The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-08-18
NO MORE OF THESE HAVANAS.
THE FINE OLD-TIME CIGARS NOT
MADE NOW ADAIS.
The, We're the Highest Product Of the
trEsrmskeris Art-Pride ef the Man
ufacturer IN Them ef Their
Passing - Revolution In Taste.

high-grade Havana cigar a. II vas once
made Is a thing 81 he past. Money cannot
procure for the fssiidious smoker now ths
cigar Re enjoyed fifteen or twenty years
ago. In shape, color. variety Of leaf. and
last Of all In the personal pride the manu-
f~acturer took In II there has been a change
for the worse. II was always a very re
strictcd product, one little understood
excerpt by the inner circle OF cultivated
smokers. Consequently tho number 81
those who regret It's passing Is compare
lively small
Tn demand for the cigar made IN Cuba
Of what II termed Havana tobacco In no
greater than IL was ten years ago. There
are still only about S5O.Ooo.ooo Of these
cigars made annually The difficulty ia
maintaining the old-time excellence does
not come from an Increased demand for
the cigars. hut rather from an increased
demand for ..so .aw material. the wonder
ful leaf which will grow Ia only a small area
in Cuba Ia it, curious perfection % quality
and which cannot be duplicated In any
other spot In the world.
Twenty years ago very few so-called
clear Havana cigars were made Ia this
country. Thcss are the cigars which are
made entirely Of tobacco grown In Cubs
without any admixturs and are rolled ~
YIN N htAah iAhAttl pIhs WV
there are made mora than 100 GO coo Of
thes- cigar annually, besides about 1000
CO. .OOO seed and Havana cigars. which are
composed mRinl Of a umatra tobacco
, wrapper and n filler Of Havana tobacco
grown In the Remedies district a district
totally apart and distinct from that pro-
ducing the tobacco which the native Cuban
Uses In his high grade stock The American
demand for the high-grsde leaf has been
felt more and more hy the Cuban manu-
| fa.far,r. anH has lal than tnat.a nfhar
varieties Of tobacco.
Only a comparatively small crop Of tho
hest cigar tobacco ran be grown In Cuba.
This tobacCo has n curious aroma and fra
GRANGE In burning which IL Possessed by
no other tobacco In the world. not even the
leaf RAISED from carefully selected seed
grown on carefully selected and In q climate
approximately the same a. Cula's IL There
is no more tobacco land In Cuba which can
lie cultivated for finer grades, The bulk
Of this tobacco IL, and always has been.
grown Ia the small region Of Nuba known
as Pnar del Rio THIS IL he renowned
Nuclta tobacco, which " grown IL ;iia Nuelta
| Abajo Valley Here the land was made by
successive overfiows from the sea, which
seems To have given a peculiar fertility TO
the soil.
Thus there IL not nearly enough fine Pinar
del Rio 20 60 around. and there
L. as great a proportion Of poor tohacco
grown In Cuba a. elsewhere. Even In the
old days the supply was ~ -cant that al
though the importation ~ foreign tobacco
into Cuba was expressly forbidden by law,
the manufacturer werc permitted 10 re-
Ceive n certain amount yearly from Porto
Rico, 20 be used with the Nuelta scraps or
cuttings In the manufacture - Cuban
cigarettes The Porto Rican tobacco was
not thought worth making into cigars by
the old-time Cuban cigar manufacturers.
with whom the quality Of his goods and the
unblemished reputation 81 his factory
product ranked second only TO hts I'M
tarnished family name.
He was al enthusiast in his business.
Men worth millions were found NJ their
factories at s A NJ personally superin-
tending the procs~- Of c~igar-making. ES-
pert selecter- 81 tobacco and blenders
az the VARIOUS growths and types Of tho
Vuelts leaf were employed a, pnncely
salaries To buy tobacco from certain fields
or farms. Yearly they tested its burn
ing qualities and its aroma. with the one
view Of taking the types and blending
them into n perfect whole which could
not no distinguished from the product
az the previous year or ten wears before
II possible NJ dear was the high quality
81 his goods to the manufacturer ~ those
days that In n had wear. soon after tho
too heavy u-e Of guano as a FERTILIZER. Pedro
Munas actually CLOSED his factory for tho
year. and declined to work The tobacco,
informing his trade In all parts ~ tire
world that II was not up To- his standard
To-day such n cour~c would bc regarded
~ an expensive advertising tfck men
" was simply the outcome Of the intense
personal pride Murias took in the product
~ his factory, n pride shown Ia "a greater
or LEES extent by almost every Spaniard
In the business, II II a curious fact that
nearly all the high grade Spaniands in the
cigar manufacturing business IN those
days came from Asturas.
In those dAys the Havana cigar was
wrapped In a les! % Nue.ta, the same to-
bacco used inside for the filler. II was
- - -
II held up 90 the light showed an indcscent
growth Of ~folicle- or tiny hairs covering
it, surface When the cigar was smoked
two distinct ~fragrances were obtained,
one from the smoke taken into IN" mouth.
and another from the burning end Of the
cigar. and both delicious
In tho~s DAYS Particles tohacco was
practically unknown. IL grew sparsely
In the phosphate soil Of THO rartidos die
trict, which lies eastward from Pinar del
Rio. along the high Gulf coast. and can
almost he said to he the connecting link
let ween the magnificent Nuelia tobacco
81 Pinar del Rio and the coar-rr and more
acrid growths II yara tnow extinct,
Remedies. Manicaragua. and the poor
tobacco lands. The cigar value of this
tobacco IL shown by the fact that fifteen
years ago or ~, kosendo R~osenducles
ran a factory using nothing cl-e. and his
p%erfccto cigars were sold In tuta Tor SIS
a thousand, although they had the same
weight. the same high class workmanship,
&c. as the Nuelta pnrfechDs 81 Pedro
Murias, which were worth tiGS a ~thousand.
Both the-e cigars wene SOLD on Broadway,
New York. al IS GENTS each at retail.
The Partido- tohacro Is n thin. silky,
oily leaf, very much handsOner and
sishtlier than the Nuclta tobacco. and
after a time, being driven 20 II by the
s~carri,y ~ Nuelta. some manufacturers
b.gan 20 uI<a the Particles tohacCo for the
wrapper or outside covering ~ tn" Nuslta
cigars. n VA one % those chancc hap
lening- that bring about a revolution.
The lighter colorrd cigar caught the
American eve which WAS looking for a
mild cigar and. tho United States t-ing
the CREATES, buyers ~ Havana made cigar,
this demand Tor hight l.af -T-~dily brought
about III. almo~, universal u-'uf Particles
tolacCo fnr Wrapf-rS Sone 81 the old-
time factories. such ~ that 81 Munas,
struggled against the new craze. a. u vas
calhNd. but eventually had 80 give In. sincr,
hy reason 81 the demands ~
IN rlruT-. England al-o h'gan 80 demand
the light wrapI-rS
Then -ound~i Inc knoll 81 the old-tine
Havana cigar. More attention wA- given
b. the Partidos crop and II ~a- tmnruv"d
until " a. not iu-~pm" gray With Az, and
the old-time fragrant bouquet 90 a ctgaT
Wa rrptscsd 10y the mon 90 l-s- i~unocuuu~,
chamrierle--. -~ert. mild .ussks - TO-DAY
Tho Cigar NV demanded D. uIr ~ Shi~h
- r. D