Bold, striking packaging adds to the value of the product. Dreams Natural is an all natural tobacco blend available in non-flavored, vanilla and cherry. Milder sweetness is evident when compared to the original Cherry and Vanilla styles. This product is now in-stock and shipping from most specialty tobacco product distributors.

Designed for impulse buying, the display's footprint is 12" wide by 6" deep, and it is only 6" high, so it takes little space by the cash register. The unit holds ten 4-packs of each of the four flavor choices: Natural (unflavored), Double Shot Whiskey, Mud Slide Rum, and Gold Dust Amaretto.

At only $1.68 wholesale cost per pack of four cigars, Rough Rider Sweets are competitively priced, with mass-market cheroots, but have a major quality advantage, being 100% tobacco and handmade. The 4-1/2" long cigar tapers from 38 ring gauge at the foot, to 28 at the head. The head comes clean-cut, but the untrimmed, loose tobacco protruding from the foot gives it that Wild West look so popular with smokers. The packages are zip-loc sealed, to preserve freshness.

The display is shipped fully stocked, and retailers can buy refills of 10 packs of each flavor. "Rough Rider Sweets offer another benefit over the competition," says Bill Bock, the president of Indianhead, the supplier. "We sell only to traditional tobacconists and tobacco (cigarette) outlets, not to mass-marketers, such as discount stores and gas stations. Retailers can make money with Rough Rider Sweets, due to its exclusivity."

Swisher has also announced two additions to its Optimo line of cigars: Optimo Corona Deluxe and Corona Extra. The Optimo Corona Deluxe features an imported, natural leaf wrapper and promises a bold, robust flavor. The Optimo Corona Extra has a candela wrapper that lends the cigar a smooth, mild flavor. Both of the new cigars are available in a Bonus Box of 60, with the Corona Extra also available in a five-pack.

"Two factors encouraged us to add the tins," reports Heather L. Phillips, company president and c.e.o. "Our Cherubs have enjoyed brisk sales, especially in the 10-Pack mini-boxes, and we've seen the growing popularity of European-style pocket tins in this country."

The presentation includes Heavenly's familiar black-theme graphic on top of the lid. The cigars are dressed out with a paper liner, emblazoned with the Heavenly crest, which folds up over their feet.

Cherub tin 10-Packs offer the additional advantage to retailers of being bar-coded for speed and simplicity at the cash register, and for inventory control. They are available to retailers in cartons of 10 tins, and the cost remains unchanged.

La Tradicion Perdomo Reserve Champagne is a limited seasonal release, featuring a blend of Nicaraguan Cuban-seed tobaccos subtly accentuated with a U.S. Connecticut shade wrapper aged over six years. Promising a smooth and creamy cigar smoking experience, the Champagne is presented in five distinctive sizes: "F" (4 1/2 x 44/56/52 figurado); "R" (5 x 54 robusto); "E" (6 x 54 epicure); "C" (7 x 54 Churchill); and "X" (7 x 54 torpedo).

Like the other La Tradicion Perdomo Reserve lines, the Champagne is carefully packaged in stylish, space-saving 8-9-8 Spanish cedar boxes; the new line is distinguished by its box's deep, lustrous gold finish.

The first cigar created using four distinct wrapper tobaccos, one used as binder and two included in the filler, the Cusano 10th Anniversary Blend cigar has a 1996 vintage Cuban-seed wrapper from Ecuador along with a spicy Mexican Sumatra leaf as binder. The filler blend uses Jamastran from Honduras, Broadleaf from the USA, and both Dominican San Vicente and Piloto Seco to create a distinctly spicy smoke. Two other Dominican filler tobaccos complement the four wrapper-quality tobaccos to complete and enhance the flavor of the blend. The Cusano 10th Anniversary blend is available in only one size, a 5 x 42 Crown Corona reminiscent of the original Cuban Montecristo #5. It retails for $5.39 per cigar.

Now, Avanti is launching Parodi Cherry Vanilla cigars. The cherry-vanilla flavor has a proven track record as a flavor favorite of cigar smokers throughout the country. The Parodi Cherry Vanilla brand is a 100% all-tobacco cigar that is available in a handsome five-pack. There are ten five-packs in a space-saving counter unit; suggested retail is $2.98.

The Serie R Limitada 2004 is a figurado measuring 7 1/4 x 60, available in Natural (Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper) and Maduro (Connecticut broadleaf wrapper). Serie R Limitada 2004 cigars have Nicaraguan binders and a robust filler blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos.

Only 1,000 Serie R Limitada 2004 humidors will be available for purchase, at a suggested retail price of $335 per humidor. 500 will contain cigars with natural wrappers, and the other 500 will contain maduros. Individual humidors, each holding 20 cigars, will be progressively numbered. Celebrating the six-year anniversary of La Gloria Cubana's famed Serie R collection, the limited-edition, glass-top humidors feature exquisite Pomele' di Magano, a blonde-colored Italian wood overlay. The top of the humidor has the Serie R insignia etched into the glass in gold, with Perez-Carrillo's name embossed in black. The humidors will include a state-of-the-art humidification device, ideal to age the cigars within.