Selling tips include holiday gifts, holiday and year 2000 parties, a starter humidor for new smokers, or a backup humidor for a second location. A merchandising counter card designed to increase interest is available; suggested retail $140.

The new cigars will carry two names, Tony Borhani of Bahia cigars, and Hoja Cubana, which produces the Hoja Yellowband, Hoja 1965, and Perfecto Serie lines. The XXO line will retail between $6.00 and $9.00, and comes in four sizes: Serie R, Epicure, Short Belicoso, and Belicoso Fino. Shipments will first arrive at limited West Coast accounts and then move to the East Coast.

The XXO natural line never made it to retailers last year because the first shipment was seized buy U.S. Customs, which thought the cigars were of Cuban origin due to their labeling. According to Universal Cigar Co., the cigars were destroyed due to improper storage, while a subsequent shipment was damaged as a result of hurricane Mitch.

“We’re very excited about this fine new line,” stated Eric Newman, president of Fuente & Newman Premium Cigars. “It is a natural extension of our cigar and accessories business. The products fit the cigar lover’s lifestyle and represent another profit opportunity for our customers.”

Fuente announced it will donate proceeds from the coffee to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Manufactured by Big River Trading Company, Perique has a short but colorful history. Originally grown by Native Americans in south Louisiana, Perique tobacco has traditionally been used in pipe blends to add flavor and body. Aided by the expertise of Santiago Cigar Co.’s Elie Haddad, Big River has now made Perique tobacco available in a cigar.

Commented Smoke Rings president Tom Smith, “The Pheasant brand is well- known to our customers, and we’re proud to add such a fine name line to our growing stable of products.”

The new Toro Negro (Black Bull) is Cupido’s first maduro cigar, as well as its first puro - made entirely of Nicaraguan tobacco. Like all three previous cigar releases, it comes in only one size - 5 1/2 x 52, in this case. “Our new Toro Negro cigar continues in the Cupido tradition,” says marketing director Yossi Kviatkovsky. “It has a super-smooth, creamy taste, and the great finish that characterizes Cupido cigars.”

The cigar’s filler is a blend of Cuban-seed, extra-select long-leaf tobacco from Nicaragua’s Esteli and Jalapa Valleys. It is from the 1996 cutting, and combines rich ligero, as well as viso and seco tobaccos. The binder is also Nicaraguan.

The wrapper is Nicara-guan-grown Habana 2000, the new strain of Cuban-seed leaf. “This is the first time we have used anything other than an Indonesian wrapper,” notes Kviatkovsky, “because this leaf is the first we feel is true to what a maduro cigar should be. We ferment the wrapper not just once, but twice, to give it an extra level of refinement.”

The wrapper’s rich maduro complexion is achieved naturally, rather than by steaming, cooking, or artificially colored. “It has a naturally sweet taste all the way past the band - another Cupido hallmark - without turning acidic or bitter,” says Kviatkovsky.

The limited crop has capped production of the Toro Negro to 49,000 boxes of 24 cigars each. Each all-Spanish cedar box is numbered to maintain traceability for quality assurance, and to enhance collectibility by cigar lovers. Suggested retail for the Toro Negro is $195 per box, with dealer pricing set at $97.50. Cupido will provide dealer support with extensive advertising and the inventive in-store promotions for which it is known.