KT&G's business goes up in a puff of smoke every day. As South Korea's leading cigarette manufacturer, KT&G enjoys about a 70% market dominance and exports its smokes under more than 20 different brand names to the US, China, and Central and Southeast Asia. The firm escaped government control in 2002 and has since added bio and pharmaceutical production, and real estate alongside its core cigarette manufacturing business. KT&G's products are also distributed in Russia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. The firm got its start in 1899 as the Korean imperial household's exclusive supplier of tobacco and ginseng.

British American Tobacco Vietnam promotes tobacco crop production through a joint venture with Vietnam National Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba). Additionally, it operates a manufacturing facility capable of producing 17,000 tons of cut rag per year; is licensed to distribute State Express 555 and Dunhill brand cigarettes; and manufactures such brands as Craven A, White Horse, Virginia Gold, Everest, and Seven Diamonds. Established in 1994, it operates offices in Can Thoin, Da Nang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City. It is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco p.l.c.

Altadis Pyrenees Mountains may divide France and Spain, but Altadis unites the countries for a smoke. Born of the 1999 merger of Spain's Tabacalera and France's Societe Nationale d'Exploitation Industrielle des Tabacs et Allumettes (Seita), Altadis is one of the world's largest tobacco firms. Altadis brands include Ducados, Fortuna, Gauloises, and Gitanes. Its cigar operation (the top worldwide) produces Antonio y Cl opatra, Farias, Hav-A-Tampa, and Montecristo and controls a quarter of the world's cigar market (mostly from its Altadis USA unit).

Tobacco was brought to Europe 500 years ago by Columbus. In other parts of the world it has been known much longer.Tobacco has been used as a medical plant, as well as for rituals and pleasure - and the tobacco plant has been viewed as both the work of the Devil and as God's gift to man.Over centuries tobacco has played a central part in European culture across class barriers, generation gaps and borders. Tobacco has also left its hallmarks on the development of trade, craft and industry.

Judging by its logo Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company sells what may be the closest thing to a peace pipe. Packs of its Natural American Spirit additive-free cigarettes, adorned with an American Indian smoking the ceremonial pipe, are sold in Canada, Europe, Japan, and the US. The tobacco-product manufacturer sells as many as 10 types of the branded cigarettes, including the imported Dunhill brand. Though the company sells additive-free smokes, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company doesn't claim they are any safer to use than the typical cigarette. Founded in 1982, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings (now Reynolds American) bought the company in 2002 for $340 million. President and CEO Nicholas Bumbacco joined in 2009.

British American Tobacco p.l.c., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products. The company offers cigars and cigarettes under the Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Vogue, Viceroy, Rothmans, Kool, Benson & Hedges, State Express 555, Peter Stuyvesant, and John Player Gold Leaf brand names. It also sells Swedish-style snus, a form of smokeless tobacco. The company has operations in Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and America-Pacific. British American Tobacco p.l.c. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Altria Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in the United States and internationally. The company also manufactures machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco; and maintains a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases principally in transportation, including aircraft, as well as power generation and manufacturing equipment and facilities. It serves wholesalers and distributors, large retail organizations and chain stores, and the armed services. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

JR Cigar company that began as a small Manhattan cigar shop is now a leading distributor and retailer of premium cigars. Its retail operations include a few discount outlet stores (all in North Carolina) and a direct-mail catalog operation. Its stores also sell pipe tobacco, tobacco accessories, humidors, lighters, coffee, and other specialty items such as a Montecristo golf club set. Orders also are taken on the company's Web site, which features JR Cigar University. The company hosts auctions on its Web site, as well, at JR Cigar Auction. The online database contains extensive information on cigars -- everything from storing them to lighting them up.

Imperial Tobacco Group has traded up to an even bigger throne. Its acquisition of Spain's Altadis in 2008 added the Montecristo and Ducados brands. Its purchase of German tobacco firm Reemtsma (Davidoff and West cigarettes) doubled its size and made it one of the world's top tobacco firms. Imperial's other brands include Lambert & Butler, the UK's #1 cigarette, as well as Castella cigars, and Amphora and St Bruno pipe tobacco. Its Drum brand is the #1 hand-rolling tobacco worldwide, and Rizla is a top cigarette paper. Acquisitions in Australia and New Zealand have assured Imperial's presence in emerging markets.

S&M counts two things -- cigarettes and racing -- among its favorites. S&M Brands makes and markets cigarettes under the Bailey's Cigarettes brand name, as well as under the Freedom of Choice label. CEO Malcolm (Mac) Bailey and his son Steven established the company in 1994. The "S&M" in the corporate name stands for "Steve and Mac." Bailey's Cigarettes are sold throughout the Southeastern US in Alabama, Florida, Delaware, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, the Carolinas, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. S&M is a closely held, family-run company that boasts fifth-generation tobacco growers. The firm sponsors a NASCAR racing team to promote its brand.

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