Balmoral's first entry into the U.S. market is the Royal Selection, a handmade, long filler premium cigar. Produced in the company's factory in San Pedro de Marcoris, Dominican Republic, the cigar consists of filler and binder of Dominican and Brazilian tobaccos and an Ecuadorian shade grown wrapper. The Royal selection is available in five sizes; Robusto (5 x 48), Panatela (51Ú2 x 37), Corona (57Ú8 x 42), Lonsdale (61Ú2 x 42), and Churchill (7 x 48); and comes in boxes of 25 or easy-to-carry five packs.

Agio has chosen legendary cigar city Tampa, Florida, as the home base for the Balmoral Cigar Company. According to Balmoral president David Salem, "There is a lot of cigar experience and know-how in Tampa. We are a very old company and want to be where the tradition is strongest."

The company selected Tobacco Depot, with 12 stores throughout Florida, as the first retail outlet in the United States for Balmoral cigars. The Royal Selection was initially introduced in a few select stores in the chain and will soon be placed in all of the outlets. Balmoral also debuted in key markets nationwide.

Perique cigars are handmade in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The cigars are produced with the assistance of Elie Haddad at his Tabacalara Pinar Del Rio factory, where he also manufactures the Emigrante, Cuban Select, and Se–or Corto cigar lines.

Perique cigars consist of filler from a blend of Perique and Dominican tobaccos, a Dominican binder, and an Indonesian wrapper. The Perique tobacco makes up five percent of the filler blend. The cigar is available in five sizes; Belicoso (5 x 50), Corona (5 3/4 x 44), Toro (6 x 52), Corona Grande (6 1/4 x 46), and Churchill (7 1/2 x 50).

The Cajuns (originally Acadians), who immigrated to Louisiana from Nova Scotia, developed the unique curing process for Perique tobacco. First, the tobacco is cut, dried, and stemmed. From there it is placed in oak barrels and put under pressure by a large screw press. Every day for two years the press is tightened and water is added to concentrate the tobacco and intensify the flavor. The finished blocks of tobacco are then shipped to the Dominican factory for processing.

The tobaccos, which contain no preservatives or reconstituted sheet tobacco, are available in Regular, Organic, Ceremonial Pow-Wow Pipe Blend, and Loose Bulk.

All Drum tobacco products, consisting of roll-your-own and pipe tobaccos, were withdrawn from the U.S. market in May as a result of U.K.-based Imperial Tobacco's acquisition of Douwe Egbert Van Nelle.

The Darshan Classics are manufactured in Surat, Gujarat, India, with specially-flavored, aged Indian tobacco and hand-wrapped with Indian Tendu leaf. The Tendu leaf, obtained from a tree that grows wild in the forests of Central India, is used because it has all the characteristics of good wrapper material: large size, pliability, compatible flavor with tobacco, and most importantly, it is available in abundance. The bidis are filtered using an acetate material common to cigarette filters and come 20 to a pack; ten packs to a carton.

Kretek enlisted the skills of a native Indian chemist, who spent six months developing the desired flavoring for the bidis. The flavoring is sprayed onto the tobacco, which is then aged for three months before rolling. The tip is also flavored to add to the taste.

Two new flavors, mandarin orange and black licorice, were recently added to the Darshan Classic Bidi line. They join the original selection of flavors which includes strawberry, cardamom, chocolate, cinnamon, clove, grape, lemon-lime, mango, mint, regular, vanilla, and wild cherry.

Bidis are an Indian tobacco product traditionally made with about .24 grams of tobacco rolled into a 60 mm (2.34 inch) stick, wrapped with the Tendu leaf, and held together with a string. Even though less tobacco is used in a bidi than in a cigarette, about one-tenth the amount, the full-bodied Indian blend tobacco used burns slowly, providing an equal amount of smoking time and enjoyment.

Originally made for personal consumption in the Kheda and Panchamahal districts of Gujarat, bidis have grown into a $1.5 billion industry. Bidis are the most popular tobacco product in India, with approximately one trillion smoked each year. They are sold through one million retailers and smoked by 100 million Indians. About 55 percent of tobacco consumed in India is in the form of bidis.

Handmade at the De Los Reyes Cigar factory in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic by Augusto Reyes, Fittipaldi cigars consist of Dominican-grown filler from piloto Cubano seed, a Dominican binder, and a 1993 Vintage Dominican-grown wrapper from Cameroon-seed. Fittipaldi is available is seven sizes; Robusto (41/2 x 50), Corona (6 x 44), Toro (6 x 50), Lonsdale (61/2 x 42), Torpedo (63/4 x 54), Churchill (7 x 48), and Presidente (8 x 50).

Fittipaldi cigars are packaged in all-cedar boxes of 25. In addition, the Robusto, Toro, and Churchill are available in boxes of five and ten cigars; the Corona is also available in a box of ten.

Manufactured in Santiago, Dominican Republic, the Optimo Clasico consists of filler from a blend of Dominican, Philippine, and Indonesian tobaccos, an Ecuadorian binder, and an Indonesian wrapper. The tobaccos are cured, then hand-selected and blended before rolling.

The Optimo Clasico comes in five sizes; Numero I (41/2 x 50), Numero II (6 x 43), Numero III (6 x 50), Numero IV (7 x 48), and Numero V (8 x 50);and is packaged in 20-count bundles and 4-packs.

Optimo Clasico will retail in the $3-4 range. Swisher is also offering retailers a free acrylic display with the purchase of four bundles of Optimo Clasico cigars.

In addition, the company has reintroduced the golf-themed Fore! cigar. Originally handmade with short filler, the Fore! cigar is now being produced with long filler, utilizing the same high-quality piloto Cubano-seed, Dominican-grown tobaccos. The cigar is also packaged in a new shatter-proof plastic tube, sealed at a perfect 70¡F with a new airtight golf ball cap. The company hopes the redesign will broaden the product's appeal in golf channels, as well as in the general cigar marketplace.

Handmade in Santiago, Dominican Republic, Kiskeya consists of Dominican filler, a Cuban-seed, Dominican-grown binder, and a Connecticut-seed, Ecuadorian-grown wrapper. The cigars are available in eight sizes; Robusto (5 x 50), Corona (51/2 x 42), #2 (6 x 42), Toro (6 x 50), Cetros (61/4 x 42), #1 (63/4 x 44), Churchill (7 x 48), and Presidente (71/2 x 50); and come packaged in boxes of 25. The Kiskeya cigar is priced to retail in the $2-3 range.

In addition, Pedro Martin, president and c.e.o. of Tropical Tobacco, announced that the company has moved production of the Don Juan and V Centennial cigars to its Dominican factory. The move was made to ensure better craftsmanship and blending consistency for each brand. The Don Juan was originally manufactured in Ocotal, Nicaragua; the V Centennial was initially produced in Danli, Honduras.