049: On Cuban cigars and their marketing

Ana Lopez started working in the tobacco industry in 1984. She is a former operational marketing director of Habanos and participated in the creation of more than a hundred of new lines and products and of concepts, such as the Habanos limited editions, Colección Habanos, and even Habanosommelier. She is also founder of the Habanos festival. Ana is currently a sales advisor at the company Hunters & Frankau in the UK. She is Master in Havana cigars. Together with her husband, Ana has recently started venturing into YouTube and created the Cigar Ritual Channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbE0uuVGjJdQZpbdUDALTg] where you can find great educational content. This interview covers many different aspects of the theme we approached: the influence of the wrapper on the Cuban cigar's flavor the different types of tastings in Cuba - tasting commission in the factories, national commission of tasters measuring flavor intensity and importance of creating objective cigar profiles using a common sensory language; why is this not so important in Cuba? the enigma of origin of the believe "the darker the color, the stronger the taste" what should women smoke? the role that consumers deserve and more. --- Log-in or sign-up for free at cigarsense.com to download your free ebook "Our senses in action when enjoying a premium cigar".