Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars

FAMOUS BRANDS, EXCLUSIVE SIZES

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Plus: Imperial CEO notes possible slight decline in Altadis U.S.A. premium sales

Los Angeles, March 20 – For tobacconists to have exclusive brands is nothing new, as the practice goes back to sometime in the 19th Century.

But more and more often today, retailers are asking for and receiving special, exclusive sizes of already well-known brands which they can sell to their customers as a unique item. One of the leaders in this category, Holt’s of Philadelphia, is debuting a new item this month: the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Hammer.

It’s a 6 1/2-inch by 47-ring grand corona-sized cigar that’s box-pressed and comes with the extra-dark, Ecuadorian-grown wrapper that the Double Ligero line is famous for. Holt’s sells them in boxes of 20 for about $6.45 each or $128.95 the box.

The Hammer is not the first store-exclusive size from Litto Gomez’s La Flor Dominicana, however. He also produces a special size for legendary Chicago smokeshop Jack Schwartz Importer, the Billy Club, a 5-inch by 60-ring perfecto which is a larger version of the famous El Jocko shape and made in honor of the store owner, Billy O’Hara.

But Holt’s is making a habit of adding exclusive sizes to its line-up, such as:

Adding to the Don Pepin Garcia frenzy with a special size in the popular, Nicaraguan-made Black Label series: the Churchill 1997, a 6 3/8-inch by 49-ring Toro that very competitively priced at about $6.00 each of $119.95 for a box of 20.

A really outstanding size – because anyone smoking it really stands out – is the Cuba Aliados Zepplin. This out-sized perfecto measures 6 1/8 inches long and bulges out in the middle to a ring gauge of 62, offered only in maduro wrappers in boxes of 10. At about $46 per box, it’s the perfect gift for the cigar smoker who’s seen everything . . . and is still looking for something new.

As the cost of introducing brands continues to escalate on the U.S. market – which had 1,145 handmade brands in national circulation per our 2008 Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars – adding an exclusive size or two to an existing top seller is sure to get more popular in the coming years.

After all, as Zino Davidoff said way back in 1946 as he created his Chateaux series of cigars, “I have to have everything the others have, as well as something they don’t.”

Washington smokeshops on the ballot to ease smoking ban:
One of the most draconian smoking bans anywhere in the world is in the state of Washington.

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Did you know?

“Al Goldstein, the publisher of "Screw" magazine debuted a newsletter called "Cigar" in 1981 (folded after 4 issues).