A roster of illustrious guests bedecked with ornate fineries graced the affair, including Petron chairman Khalid Al-Faddagh; China Trust Bank’s Bill Go; Dresdner Bank’s Cesar Virtusio; Bonifacio West Development Corp. president Charlie Rufino; RFM’s Ronnie Concepcion; Manila Peninsula GM David Batchelor; Manny Reyes; former Tourism Secretary Vince Carlos; HSBC CEO Warner Manning; PT&T president Maureen Santiago; among many others. Your columnist served as the event’s emcee.
Tobacco aficionados and cigar bar owners showed up in full force: Barbara Cumagun and Bebo Quiros of Kipling’s at the Mandarin Hotel; James Du Vivier of Forth & Tay at the New World Hotel; Johnny Cobankiat of Churchill’s at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel; Larry Cruz of Havana Café; and David Almendral of FUMA.
British American Tobacco was well-represented by Dunhill Premium Cigar manager Chris Boon and GM for Philippines and Thailand Scott Guthrie; Far East South Area top honchos Fred Combe, Kenny Wong and James Clark; and BAT Philippines’ Dennis Belgira, Miko Pascual, Carlo Zaldarriaga and Kathy Bacosa.
The cocktail area was adorned with nostalgic pictures of the cigar-making process from the Dunhill factory in the Dominican Republic. The food was a veritable feast featuring French-Mediterranean dishes with touches of South American flavor by master chef Glenda Barretto. Live string music was performed by Da Capo, and the talented Lynn Sherman sang a set of beautiful jazz songs to cap the evening.
Of course, the Star of the Night was the exceptional, full-flavored Dunhill signed range cigar. Guests were treated to a taste of the finely hand-crafted samples from Dunhill’s latest line. After lighting up and taking a few puffs, everyone agreed that, indeed, the perfect blend was a world-class smoke.
Congratulations on a very, very successful event!
Advance birthday greetings to culinary expert Margarita Fores and Anya Katigbak, March 22; Loling Panlilio and Snooky Taylor, March 23; Carlos "Linggoy" Araneta, March 24; Harrison Plaza’s Irene Martel Francisco, March 25; Heritage Hotel’s Geena Zablan and Starweek’s Lydia Castillo, March 27.
Happy wedding anniversary to Ernest and Josie Rufino, March 23. May you all have many, many more years of wedded bliss.
So, how was your week?
(For comments and inquiries, please e-mail me at jjlitton@indanet.com)