The company is also offering a gift pack of six cigars ideal for the holidays or any special occasion. Packaged in a cedar cigar box, the gift pack contains a Robusto, Churchill, and Belicoso in both cameroon and maduro versions.

The cigar is described as "not too strong, but certainly not a cigar for the beginner either." Each cigar has a Cuban rat tail cap and an uncut end, in the old Cuban tradition.

Five shapes are offered: The Big Sur (6 x 70), Greenwich Village (6 x 60), Ginsburg (6 x 50), Whitman (4 x 50 pyramid), and the newest shape, North Beach (5 x 50). The cigars are packaged in plexi top boxes and rest on a bed of natural tobacco leaf.

S2 builds on the base brand's packaging, including its signature wrap-around graphics, while introducing a modern, embossed silver look never before seen in the cigarette category. The silver pack combines both gloss and matte finishes, embossing and black type to communicate the qualities of the product inside Š white-tipped, silver-and-black banded cigarettes that offer a "quantum smooth" tobacco taste.

This line extension also signals an updated look for Winston's base-brand family (all styles except Winston Select), adding silver highlights to the brand's current packaging.

S2 has been the focal point of all Winston's marketing initiatives during the brand's launch, with extensive support through magazine advertising, direct mail, retail-presence programs, and special events at age-restricted bars.

The retail promo is designed as a handsome cigar box which, when opened, displays information on the Fonseca line and plays a voice message from master cigar blender Manuel Quesada. It comes with a handy, pre-attached support that easily slide under a cigar box on any display shelf.

The Fonseca shelf-talker is free to all retailer carrying the Fonseca line. For further information, contact S.A.G. Imports.

"The Natural Fuerte's six-nation blend was our most challenging," reports Gael de Courtivron, company president. "But, we were rewarded with the most Havana-like cigar in the Trilogy - full-bodied flavor, complexity, and a clean finish."

The filler combines Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican, and Mexican tobaccos. The binder is Cameroon, and the wrapper is an Ecuadorian rosado (reddish) leaf.

Six parejos comprise the present line, with a 52-ring torpedo scheduled for next Spring. All have true Cuban industry dimensions - the 4 3/4 in. Rothschild, for example, has a 48 ring gauge, not a 50. The Natural Fuerte is a smaller-ring line than its Trilogy predecessors, and runs from 38-50.

"We are especially excited about our Natural Fuerte Colada," says de Courtivron. "Named after a demitasse coffee, its 4 x 40 size offers a 'sip' of cigar. This is already a standard shape for La Luna Cigars, with the Maduro Fuerte Colada Series F being one of our best sellers."

The cigars will be presented in luxurious chests of 30, as well as in the new "mini-cabs" (cabinets) of 15, and sampler boxes that hold one of each of the six sizes. Pricing should match the other two lines, with projections at less than $5 suggested retail, at keystone.

"Our other two Fuerte lines have earned consistently high ratings in Smoke magazine, from 4.2 to 4.4," reports de Courtivron. "We think we've saved the best cigar for the last."

"We are especially excited about the new shade-leaf wrapper we have developed for our cigars," says Kiki. "This hybrid tastes distinctively different from anything else, and we call it Connecticut 2000. A cross between Connecticut and Havana 2000 strains, it yields a medium body, with a clean taste during and after the smoke."

Kiki's first cigar to use this wrapper is his 2000 Limited Reserve, and it has been aging for two years. To achieve balance in the filler and binder blend, Kiki combines other tobaccos from his farm with leaf from co-op farms in the Jalapa Valley. Packaged in boxes of 25, the cigars bear a red band, and a photo inside the lid shows Don Kiki rolling his cigars.

Three classic sizes are offered: Churchill, robusto, and corona. Production is limited to 5,000 boxes in each size, with initial release at RTDA Tampa being held at 1,000 boxes of each. Pricing was not firm at press time, but Kiki says, "In response to the needs of today's cigar smokers, the 2000 Limited Reserve will be value priced."

Kiki has appointed Orlando, Florida, based Corona Cigar Company as the exclusive importer and distributor for Don Kiki cigars.

Griyo Asia Trading LLC is now importing and distributing the Wismilak brand in the U.S. Utilizing a blend of quality long leaf tobaccos from the Besoeki province in East Java, Indonesia, and dark, richly-flavored Mata Fina from the Bahia region of Brazil, Wismilak cigars are rolled with Java Besoeki binder and finished with select Connecticut-shade wrappers. A single shape is offered: a flavorful robusto (5" x 50, churchill) format.

Wismilak cigars are packaged in 20-count wooden boxes, or pocket-size, gold and black three-count window packs.

"The new Santa Rosa Tubo - so named because it is presented in an aluminum tube - is being unveiled at RTDA Tampa," Moss said. "It will be available in two wrappers. Both the natural and maduro wrappers are Connecticut broadleaf, but the maduro undergoes extra processing to bring out the dark coffee color and rich flavor in the maduro." Both cigars have a filler of Honduran tobacco. The new Santa Rosa Tubo is a 6 1/4 x 48 cigar, made in the Flor de Copan factory in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras.

"Twenty-five years ago," states Moss, "our first cigars were made for us at this factory. Consolidated Cigar Co. has now taken it over. We decided to continue to have our cigars produced there, because of the consistent high standards maintained by Consolidated. We think the Santa Rosa maduro Tubo is the finest tubed maduro made."

Both new Tubos are keystone priced at $2.50. Brick-Hanauer will be showing the cigars in their RTDA booth #1027-1031. The cigars are available for immediate delivery.

"Our box-pressed bundled cigars have been very successful," says Indianhead president Bill Bock, "so we're introducing them in slide-top wooden boxes of 25. The American Stogies line is very attractively priced for a quality cigar." The 6 x 44 Corona is keystone-priced at just 85 cents, and the most-expensive torpedo (6 1/4 x 54) is only $1.10. Other shapes include Robusto, Churchill, Toro, and Double Corona.

The cigars will be shown in Indianhead's RTDA booth, and are available for immediate shipment.

Badge of Honor cigars are available for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Army National Guards. All cigars are a Churchill (7 x 50) size, packed in boxes of 25 with the logo of each military branch printed on the boxes and bands. The cigar itself is made from long-filler Nicaraguan tobaccos, Nicaraguan binder, and and finished with an Indonesian wrapper. Suggested retail is $4 per cigar, at keystone. Corona Cigar Co. is currently targeting retail tobacconists near military bases.

Each individual three-pack has one cigar from the three different Macanudo lines, which vary in range of taste, body, and flavor. The Macanudo Cafˇ is made with a flavorful Dominican blend, and finished with a fine Connecticut Shade wrapper for a smooth smoke. The sun-grown Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper of the Maduro provides a sweet, full-bodied flavor while maintaining a rich, smooth taste. The unique, full flavor and rich taste of the Robust is derived from the richly flavored Dominican Piloto Cubano tobacco binder; its smoothness from its Connecticut Shade wrapper.

"The Macanudo three-pack is an easy and convenient way for consumers to not only taste a range of cigars, but recognize the individual personalities and characteristics of the Macanudo lines" said Cooper Gardiner, marketing director for General Cigar.

The popular "Three Tastes of Macanudo" promotion was first introduced in April of last year; tobacconists quickly sold out of supplies, says General Cigar.

Featuring a dark, oily, select San Andres Mexican wrapper, this cigar's visual appeal is overshadowed only by the flavor. The wrapper is combined with a Dominican binder and long-leaf fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Brazil and the company's own farm in the Honduras. The result is a cigar that is robust, full-bodied, well rounded, and sweet, according to the manufacturer.

The shape line-up includes a robusto, a belicoso, and a short, four-inch perfecto shape cigar. Manufacturer's suggested retail prices range from $4.50 to $5.25.

"This is the first of the three or four new product introductions we're going to execute on behalf of Astral in the next several months," said Larry Palombo, president of U.S. Cigar Sales. "Our aim is to elevate Astral in the same manner we did for Don Tomas last year with the successful launches off Cameroon Collection and Dominican Selection."