His knowledge and presentation on this subject is incomparable!

It must be some fifteen (15) years ago when I sat in his office with James Suckling and George Brightman, of Cigar Aficionado, looking at a roughly drawn illustration, sitting on an easel, of what turned out to be a tongue. “The Kelner tongue,” in fact!

Well, not Henkie’s tongue really; but the diagram he uses to illustrate where on the tongue and palate various tobaccos – ligero, seco, volado – hit our senses! Now the man is an expert on tobacco; he grows tobacco; he manufacturers cigars. This however, was more like the work of a doctor or scientist – not an Industrial Engineer turned world renowned cigar maker!

It was this same information, highly refined and the body of knowledge enhanced in those fifteen years, that Kelner conveyed to us at the riveting seminar. Amazingly, the man can tell you exactly what your senses will feel from tobaccos grown in the Cibao versus the San Vicente – as well as tobaccos from other countries.

Surely, this is knowledge not required or desired by the smoker of White Owl or Hava-Tampa, but for the aficionados and connoisseurs who attended Pro Cigar Festival 09, it was what we came for.

Some down time at our hotels, after the seminar; relax and dress for the evening and at 7:15 PM we were off to the “Welcome Dinner.”