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| PIPE FAVORITE NOW A NEW CIGAR |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: Bobby Newman’s special outreach to blinded vetsLos Angeles, January 25 – The startling growth of the little cigar category has a lot of cigar makers looking carefully at that sector and one major player has already chimed in with a new brand that has a familiar name. Late in 2007, Swedish Match introduced a new, wood-tipped little cigar under the name Borkum Riff, extending the brand identity of its well-known pipe tobacco brand to the cigar category. However, the Borkum Riff little cigar line has no pipe tobacco in it! Instead, it’s made with a homogenized tobacco leaf (HTL) wrapper and short-filler cigar tobaccos in a single size that’s 3 1/2 inches long and 21 ring gauge. Each cigar is wrapped in cellophane and the brand comes packaged in familiar tins of ten. As is to be expected today, although there is only one size in the line, it’s available in six styles: Pure blend, without additional flavoring, plus Creamy Coconut, French Vanilla, Sweet Melon, Silky Peach and the especially aromatic Black Cherry. It’s a soft, accessible cigar that’s easy to smoke anytime and almost anywhere smoking is allowed. Made in the Swedish Match factory in Houthalen, Belgium, a tin of ten retails for $2.79 not including local sales or tobacco taxes. The little cigar phenomenon has seen imports to the U.S. skyrocket over the past couple of years. Imports were up more than 20 percent in 2006 and through the first ten months of 2007, imports were up again by an amazing 60.4 percent to 277.8 million units. It’s no secret why cigar companies are racing to introduce new small-cigar brands. The brand is a clever introduction by Swedish Match for a couple of reasons. First, while the Borkum Riff pipe tobacco brand is sold in more than 60 countries, with a leading position in Australia and good sales in some European markets and in the U.S., the pipe tobacco sector has been in continuous decline for some years and shows no signs of revival. So, getting more mileage out of the Borkum Riff name makes sense. Second and equally important is the format of the Borkum Riff little cigar, with its wood tip and unique dimensions. It joins the other Swedish Match little cigar brands – Tijuana Smalls and Tiparillo – as a tipped cigar. Why is this important? With state attorneys general lusting after more and more tobacco tax revenue, requests have been made to re-classify little cigars – generally of the same size and packaged in the same pack styles as cigarettes – in the same tax class as cigarettes, i.e., at a much higher rate than currently charged. By putting a tip on the Borkum Riff line, Swedish Match can make a strong case that its brands are in fact little cigars and not cigarettes, none of which have a wood tip as part of the unit sold to consumers. Moreover, the exact shape of the Borkum Riff line differs from that of cigarettes, which are rigidly offered in two sizes: 3 1/4 inches in length (85 mm) or 3 7/8 inches long (100 mm) and always at 20 ring gauge. The new Borkum Riff, as noted above, is 3 1/2 inches by 21 ring. |
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Did you know?
“Cigars, as we know them today, began serious production in Seville, Spain around 1676.
