Swisher International, announced the launch of Royal Gold Cigars.   Royal Gold Cigars will give Swisher International a division that focuses premium hand-made cigars.   Swisher International is the largest manufacturer of cigars in the world, but the company’s focus had been on machine-made mass-produced cigars.

According to a report in Cigar Aficionado, Royal Gold Cigars will launch three brands at the 2012 IPCPR.  Two of the brands will be new concepts and the third will be a new version of Casino Gold.  Casino Gold was a budget priced cigar sold by Swisher International for several years.   Each of the three lines will have a particular regional focus: Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.

Swisher International has tapped Alex Goldman to be president of Royal Gold Cigars.  Goldman spent twenty years at House of Oxford/Mom’s Cigars including serving as its president and CEO.  House of Oxford/Mom’s Cigars was based in New Jersey and the company focused on retail, wholesale, and mail-order operations.  Goldman also served on the Board of Directors for the Cigar Association of America (CAA – the cigar industry’s lobbying arm) and was elected president of its Retail Marketing Division.  Goldman also served as a consultant for Rocky Patel Premium Cigars.

Royal Gold is not Swisher International’s first foray into premium cigars.  Following the end of the cigar boom, the company re-focused on machine made cigars in 2002.