A custom-built Siglo XXI Millennium Humidor is expected to fetch in excess of £150,000 ($241,740) at the auction.

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Cigar Auction Features Custom Siglo Humidor

Nick Hammond
Posted: June 29, 2011

Havanas, humidors and the world's most prominent collectors are set to convene on London next month for the latest Cuban cigar auction.

The Summer Auction of Vintage, Rare and Mature Cuban Cigars will be held at Boisdale Canary Wharf on July 4, with the star lot seemingly a custom-made Siglo XXI Millennium Humidor expected to fetch in excess of £150,000 ($241,740).

The humidor, which houses some 2,000 sticks from Habanos S.A.'s top 20 brands, was one of only 21 made to commemorate the millennium. Each brand included has at least one new—or a previously discontinued—vitola in the vast contents of the furniture-style humidor.

"This is probably the most incredible lot we've seen yet," said Mitchell Orchant of C.Gars Ltd who organises two vintage cigar auctions a year. "It's just a staggering lineup of every type of cigar you can think of, beautifully housed in this work of art humidor. It comes complete with its own in-built electronic temperature and humidification system, all provenance documentation and a photograph of Fidel Castro signing it."

Other Lots attracting attention include a large choice of pre-embargo smokes, but the ever-popular Cuban Davidoff and Dunhill-made cigars are anticipated to continue to fetch the premium prices.

A cabinet of 25 Dunhill Cabinetta from the early 1980s is estimated at £7,000 ($11,281); a box of 10 individually tubed Davidoff 80th Anniversario cigars from 1986, is estimated at £4,000 ($6,446); and a cabinet of 25 Davidoff Château Mouton Rothschild from 1985 is expected to fetch £3,000 ($4,834);

There is also an unusual Cohiba cigar case signed by Fidel Castro. It contains a Cohiba Corona Especial and a Cohiba Lancero and is expected to fetch in excess of £2,000 ($3,223).

More recent vintages can also be bought, with the lowest estimates at around £200 ($321) for a box of 25 2002 Ramon Allones Specially Selected.

The Boisdale Canary Wharf is a cigar-friendly jazz and whisky house with a heated terrace and vintage cigar lounge. Former Christie's auctioneer Brian Ebbesen will be wielding the gavel once again, and the auction will be preceded by a cigar and whisky tasting and followed by a meal and live music.

Cigar Aficionado will be reporting from the auction.