The new 84mm brand features a chemical-free blend of premium Virginia tobaccos in keeping with the traditional Treasurer brand but at a more affordable price. Luxury White features white tipping and filter paper and are packaged in glossy, European-style boxboard packs. Domed cardboard shoulder boxes feature simple but contemporary Treasurer branding while displaying five packages. A special point of sale 100-pack card display is also offered.

With Treasurer Luxury White, which is rated at 0.6mg nicotine and 8 mg tar, Chancellor is targeting smokers of such prestige brands as Davidoff Magnum, Nat Sherman, Sobranie Original - Black Russian, American Spirit, and Cartier.

The company says the brand will sell at no more than a 10% premium to Davidoff Magnum, "securing an immediate perceived superiority over other brand offerings in this super premium sector."

The company says it is avoiding any "obvious smoking taste comparison" by branding the product "Luxury White," which it says symbolizes "purity and mildness" and a "lighter smoking experience" without using the more established trade terms such as mild or lights.

Key objectives of Chancellor's marketing strategy will be to create informed awareness and demand, encourage trial and retention leading to repeat purchase, and to gain trade and consumer support.

It is a limited edition cigar, and only a small number of boxes have been produced. Each box's factory tag is numbered. The suggested retail price per box is $222.

Avo 22 is a 5 7/8 perfecto-shaped cigar with a 50 ring gauge. The filler is a combination of four different tobaccos from a variety of the best growing regions in the Dominican Republic. The binder is also Dominican and, to finish it off, Avo chose a Connecticut seed Ecuadorian wrapper. The blend is described by Davidoff as a "rare and wonderful treat for the cigar smoker who has come to love the balanced taste and aroma of Avo cigars."

Avo and Dominican cigar maker Henky Kelner originally created these cigars as a private stock for themselves and a few close friends. Thrilled with the results, they decided to share them with Avo's true aficionados.

Avo personally directed every phase in the creation of 22, from the seeds and plants to the packaging and name - selected because 22 is a very significant number for Avo. His birthday is on the 22nd, his sister's birthday is on the 22nd, he left the Middle East as a young man on a 22nd, and he arrived to begin his new life in the U.S. on a 22nd.

"Helix provides a lighter, milder smoke at a great price and we feel the time is right in the market for this new product," said U.S. Cigar Sales president Larry Palombo. "Our packaging is clean, bright, and blue...something truly new and different. Our entire promotional campaign for Helix is very contemporary."

Available in four popular shapes, Helix has a next generation, cutting-edge look to accompany its "smooth, well-balanced flavor." The cigar bands and boxes are predominately blue in color, which allows Helix to break through the clutter of standard, traditional packaging. Consumer advertising builds on this "breaking-the-boundaries" theme.

"We created the C.A.O. Criollo partly as an homage to the tradition of Cuban cigar craftsmanship and partly as a testament to the incredible quality of tobacco and cigar production that is currently coming from Nicaragua," explained C.A.O.'s vice president, Tim Ozgener. "Everything from the sizes we've selected, to the blends of tobacco we've chosen, to the twist we've placed on the classic Cuban cabinet packaging, all are done in veneration to the tradition of Cuba's history of cigar artistry... utilizing the finest tobaccos that Nicaragua has to offer. The marriage between the 'old school' of Cuba and the 'new school' of Nicaragua is clearly represented by the C.A.O. Criollo." The C.A.O. Criollo features a Nicaraguan grown Criollo 98 wrapper and a blend of Cuban seed Nicaraguan tobaccos. It is offered in four sizes: Pampa (4 x 40, $4.25 retail), Pato (4 7/8 x 50, $5.50 retail), Mancha (5 5/8 x 46, $6.50 retail), and Conquistador (6 1/8 x 52, $7.25 retail). All cigars are individually tissue-wrapped, and all sizes (except the torpedo-shaped Conquistador) are finished with a Cuban-style pigtail. The cigars are packaged in unique, Cuban-inspired four-drawer cedar cabinets, 20 sticks per box (except for Pampa, which are 30-count boxes). C.A.O. will begin shipping the new Criollo line in September 2002.

The Perfecto Grande's unique shape (5 x 62-56) makes it easy for anyone to smoke, and it delivers the incredible volume of smoke one expects from a large ring cigar, says the manufacturer.

The Cuban Parejo is available as a Nicaraguan puro - 100% Nicaraguan filler, binder, Sun Grown rosado and maduro wrappers - and is also available in an outstanding Connecticut shade natural wrapper. Cuban Parejo cigars are parallels as opposed to box pressed, and are available in four uncommonly large sizes in addition to the new Perfecto Grande: Rothschild (4 x 60 robusto), Epicure (6 x 62), Corona Gigante (7 x 56), and the Belicoso Fino (Torpedo: 6 x 60), in cedar boxes of 20.

The Cuban Parejo has an unparalleled level of presentation. The boxes are sealed with the Parejo band on the outside. The cigars are carefully placed in a unique sash with the Parejo logo hand stitched, and the Parejo insert inlaid within the lid of the box. Also, the Perdomo "P" is stamped on the front of the clasp.

Hoyo de Monterrey Dark Sumatra also has a rich textured Connecticut Broadleaf binder and a robust blend of premium Honduran (including extra ligero leaves), Nicaraguan, and Dominican filler tobaccos that define the taste of this new blend, which is described as medium to strong and full-bodied in flavor.

Four frontmarks are offered: Media Noche (5 3/4 x 54), $4.40 suggested retail; Noche (6 1/2 x 52), $4.75; Ebano (6 x 45), $4.00; and Espresso (4 1/2 x 50), $3.50. Each cigar is cedar wrapped and packaged in 25-count black wood boxes (40-count for the Espresso shape).

The hand-made, 100% tobacco mini cigars use the same Dominican tobacco and vanilla essence that company president Heather L. Phillips refers to as "sweet and mild, with true vanilla flavor." She credits the extra-select Dominican tobaccos, combined with a subtle and sophisticated vanilla essence, for making it the company's number one product, and a significant reason for doubling the company's sales this year.

"We use a proprietary flavor- and aroma-enhancing process, to blend the tobacco and flavoring," she adds. "The process uniformly distributes the flavoring throughout the tobacco, unlike the more common spraying or injection methods. The tips of all Heavenly flavored cigars have a hint of the flavor, as well as a sugar coating."

Cherubs are presented in pocket-sized packs of 10, and ten packs of 10 mini cigars are shipped at a time, in a "transition box" that doubles as a ready-made display. They are also available in boxes of 50. Like all Heavenly cigars, the new Heavenly Vanilla Cherubs are keystone-priced and available now from Heavenly Cigar Co.