EXCLUSIVE – Xiaohong Hu, the woman who bought the Cohiba humidor for €4.5 million

L’Amateur de Cigare reveals the identity and functions of the woman who bought the Cohiba humidor for €4.5 million this Friday March 1 in Havana.

Xiaohong Hu at a reception at the Kempinski Hotel on Saturday, March 2, the day after the XXIVth Habanos Festival.

 

Xiaohong Hu, chairman of the Chinese media group ZSHK, is not only the proud owner of the Cohiba humidor which set a new record at €4.5 million, but also of a Montecristo humidor for which she paid €2 million during the same Habanos Festival gala evening.

In an exclusive interview with L’Amateur on the sidelines of a “China-Cuba exchange dinner at the XXIVth Festival del Habano to celebrate friendship” between the two countries organized the day after the auction, she confirms that these two pieces are in her possession “for the moment”. That is what she replied when we asked her if she had bought them for herself or for a third party.

“In China, Cohiba is a very popular brand that everyone knows,” she says. “This is our first time at the Festival del Habano. We are also here to learn about cigar culture. I really like the design of both humidors. And I also made this purchase to contribute to the Cuban health system.”

Xiaohong Hu and his company are acting as an intermediary in discussions between Habanos SA and Luzhou Laojiao Co, Ltd, a Chinese distillery based in Sichuan. The two companies are working on the joint launch of a baijiu, a Chinese white liquor.

The Chinese Ambassador to Cuba, the general director of Luzhou Laojiao, as well as several managers of Habanos SA and Infifon HK, exclusive distributor of Cuban cigars in mainland China, participated in this dinner organized at the Kempinski Manzana Hotel by the University of Havana “with the support of Habanos SA, Luzhou Laojiao Co, Ltd, Habanos SA and Cuba Ron SA. »

Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel greets Xiaohong Hu a few minutes after she won the Cohiba humidor auction.

 

Xiaohong Hu, with Jorge Perez Martel, vice-president of Habanos SA, on his right. Third from the right, Zhang Biao, general manager of Luzhou Laojiao Distillery Co, Ltd.

 

During XXIVth Habanos Festival the gala diner, Xiaohong Hu was seated at the table of Infifon HK, Habanos exclusive distributor in mainland China. On his right, Omar Leon Sanchez, representative of Infifon HK in Beijing and Abdelasis Pita Lopez, general manager of Infifon HK.

 

Laurent Mimouni, special correspondent in Havana
Photos : © Luc Monnet