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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
V i e w F r o m T h e T o p
we developed for Davidoff, ‘Time
beautifully fulfilled,’ underscores the
fact that time is a precious commodity
and this is a cigar [that] will fill that
time beautifully—which is perfect
positioning for a brand like Davidoff,”
explains Young, who says the company
used advertising, digital media, and
events to promote the theme.
With a brand strategy in place,
the company turned its attention to
innovation, debuting a departure from
the company’s usual products, the
Davidoff Nicaragua, in 2013. “Inspired
by Zino [Davidoff ] himself who was
an explorer who searched the world
for great tobacco, it’s wrapper, binder
and filler are all from Nicaragua,”
says Young. “It is definitively not a
Dominican sweet.”
The company also relaunched
Winston Churchill—a cigar that had
gained a following despite standing
apart—under the Davidoff umbrella.
At the IPCPR show in July,Davidoff
followed those moves with the debut
of Davidoff Escurio, a spicy, sweet
follow-up to the Davidoff Nicaragua.
Featuring a dark Ecuador Habano
wrapper with a Brazilian binder and
Pitching Davidoff’s Golden Band Awards was one of the first ideas Jim Young came up with after
agreeing to join Davidoff. “I said, ‘Why not have an elegant award night where we recognize the
best retailers in certain categories?’” he recounts. Four years later, the Golden Band Awards is a cigar-
industry equivalent to the Oscars. Nominees attend a black-tie gala evening where the winners are
announced and called up on stage to receive an elegant award and the right to carry an exclusive cigar
for one year. This year’s winners are:
Best Merchandising
The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood, Ridgewood, NJ
Best Davidoff Performance
Blend Bar Cigar, Indianapolis, IN
Best Davidoff Performance for Multiple Locations
Corona Cigar Company, Orlando, FL
Davidoff Growth Award
Cigarz on the Avenue, Winter Park, FL
Davidoff Growth Award for Multiple Locations
Casa de Montecristo, Countryside, IL
Best New Appointed Merchant
Havana Phil’s Cigar Company, Greensboro, NC
Appointed Merchant of the Year
Tobacconist of Greenwich, Greenwich, CT
Industry Service Award
Jim Clark, Straus Tobacconist, Cincinnati, OH and Harris Saunders IV,
Cigars and More, Birmingham, AL
Zino Legacy Award
Keith Rumbo, Club Humidor, San Antonio, TX
And the Winner Is…