CONNOISSEUR on the Banks of the Neva

CONNOISSEUR members spent the final weekend of summer in Saint Petersburg. The club’s fifteenth gathering brought together the city’s history, cigar culture, a journey along the Neva and the warm conversation that makes travelling together so rewarding.

On Saturday, August 29, Saint Petersburg welcomed the visitors from Moscow with sunshine and near-summer warmth. The weekend began with a walking tour of the historic centre, jointly led by a local guide and Horsepower Cigar Club member Mikhail Pashaev. Starting at the monument to Catherine II, the route focused on places connected with the cigar history of Russia’s northern capital.

After the walk, the group gathered for dinner at the private Prof. Freud cigar club. Its relaxed setting, good food, cigars and continued conversation formed a natural conclusion to a full day — though not to the programme itself.

That night, the club took to the Neva aboard a modern yacht. Illuminated palaces, raised bridges and the changing city skyline looked entirely different from the water. The cruise became one of the journey’s most vivid memories: a rare opportunity to slow down and simply watch Saint Petersburg pass by.

On Sunday, the city revealed another side of its character. Heavy rain changed the original plans, but the gathering continued in the lounge of the Symposium restaurant complex. There, the members met the weekend’s principal guest, Artyom Erenburg.

Artyom is the first Russian Habanosommelier, who represented Russia in Cuba in 2011, a member of the Horsepower Cigar Club, organiser of the Cuban Cigar Connoisseurs Competition and winner of the national Aficionado of the Year award in the 2023 Connoisseur category. The conversation combined professional stories, rare insights and a lively exchange of experience.

The journey to the banks of the Neva became much more than a two-day cultural programme. Grand architecture, gastronomy, the river and cigars created the setting, but once again the people with whom those experiences were shared mattered most.

Our thanks go to Mikhail Pashaev for organising the Saint Petersburg programme and resolving every practical detail, to Artyom Erenburg for an open and deeply informed conversation, and to every participant for the atmosphere of the club’s fifteenth gathering.

Until our next meeting and our next journey together!