Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-09-11
MOST SMOKERS UNDERSTAND
NOT THE TERMS USED.
FEW KNOW THEM APART
Names Refer to Size, Shape or Color
Fashions Change as in Hats
or CIothes-Dark Cigars Not Neces-
sariIy Strong Ones-Better Grade
of Different Shapes and Sizes.


session of cigar of the first quality,
he usually says that he has a perfecto.
By perfecto he means the best cigar
Obtainable, and, as rule, he applles
the name to I'll products of the Havana
factories. But, in truth, good many
cigars that never saw Havana are
genuine perfectos, and good many
made in the most famous factories OF
the Cuban capital are not. The word,
as a matter of fact, does not refer to
the quality of a cigar at all. It is
simply a term used to describe the
shape. A perfecto may cost 81 and
it may cost 21A cents.
There are half a dozen cigar terms
thus misused by the average smoker.
And there are several times as many
words of the same sort whose mean
ing he is utterly unable to fathOm.
What native, corn-fed smoker, for in
stance, knows the difference between
a panetela and a Reina Victoria? And
how many know whether there is
real difference between a maduro and
an oscuro? Yet all of these terms
are the common property of cigarmak-
ers all over the world Like many
cigar-brand names, they are of Spanish
origin, but the wanderings of Havana
tobacco and Cuban cigars have taken
them into all countries and all Ian
guages.
The great majority of cigars are
packed so in box, with 13 on the
top row. II in the row next to the top
13 on the next and u on the bottom
row When a londres cigar is packed
100 in box in two bundles, tied with
ribbon it becomes a Reina Vic
toria, which is Spanish for Queen Vic
tOria. Early in the late queens reign
a Cuban manufacturer invented this
method of packing, and called the re-
sultant brand after Great Britain's
sovereign. The name has remained
ever since.
The word perfecto is a term indicat-
ing a certain shape in cigars. A per-
fecto is smoke having what is gen
orally called the edgar shape"-that
is to say it is welled near the end
which is lighted, and tapers gradual
ly down to the point, or head. The end
of a cigar which a smoker puts in his
mouth is known among cigarmakerS
as the head. The other end Chat which
is lighted) is called the tuck When,
tuck is very small, it is called a
needle tuck or feather tuck. All
others follow these lines more Or less
closely
A thin, straight cigar, with little
more thickness in the middle than at
the tuck, is called a panetela. The
average panetela is slightly longer than
perfecto, though the matter of size
has nothing to do with the shape.
Panetelas are esteemed because they
burn more regularly and are usually
better, because more easily, made.
The virtue of the Derfecto is that it's
smaller tuck lights more readily, and
its more artistic curves give it a great
ec beauty.
A londres is a sort of cross between
the perfecto and the panetela 1t is
a perfecto from the head to the thick
est part. and from there on to the
tuck it is betwixt and between. Usual
ly the slope from the thickesG part to
>-e tuck has a gradual curve. The
tuck, as rule, is as large as that of
a panetela.
A partega is a cigar shaped much
like londres, except that the slope
from the thickest part to the head is
usually not SO rounded. 1t is a shape
not now so fashionable as it used to
be, and even when cigars are genuine
partegas the box is seldom stamped
with the name.
A cOncha is a small, blunt cigar. AS
rule, it is very satisfactory smoke,
and usually it lasts as long as a per-
fecto. This is because the thin tuck
q the latter burns down rapidly. The
opera is very small cigar of any
standard shape. 1t derives its name
from the fact that it is designed for
short smoke between the acts, and
very often it is called an EXTRACT. The
breva is large, clumsy cigar, good
for an hours putting. The largest size
OF all is the Napoleon. Sometimes
Havana Napoleons are six or seven
inches in length. The blacker ones
arc positively terrifying.
The better grades of cigars are
usually made in several shapes and
sizes There may be, for instance, the
La Flor de Habana perfectos, the La
Flor de Habana panetelas, the La
Flor de Habana partegas and the La
Flor de Habana conchas. The label is
the same on ali of the sizes and
shapes, but on the front of the box the
name of the shape is stamped
On one end of each box of cigars
viii be noted another word Some
times it is colorado, sometimes it is
claro and at other times it is maduro.
This indicates the color of the cigars
within or, as uniformed smokers say,
the strength" The lightest
o. all cigars are a yellowish brown.
They are called claros Next in order
come the colorado claros, which are a
darker brown, and then come the col
orados, which are about midway be-
tween black and yellow. After the
colorados come the colorado maduros.
which are dark brown, and then the
maduros. which are well-nigh black.
Formerly another color was in vogue.
This was the oscuro and it was a
shiny black. But Of late the fashion
has been for light cigars, and the
word oscuro has almost dropped ont
of use.