"The steady growth of Longhorn since its national rollout in April of 2004 validates the demand for a quality moist snuff at the best possible price," said Brian Stankovic, Manager, New Business Development. "Fine Cut Wintergreen is the fourth largest segment in the moist snuff category. The addition of this flavor to the Longhorn family, along with providing 10% more tobacco in every can, is in alignment with the brand's strategy to provide to the price conscious consumer the most robust brand, in core flavors and cuts, for the money."

Longhorn will now be available in five popular varieties: Long Cut and Fine Cut Wintergreen, Fine Cut Natural, Long Cut Mint, and Long Cut Straight.

Dynamite is packaged in rough-hewn boxes of 24 unbanded sticks, and the brand's novel packaging plays on the dynamite theme, with the words "Dynamite Power Packed," burned into the wood. Dynamite sells for $3.20 to $3.50 suggested retail. Bock says the second shipment of cigars will have arrived in time for retailers' orders in late September.

Now, Altadis U.S.A. is packaging a limited number of wood molds each containing ten cigars.

The Dominican wood molds, which arrived at select retailers beginning in September, can be purchased with either H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon cigars, Montecristo White cigars, or Romeo y Julieta Aniversario cigars. Suggested retail pricing for the package ranges from $50 to $90, depending upon the brand and size.

The Honduran wood molds, available in October, come with ten Gispert, Saint Luis Rey, or Maria Guerrero cigars. The suggested retail is from $29 to $60 depending upon the brand and size.

According to an Altadis U.S.A. spokesperson, the wood molds are "a great piece of cigar lore and make wonderful gifts."

The Gurkha Legend Beast measures 6 1/2 x 58, and The Gurkha Legend Titan is a 6 1/4 x 53 cigar. In addition to their commanding size, they feature vintage tobacco throughout and the exquisite packaging details typical of the Gurkha line. Both the Beast and Titan have a Costa Rican wrapper from 1996; a five-year-old Nicaraguan binder; and a filler of five-year old Honduran, Dominican, and Colombian tobaccos. The Titan's extra punch comes from the use of more ligero tobacco in the filler. Kaizad Hansotia, president of Beach, is quick to point out, "This extra power does not give the cigar bite, because the age of the tobaccos mellows the flavor into a generous, complex profile."

The Beast's suggested retail price is $700 for a box of 35; the Titan retails for $750 per box of 31. Only 1,000 boxes of each cigar were made of each cigar, and after the Legends' debut at this year's RTDA, only 200 boxes remained of the Titan, and 50 of the Beast. Both are still available from Beach Cigar Group, but on a limited reserve status.

The Partagas Cifuentes Summer Blend has a sun-ripened Honduran San Agustin wrapper, a Connecticut Havana Seed binder, and a select filler blend of Dominican, Honduran, and Mexican tobaccos. It is described as medium to full in body, suitable for summer smoking. The cigar is offered in three frontmarks, named in Spanish for each month of summer: Junio (5 1/2 x 49, suggested retail $5.70 per cigar or $114 per 20-count box); Julio (6 x 54, $6.25 per cigar, $125 per box); and Agosto (4 1/2 x 60 figurado, $5.25 per cigar, $105 per box).

As with its predecessor, Partagas Cifuentes 2004 Fall Selection, the blend used in Partagas Cifuentes Summer Blend will never be duplicated.

Bill Chilian, director of marketing for Partagas cigars, notes, "While the summer offering is significantly different from the Fall blend, we're confident that it will be equally well-received."

Founder and president Phillip Wynne was struck with the idea of creating a cigar that had three distinct flavor characteristics, merged into one harmonious blend. His 3 Tierras concept involves making two mini-cigars, one of pure Dominican-grown piloto Cubano leaf, the other of Habano «92 Nicaraguan tobacco. The two cigars are merged into a pyramid-shaped head, which is wrapped for about one-third of the length of the cigar with a third leaf of Brazilian Arapiraca. Thus the three tobaccos, from three different countries, give the brand its name. The result is a wall-eyed, double-barreled shotgun appearance due to the feet of the cigars splayed out to the sides from the merged head. The two sizes of cigars play on this theme. The larger cigar, combining two 5 x 30 "barrels", is called Escopeta (Spanish for Shotgun); the 4 3/4 x 26 Lupara (literally "she-wolf" in Italian) is named for a sawed-off shotgun in Sicily.

The cigars are presented 20 to a box, and retail for $4.80 (Escopeta) and $4.25 (Lupara).