Beginning May 15 and continuing through July 15, JTI-USA sales representatives will offer “Your Ticket 2 Success” instant-win game cards during visits to independent retailers, wholesalers, and chain stores. The scratch-off cards are free-of-charge and provide the chance to instantly win a JTI baseball cap. In addition, all entrants will be automatically entered into a drawing that offers the chance to win one of the two 50” flat screen TVs, one of nine (9) home theater systems, or one of twenty (20) TiVo digital video recorders.

Made in the Dominican Republic, Navigator is packaged in transparent, four-count packs and presented in six-count counter-top POS displays.

“Kool is truly on the cutting edge of menthol technology,” said Ludo Cremers, Kool’s divisional vice president of brand marketing. “Kool established the menthol category and continues to reinvent it to give consumers a product that fits the lifestyle of today’s urban, multicultural smokers. The new Kool Smooth Fusions cigarettes are perfectly balanced, yet deliver intriguing refreshment with a taste that bonds with any special occasion.” The four Kool Smooth Fusions are Caribbean Chill, Midnight Berry, Mocha Taboo, and Mintrigue.

Along with the new menthol smoking experiences, the Kool Smooth Fusions products also unveil a revolutionary new pack design. The pack has two rounded front corners and hinges open, offering thirteen cigarettes on one side and seven on the other, with patents pending.

Responding to the demand of “hip, trendsetting consumers,” Kool Smooth Fusions packs are being introduced in bar, restaurant, and night club venues, making it available to the most “up-to-date, plugged-in smokers.” Further expansion is planned for later in the year. Kool Smooth Fusions will be offered for a limited time as a Kool full revenue premium price point.

“I am pleased that Mike Ditka has agreed to rely on our company to handle the acquisition and national distribution of his super premium cigar line,” said Bill Rancic, president of Cigars Around the World and a contestant on Donald Trump’s reality show, “The Apprentice.” The cigars are sold for approximately $12 each in Ditka’s restaurants and will also be sold in upscale country clubs, casinos, and hotels.

Ditka has been selling his own personal- blended cigar exclusively in his Iron Mike’s steakhouse in Chicago. The cigar, made from a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican long filler leaf and finished with a silky Claro wrapper, is described as “sophisticated, complex, but never overpowering,” is now available throughout the U.S., packaged elegantly in a brass-hinged cedar box. Four sizes are available: Churchill (7 x 50), Double Corona (6 x 52), Robusto (5 x 50), and Torpedo at $11-$13 reatail.

The new formats are Reyes (110 mm x 40), Coloniales (132 mm x 44), and Robusto Extra (155 mm x 50). The complete range of sizes are presented in varnished wooden boxes of 12 and 24 cigars. Reyes and Coloniales are available in five-unit carton packs and the Robusto Extra in three-unit carton packs.

The pre-existing Fundadores (192 mm x 40) is now also presented in the new varnished wooden boxes of 12 and 24 cigars, as well as five-unit carton packs. The complete range of sizes respects the traditional blend of the brand.

“The Tatiana line includes five flavors and three shapes,” explains Daniel Miranda, marketing director for Miami Cigars. “We launched Chocolate in 2001, followed by Mandarin in 2003. The Miniature-sized (31/ 2 x 26) cigars were originally introduced as loose sticks, and occupied slots in the open bin, in the lower section of our ‘Evolution’ countertop display unit. They have proven to be top sellers, and we are now offering them in their own 10-count European-style clamshell tins. They’ve earned their place in the Evolution’s high-visibility upper section, reserved for tinned cigars.”

Chocolate and Mandarin Tatiana premium flavored cigars have 100% choice Dominican filler tobacco, and are hand made. “The extra-select, mild tobacco harmonizes beautifully with the highest-quality natural essences, to give a subtle, sophisticated cigar,” said Miranda. The color-coded graphics on the tins the two flavors, as it does with all tinned Tatiana Miniatures. Tatiana Chocolate and Mandarin cigars are available in packs of five tins, at a suggested retail pricing of $10 per tin.