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DOING THE DEVIL

General Cigar’s wild debut for Diablo

Los Angeles, November 11 – Crazed, face-painted, horn-headed devils sprouted up like mushrooms on the streets of Chicago and Atlantic City. Five-foot high devils were parked in retail stores throughout the nation. Websites for lifestyle magazines like Maxim were splashed with smoke-filled skyscraper ads that led to a “Find a Party” page.

This is cigar marketing?

It is now!

General Cigar departed from its image as a mature, stately maker of time-honored brands such as Macanudo and Partagas to introduce its Diablo brand with a wild promotional program in stores, clubs and on the Web:

• On the Thursday and Friday before Halloween, a troupe of actors and models (pictured above) donned face paint and horns, carried Diablo-stickered briefcases and handed out copies of the Hades Herald to stunned passersby on buses and trains in and around Union Station in Chicago, in the financial district at mid-day and then on Rush and Division streets at sports bars in the evening.

• In Atlantic City, Diablo sponsored the Halloween party in the MIXX nightclub of the Borgata Hotel and Casino, aiming for its 1,500 attendees in the target 25-35-year old age bracket. Lots of samples and huge Diablo logos were seen on and above the dance floor.

• As previously reported, many smokeshops held launch events prior to Halloween, with five-foot-high, stand-up Diablos to welcome smokers to walk-in humidors. There was plenty of sampling, spicy snacks to give to customers, shirts, hats and even a Diablo bobblehead!

What’s next? A combo pack of Diablos with special hot sauce? Salsa? A bag of Cheetos “Flamin’ Hot” flavor?

Remembering the breathless commercials of the 1960s which asked “Should a gentleman offer a lady a Tiparillo?” we should inquire, “Would you accept a cigar from a person with red face paint and fake horns?"

Strong sales for Altadis:
The parent company of Altadis USA (H. Upmann, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta et al) issued its nine-month financials yesterday, showing continued growth and profits, especially for cigars.

“The Cigar Division had a very good performance in the American market, where approximately 60% of the Group’s Cigar Division sales stemmed from,” was the headline. Through nine months, total sales were up worldwide by 18.7% over 2003 and profits rose by a healthy 27.8%. Altadis USA sales were $401 million, a 9% increase over last year.

The report noted additionally that nine-months sales for J-R Cigars, the largest seller of premium cigars in the U.S. was $47.8 million.

European cigar sales increased by almost 11%, notably in Spain where the domestic brands Dux, Farias and Vegafina are showing increased strength. Cuban cigar sales accounted for just two percent of the total, but 14% of total sales revenue – a testament to the high price of these cigars in the European market – but the actual sales total grew 12.6% over last year. “The recovery of the premium cigar in international markets was confirmed” was the way the Altadis report put it.

How big is the cigar business overall? Altadis – one of the largest sellers of cigars in the world – had cigar sales in the first nine months of the year of $785,840,000. That’s a lot of sticks!

Steals and Deals:
In our update of our Comparison Shopper spreadsheet on our value-packed CigarWire service, we found some nice prices on brands you already appreciate:

• Abner’s World:
Two new entries with some of the best prices we have seen so far:

> Cuesta-Rey Centrofino Sun Grown: the best of the Cuesta-Rey line, it ranked no.6 in our ranking of the top medium-bodied cigars. Abner’s has the Belicoso (4 7/8 x 50) for $36.75 for a box of 10, the Pyramid (6 1/4 x 52) for $46.50 (10) and the Captiva (6 1/8 x 42) for $74.95 for 20.

> The prices on General Cigar’s new Diablo are very good: $94.95 for the Caliente (5 x 50), $109.95 for the Gran Fuego (6 x 60) and $99.95 for the Pimento (6½ x 50), all for 25s, plus $109.95 for a box of 40 Picantes (5 x40).

> Fans of the heavy-bodied Oliveros XL for Men can take $5 off the price of the XL52 (5 x 52), now $69.95 and the XL60 (5 3/4x 60), now $84.95 for 20s.

• Payless Cigars:
A nice introductory price on a new, mellow brand from one of the best cigar makers in the world.

> Casa Torano, a blend which was – up to now – only enjoyed in the Torano factory, available in four sizes for between $73.95 and $84.95, in boxes of 25.

> Another Cuesta-Rey Centrofino Sungrown special, this time the No.60 toro size (6 x 50), available for $38.95 for a box of 10. This is the perfect size with which to try this blend, and the price is right.
~ Rich Perelman

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