Four years ago I was happy to share that I had earned my certification as a cigar sommelier by the International Association of Cigar Sommeliers (IACS). I was and remain quite proud of that. Becoming an expert in a field that I am passionate has always been an exciting endeavour for me, and to be able to sit in a class and learn from industry experts in such a field is never a waste of my time.
In the first week of May I received a phone call from a friend at Habanos S.A. who informed me that they had started offering the Habanosommelier instruction and certification classes online. While the class would be delivered primarily in Spanish they would also have translators so that those of us who are not fluent in Spanish would be able to attend. He informed me that the class was by invite only, and I was honoured that he considered me a viable candidate. I was with Leslie in the car and it did not take us more than a minute to decide that I was definitely going to accept.
From the middle of May through the first week of August there would be twenty-five candidates in class once every week. We had a list of cigars and spirits that we would need to procure, and every Monday night we would sit together and learn about the history of cigars and tobacco, the process of making them (from preparing to plant the seeds and right through the delivery to the authorized resellers in every country around the world. All of this focused, of course, on the very best Cuban cigars. In order to graduate we would be required to choose and present a pairing of our own before a panel of instructors, judges, and our peers.
As our instructors were all Cuban and mostly not conversant in English I decided to prepare my presentation in a language that I am conversant but not nearly fluent in. On the first Monday in August I prepared a table on my balcony and staged it for the camera. That evening I delivered my presentation, and I am grateful that it was recorded.
I considered re-recording the session in English but decided against it, instead opting to include subtitles so that my audience could understand in both English (my mother tongue) and Spanish, the language of cigars. As I continue my journey through the cigar world I know that I will have to work on my fluency in that language, but considering where I started I don’t think I’m doing too badly.
I hope you all enjoy the video!
Passion For Cigars 