For the first time, a Latin American woman won the highest award at the XXIII Edition of the Habanos Festival in Cuba. Her name is Blanca Alsogaray, she is Argentine, she has ten grandchildren, and there are days she smokes three cigars. "Yes, of course it's a macho world! But I won!" she jokes.
The Festival that has been held every year in Cuba since 2000, says Blanca, is like the Oscars of cigars. There the whole industry gathers: specialists, distributors, merchants, amateurs. And a person stands out in three areas: production, communication and business.
Blanca was named personality of the year in business and won the "Habano 2023" award. Until the previous edition the award was called "Habanos Man". "They took that word out because it was too much," says Blanca. It is a recognition of my life's work, which I feel is very important because Argentina is not an easy country for business, and even less so being a woman."
Blanca Alsogaray says cigars are healthier than cigarettes. Photo: Emmanuel Fernández
"The truth is that I really deserve it," Blanca reaffirms. In his shortlist he competed with two men, one from Aruba, another from France.
And there she is, in her business at 900 Reconquista Street, "La Casa del Habano". He founded it 30 years ago, when there were only two stores in the world, which were in Mexico. There are now more than 150 in different countries. "I want to celebrate 30 years, and the prize, we are going to make a great celebration," he announces. That's why, he laughs, he's tasting one wine after another: to decide which one will be served.
The aroma of childhood
To explain her passion, Blanca goes back to her childhood, to the house in Belgrano and the aroma left by her father, Miguel, who in addition to being an aviator, smoked cigars. And she jumps to Madrid, when she had turned 15 and they were hiding with her brother Emiliano, 13, to smoke the cigars they stole from Miguel. "How dizzy we were!" recalls Blanca.
"Then my kids did the same thing to me!" she smiles. Two daughters and two sons. And it's his daughters who followed his path. Ana has a tobacco shop. Lucía is a doctor, but she also did a master's degree in cigars in Cuba and now teaches classes and workshops at La Casa del Habano. Teach smoking.
Blanca with her daughter Lucía, a shared passion. Photo: Emmanuel Fernández.
Blanca did it at the time. Now enjoy. And he assures that there are other women who "smoke well" What does it mean to smoke well? How do you start smoking cigars? "Smoking well is choosing rich cigars, not for the brand but for the flavor, and taking into account the moment, the occasion. You start smoking soft cigars, not expensive, because if you do not like them you leave it, instead if it is very expensive you will smoke it until the end. You have to go from the softest to the strongest."
Blanca says that there are people who get up and light their cigar with breakfast, which she prefers later, who have days of smoking up to three cigars and who sometimes spend a whole week without lighting any. Aren't they addictive like cigarettes? "They're not addictive, they don't have chemicals or paper, they don't make you swallow the smoke. Cigars helped me quit cigarettes," says Blanca.
"This is my thing"
Blanca finished school and there was no career that interested her especially to study. He dedicated himself to work. He jumped from one thing to another. He married, had four children. And then one day he thought that the passion for cigars could become his support. It was the 80s. With a partner they talked to people from Cuba and managed to keep the distribution of cigars in Argentina.
In 1993 he opened "La Casa del Habano". "Most of those who come are men, but there are also women," says Blanca. He says that cigars are available for 900 pesos, and that there are special boxes that can cost 150 thousand. He names the most famous: Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagas, Romeo and Juliet, He also explains that there are cigars that last twenty minutes and others, an hour and a half.
Blanca and Lucía, doctor and cigar scholar. Photo: Emmanuel Fernández.
Celebrities and businessmen are usually habitués of their place that did not close in pandemic. Or yes, but I did home delivery. "At that time consumption increased a lot, people had more time, they were at home...", he explains. Also more nervous? "Yes, as is. And as my daughter the doctor says: the disease of the moment is stress, and the cigar lowers it."
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