Does anyone have any insight into cigar distribution? I'm talking about a store (could be B&M, could be online) that gains permission to sell a certain brand of cigar (AF, Padron, Henry Clay, whoever). What's involved, and what are the benefits to the manufacturer of being selective about your retailers?

Here's where I'm going:

I know of a local store that sells a certain brand that I know isn't an authorized retailer. While it potentially could be that the manufacturer hasn't updated their site, I'm further suspicious because the markup on these particular cigars is lower than the markup on the other cigars they sell, suggesting to me that they are acquiring these boxes from other sources than the retailer. I'm not looking to cause trouble, but I do wonder what implications this has on the manufacturer side (where my loyalties, at least in this case, lie). I will say that for this particular brand, it is not available anywhere else in the city than this one store.