Davidoff Cigarettes Arrive in America

Commonwealth Brands Inc., an Imperial Tobacco Group company, is introducing Davidoff Cigarettes into the U.S. domestic market in May 2008, for the first time.
Davidoff Cigarettes is Imperial Tobacco's lead international strategic brand and a major luxury cigarette brand. It is already well established in more than 100 countries across the globe, with particular areas of strength including Greece, Taiwan and the Middle East.
"We are delighted to announce the launch of Davidoff Cigarettes into the United States domestic market," said Tim Jones, vice president of marketing for Bowling Green, Ky.-based Commonwealth Brands. "Davidoff is an exciting brand that we believe will appeal to premium-brand smokers across the country."
Davidoff was the first brand to introduce an octagon shaped pack, the company said. This design is not only aesthetically pleasing and recognizable, but helps to better protect the cigarettes inside, it added.
To lock in the flavor by retaining a higher level of moisture than most films allow, a premium film is heat-sealed around the pack using a special vacuum process. The foil inside the pack is specially coated to protect the cigarettes and the freshness of the tobacco.
Davidoff uses a blend of Burley, Virginia and Oriental tobacco. During the blending process, each type of tobacco transfers part of its aroma to the others, said the company.
The Davidoff blend used in the United States product has been carefully matched to meet the demands of U.S. smokers. Initially, four styles will be available: Davidoff Classic, Davidoff Lights, Davidoff Menthol and Davidoff Menthol Lights.
Imperial Tobacco manufactures, markets and sells a variety of cigarettes, tobaccos, rolling papers, filter tubes and cigars in more than 130 countries worldwide. Commonwealth Brands makes the USA Gold, Montclair, Malibu, Sonoma and Riviera cigarette brands. It also manufactures other tobacco products under the brand names Premier, McClintock, Bali-Shag, E-Z Wider, Joker, El Rey and Rizla.