Unlock Editor’s Digest Lock for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf will select your favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
It’s hard to think about the many good things that came out of the Cold War. The only example that comes to mind is Kohiba. What began as Fidel Castro’s personal cigars has now evolved into a manufacturer of products that are as rare as they can be recognised, shoulder to shoulder with Hermes and Chanel.
The most featured cigar collectors and enthusiasts, Komahiba was launched in 2010 and celebrated its 15th anniversary at Havana’s recent festival Del Habano. At an auction during the festival, 400 Hamidors raised 4.6 million euros, setting a new record for the humidor sale: cigars 11,500 euros.
Cohiba Behike BHK 58
It bursts with chocolate notebook on a nutty background
One reason for this amazing price is that the humidor includes a new size. A 58-ring gauge cigar, like a 7-inch log, is a giant, but he is a well-mannered giant. This gentle giant skillfully captured family similarities in terms of flavor profile. It is intricate, creamy and rounded, and it bursts with a chocolate notebook against a nutty background, moving towards the coffee as the burn progresses. Like Cuban cigars, the final third sees flavor enhancements, but the equilibrium remains spectacular. Perhaps you’ll expect a cigar that will soon be traded for an amount that approaches £1,000 a stick.
The new BHK 58 is a huge cigar, but its presence exists in two small leaves at the top of the cigarette factory. There is a concentration of nicotine, and they are known as Medio Tiempo, and were not used for over half a century until the launch of Behike 15 years ago.
Recommended
The leaves do not appear in all plants, but when they do, they are left there and soaked in the rays until they become plump and oily. And for their strength, they need 60 days in a hardening barn of about 45 for “normal” leaf cigarettes. All Cuban tobacco ferment twice in about 100 days, first at 35ºC and then at about 40-50ºC. The Medio Tiempo requires 200 days at a maximum of 55ºC and must age for another 2 years. Like all brotherhood tobacco, you will receive a long third fermentation that will eventually explain balance and smoothness.
In an age characterized by mass production and the relentless democratization of luxury, there is still encouragingness about the existence of products like Behike. It is born not from the exaggeration of quality, but from the preservation of artisan skills, the accumulated wisdom of the craftsman generation.
