"It's not only the first crop of corojo," states Berger, "it's the first crop of anything that's been grown on this plot of land for sixty years. You can imagine how rich the tobacco is, growing on land this fertile."

Berger is known for the characteristically sweet and delicate flavor in his private-label cigars, notably the Cupido brand. He recently entered the market for the first time with his own Don Kiki 2000 Limited Reserve premium line. These all-Nicaraguan cigars, also featuring his tobacco, sold out at the recent RTDA show.

"These new 'Criollo-Corojo' cigars are my flagship line for good reason," says Berger, principal of Esteli Cigars S.A. In addition to aging the corojo wrapper for an extended period, Bergers says other special techniques give the new cigar a distinctive character. "We add Flor de Ca-a extra-select Nicaraguan rum to the water we sprinkle on the tobacco during fermentation, for example," he explains, noting that the fermentation period is twelve months, instead of the usual seven.

"These techniques all give this full-bodied cigar a flavor like no other," says Berger, adding that "powerful cigars usually lack the smoothness and sophistication we have achieved." The all-Nicaraguan Criollo-Corojo's filler blend consists of Criollo and Habano leaf. The corojo wrapper has a lush, warm rosado hue.

Five classic shapes make up the Criollo-Corojo line: Churchill, Torpedo, Toro, Corona, and Robusto. The cigars are cellophane-wrapped and presented in all-cedar boxes of 25, with the signature photo of Berger at a rolling table, on the inside box label. Retail pricing for the Criollo-Corojo line will center on the $4.00 mark, at keystone discount.

According to Beach's president and c.e.o. Kaizad Hansotia, the cigars are "very heavy - one of the most powerful cigars available anywhere," to fit smokers' developing taste for full-bodied cigars. "We have added extra ligero to give the cigars this level of strength," he says, "but the sweet flavor of the extra-aged Cameroon wrapper balances out the ligero. This premium-level leaf is true Cameroon, not the lower-quality tobacco grown in neighboring West Africa, misnamed 'Cameroon' by many cigar manufacturers. This wrapper gives the new line a very dark maduro color." The filler and binder are Cuban-seed Dominican leaf. The cigar is available in all six shapes of the existing Master Select line: Robusto, Churchill, Torpedo, and three sizes of Perfecto.

The 120 year-old Gurkha line is Dominican-made. The new Master Select maduro Cameroon line retails for at $6 to $9, at keystone. It is presented naked, tied with an Indian linen sling and boxed in luxurious cedar cabinets of 50 cigars. Like all Gurkha cigars, each box is be numbered and certified as to authenticity.

Production will be limited to 500 cabinets per shape," says Hansotia. "We already have orders in house for half that total output of 3,000 cabinets, as loyal Gurkha customers anticipate the release of this very robust but refined cigar."

"We are offering the 5-Packs in six variations," says Phillips. "In addition to 5-packs of each of the five flavors, smokers can buy a 5-Pack with one cigar each of all five Heaven flavors." The names of the flavors appear on both the cigar bands and boxes, and each flavor bears a different colored band to make product selection easy for tobacconists and smokers.

Phillips says the idea for the 5-Packs came from tobacco retailers, who reported that smokers were not buying just one Heaven flavored cigar, but a handful at a time. "We decided to design a package to accommodate the smoker," she says, "which encourages multiple-cigar purchases.

The flavors and color schemes are: Cupid's Cherry Cream (pink and cream), Heavenly Vanilla (Prussian blue); Angel's Spice Cinnamon (red); Raging Rum (orange and gold), and Chocolate Thunder (brown). All Heaven flavored cigars are available in Corona (5.5 x 44) and Petite (5 x 30) sizes. The filler is a high-quality Dominican leaf, with a Sumatran wrapper. Phillips says the two-day process of flavoring the cigars "is unique to Heaven flavored cigars" and that a hint of flavoring is also added to the sweetener used to sugar-tip the cigars.

Suggested retail pricing is $15.90 for a 5-Pack of Petites; a 5-Pack of Coronas is $18.30. Wholesale cost for a 25-cigar bundle of five Petite 5-Packs is $39.95, and $49.95 for five 5-Packs of Coronas. All Heaven flavored cigars are keystone discounted. The company also offers each of the Heaven flavors in finely-finished Spanish cedar boxes of 25 cigars.

Four shapes are available: Bravo (4 1/2 x 54, $4.25 retail), Cl‡sico (5 1/4 x 54, $4.60 retail), Magnifico (6 x 54, $4.95 retail), and Pir‡mide (6 x 60, $5.95 retail).

The campaign's theme features the Cuban family's three generations in the premium cigar industry, spotlighting his grandfather Rolando Reyes, Sr., who operates the Honduran factory.

"Two of the new products we're spotlighting are the Puros Indios Genuine and the Puros Indios Maxima Reserva," says Diez. "The third is the new tubed presentation of the classic Puros Indios line, complete with cedar sleeves."

The Puros Indios Genuine, introduced last November, has a new flavor profile, thanks to its two-nation blend. Its wrapper is the company's popular Ecuadorian-grown Sumatran leaf, in colorado and maduro. The maduro version is naturally fermented, to produce a sweet flavor, without the bitterness of "cooked" maduro leaves. The line of four sizes is value-priced at $2 to $3.50, suggested retail.

The new Maxima Reserva is a full-bodied version of the classic Puros Indios line. It uses the same Ecuadorian-Sumatran wrapper that has won the classic line a cult following, but in a naturally fermented maduro only. In development for two years, it debuted in 2001 as the Reserva Especial, but Reyes, Sr. has renamed the cigar to reflect its robust character. It is available in four classic shapes, with a suggested retail pricing of $5.50 to $11.