June 14, 2013 (Pinellas Park, Fla.) —   Davidoff, the leading luxury tobacco brand, has announced the Second Annual Davidoff Golden Band Awards Show nominees, honoring those Appointed Merchants who best embody the Davidoff standard of excellence. In conjunction with the announcement, the Golden Band Awards website has been revamped featuring this year’s nominees. The second annual awards show will be part of an exclusive Davidoff event on July 15th at IPCPR in Las Vegas, NV.

The Davidoff Golden Band Awards materialized from the brand’s success, rooted in decades of long-standing partnerships with trusted merchants. Davidoff has a long history of working with its family of retailers to help them expand their businesses, discuss best practices and grow the Davidoff brand, hand in hand.

Davidoff Golden Band Award - June 2013

“The Golden Band Awards provided us the opportunity to officially recognize our Appointed Merchants for the first time,” said Richard Krutick, Davidoff Marketing Director. “We’ve seen a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for the company, excitement for Davidoff and creating some healthy competition.”

Based on the enormous success of the program in the US, the Golden Band Awards will cross the pond. The event will take place in Europe now during the large Inter-Tabac Tradeshow in Dortmund, Germany this September.

The Golden Band Awards will honor Appointed Merchants across eight categories:

Best Davidoff Merchandising

Nominees:

Prime Cigar & Wine Bar (Boca Raton, FL), Burns Tobacconist (Chattanooga, TN)

The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood (Ridgewood, NJ), Island Smoke Shop (Key Largo, FL)

The Outlaw Cigar Company (Kansas City, MO)

Best Davidoff Performance (Single Location)

Nominees:

The Tobacconist Of Greenwich (Greenwich, CT)

Cigars by Chivas (Pasadena, CA)

Angry Moon Cigars (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)

Indy Cigar Bar (Indianapolis, IN)

Maxamar Cigar (Orange, CA)

Best Davidoff Performance (Multiple Locations)

Nominees:

Two Guys Smoke Shop (Nashua, NH)

Ambassador Fine Cigars (Scottsdale, AZ)

Humidor of Westmont (Westmont, IL)

Corona Cigar (Orlando, FL)

Smoke Inn (West Palm Beach, FL)

Davidoff Growth Award (Single Location)

Nominees:

Angry Moon Cigars (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)

Indy Cigar Bar (Indianapolis, IN)

Maxamar Cigar (Orange, CA)

Hemingway’s (Palo Alto, CA)

W. Curtis Draper (Washington, D.C.)

Davidoff Growth Award (Multiple Locations)

Nominees:

Ambassador Fine Cigars (Scottsdale, AZ)

Emerson’s Cigars (Virginia Beach,VA)

Two Guys Smoke Shop (Nashua, NH)

Club Humidor (San Antonio, TX)

Corona Cigar (Orlando, FL)

Davidoff Appointed Merchant of the Year

Nominees:

Burns Tobacconist (Chattanooga, TN)

Indy Cigar Bar (Indianapolis, IN)

Maxamar Cigar (Orange, CA)

Ambassador Fine Cigars (Scottsdale, AZ),

UpDown Cigar (Chicago, IL)

Davidoff Industry Service Award

Nominees:

Finnie Helmuth (The Humidour Cigar Shoppe – Cockeysville, MD)

Gary Pech (Old Virginia Tobacco Co., Woodbridge, VA)

Curt Diebel (Diebel’s Sportsmens Gallery, Kansas City, MO)

The final award category is the Zino Davidoff Legacy Award, which will be presented to the Appointed Merchant who has stood out over the years as the champion of what premium cigars and premium cigar retailing are all about.

Please visit GoldenBandAwards.com for more information.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.