel in your lips.” The Habano Festival –we told Miguel afterwards– always pans out to be a genuine celebration and homage to Cuban tobacco and cigars, reeling in every year a number of boldface names, like actors Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Coyote, among many others. For the 2010 edition you’re going to be one of those celebrities, rubbing elbows with opera singer Sarah Brightman, Oscar-winning film producer Stephen Evans, 2009 Latin Grammy winners Chucho Valdes and Ivan Lins, and Portuguese crooner Mariza. How do you assess this special opportunity? “To me it’s an honor to be invited to enjoy one of my passions, which are the habanos. And not only for that, but also because this is a unique opportunity and a great honor to stand next to all these artists.” Cuba is stepping up plans to develop golf –I told him as a previous comment to my next question. The Montecristo Golf Cup has been established on a yearly basis now and the great star of its first edition last May was South African golfer Ernie Els. There are plans in the offing to open five or six courses all across the country in coming years. Assuming that over 50 million people practice golf around the globe, thousands of them as professionals and that the island nation is taking its first steps in this direction, how do you see the future? “Truth is I feel so good knowing that golf is now beginning to get its big break in Cuba, so from a tourism standpoint, this will bring big benefits to the country by becoming an international travel destination for this sport, opening and fostering this new motivation to travel to this wonderful island. I was in Havana in late 2006 and then I said to myself I’d have to come back one more time. Given my professional competition schedule, I’ve always had a hard time getting some spare time, but now thanks to this Habano Festival I’m blessed with the opportunity to do so and enjoy once again this country and everything it has to offer to its visitors.”.

“The habano I like the most is the Cohiba Siglo VI, a mildly strong cigar that keeps its features all through the burning, while each and every puff on it leaves that kind of taste I like so much and that you can feel in your lips”