General is providing a full marketing support package for the launch timed for maximum sales impact during the holiday season. A national tasting event will take place during the week of December 13th with cigars provided, and a turnkey point-of-sale kit, which includes ad slicks, in-store posters, counter cards, consumer take-ones, shelf talkers, and shape charts will help retailers merchandise the brand and promote in-store interest. A sampler pack containing the Primero, Esplendido, and Exquisito is being offered at a special introductory price, and a Partagas Serie S sweepstakes is being promoted to consumers.

Also new are the Hoyo de Monterrey Tubos. Enclosed in an aluminum tube, the Hoyo de Monterrey Tubos are made with a mixture of Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Piloto Cubano tobacco in an Ecuadorian EMS leaf wrapper. The company is touting the new cigar's easy draw, full-bodied taste, and woodsy aroma as essential characteristics. The Tubos come in a classic Lonsdale size (6-1/4 x 43), and the suggested retail price is $3.75.

Cuban seed fillers and binders receive a special fermentation prior to rolling. The cigars are finished with a double-fermented Mexican-grown wrapper.

The result is a surprisingly smooth, yet rich taste, according to the distributor. "The extended aging has created a cigar which is unique in its complex taste, yet it retains a mild, almost sweet finish."

The cigars are available in three box-pressed sizes, 25 to a box: Toro (6 x 50) at suggested retail of $5.00, Torpedo (6 x 50) $6.50, and Belicosos (4-1/2 x 50) $6.00.

Like the Montecristo Le Cigare des Arts, the packaging for Le Cigare de L'An 2000 will feature artwork from internationally renowned French artist Michel Delacroix. The festive smoke measures seven inches long with a 60 ring gauge and will come packaged in a glass tube for protection. The new Montecristos will be rolled with a Habana 2000 wrapper compared with the Indonesian wrapper used on the Montecristo Le Cigare des Arts. Suggested retail for a box of 12 is $120.