Cohiba 55th Anniversary Humidor Sells for €2.8 Million
HAVANA, Sept. 10th Friday night likely saw the sale of the most expensive humidor ever sold at auction. Habanos S.A. capped off its Cohiba 55th Anniversary Celebration in Havana, with a humidor auction. The namesake Cohiba 55 Aniversario Humidor sold for €2.8 million, quite possibly the most expensive cigar humidor ever sold at auction.
The event, which took place this week celebrating the anniversary of the Cohiba brand, concludes with tonight’s gala evening, highlighted by the humidor auction that included two humidors: the Cohiba-inspired humidor that likely set a record and a Champagne-focused humidor that sold for €100,000.
Much of the week has functioned as a miniature version of Habanos S.A.’s Festival del Habano, an annual event that the Cuban cigar monopoly hosts each February.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have not been Festivals in 2021 or 2022, but Habanos S.A. planned this event to celebrate a major anniversary for the Cohiba brand.
Annually, the Festival del Habano concludes with an auction of large and grandiose humidors. Typically, there are around a half dozen humidors, one from each brand, that is impressive not just for their designs and sizes, but also for their eye-popping hammer prices. These humidors typically include a mixture of regular production, limited edition and otherwise unavailable cigars.
The proceeds of the auction benefit the Cuban Public Health System. The most recent Festival del Habano humidor auction, hosted in February 2020, raised roughly $4.8 million. That auction included a Cohiba humidor that sold for €2.4 million, which at that time was likely the most expensive humidor ever sold at auction.
This year’s auction included just two lots, one of which focused on the Cohiba brand and another is actually based around Champagne.
Lot 1 — Cohiba 55 Aniversario Humidor
Sold for €2.4 million ($2.39 million).
Despite being “Lot 1,” this was actually the second of the two lots sold. Described as a cave-shaped humidor, it was designed by Nous Group and built by Humidores Habana, which has been creating humidors for Habanos S.A. for more than 20 years.
Measuring 67 inches (170cm) tall by 51.2 inches (130cm) wide and 39.4 inches (100cm) in depth, its design features veneers of precious woods, mother of pearl embedded along the base, and the Cohiba 55th Anniversary logo in gold with Swarovski crystals.
The interior is made from Okoume and mahogany, with trays to hold the 550 cigars that come with the humidor. An internal humidification system and hygrometers ensure that the cigars are kept at optimal conditions.
As for the cigars inside, the list is extensive and spans the majority of the Cohiba portfolio, including regular productions, limited editions, and a handful of cigars that are not sold, such as the Cohiba Gran Corona.
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