Cordillera Cigars Fires First Salvo in New Cuban Revolution, Scores Dead-Center

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	NEW PRODUCT RELEASE
	For Release: March 22, 2008

	Cordillera Cigars Fires First Salvo in New Cuban Revolution, Scores Dead-Center
	John Vogel, career tobacco agronomist and current director of Costa Rican tobacco and cigar producer Tabacos de la Cordillera (Mountain Range Cigars), is now using a more effective method of bunching premium cigars, named "Dead-Center Ligero"™. Vogel claims it places and locks the ligero "dead center" in the bunch, which virtually eliminates uneven-burning cigars and tight draw, cigar smokers' two top complaints.

	"All our long-filler cigars now feature the unorthodox, yet common-sense Dead-Center Ligero method of cigar construction," reports Vogel. "It incorporates the old Cuban method of entubado (tubed) bunching, wherein each ligero leaf is rolled into a "soda straw" that runs the cigar's length ... leaf tips at the foot, stem ends at the head. The tubed ligero filler leaves are next surrounded by a "bird-cage" array of similarly-tubed base filler leaves. This method provides a visual check for the worker to reliably ensure the ligero is dead-center in the bunch. During binding and pressing, the array remains intact. This solves the two greatest problems among smokers. First, the foot-to-head smoke channels virtually eliminate tight draws and plugs. The tubed ligero leaves, captured in the ring of base filler leaves, also do not shift during pressing, making uneven burn due to off-center ligero a thing of the past.

	Cordillera Cigars also incorporates two more construction improvements in all their long-filler cigars, both commonly used by cigar-makers from Cuba's Golden Age. The binder is finished off with a panuelo (handkerchief) cap inside the outer wrapper, which is also panel-capped. This cap design, plus the cigars' crowned heads, make cutting easier and prevent unraveling of the wrapper following cutting, another source of irritation among smokers.

	"In industry-standard practice," explains Vogel, "the worker simply lays base filler leaves across palm, upon which he lays loose ligero leaves. He then closes his hand, wrapping the base leaves around the ligero. This relatively loose bunch often permits the ligero to shift off-center during bunching, binding and pressing. "Our simple remedy to the most plaguing causes of bad cigar experiences may become the accepted way of the future ... it certainly deserves its place in luxury-level cigars. Today's smokers are well-enough informed to know this is a serious step in cigar-construction quality and performance." Cigars from Tabacos de la Cordillera are available at better tobacco retailers, and on the company's Web site, www.tabacordillera.com.


	Cordillera's Entubado bunching enables worker to ensure the ligero is captured dead-center within "bird cage" of base filler leaves


	Cigar with visible Dead-Center Ligero (bottom) burns more evenly than conventional bunching