The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1902-10-01
LANGUAGE OF CIGARS
THE TERMS. USED IN THE TRADE ARE
GREEK TO MOST SMOKERS.
Some Refer TO sixe, Some to shape
and Others to CoIor-Few Tobacco
Users Know Them Apart. and They
Are Much Misused.


Are Much Misused.
Whenever the average untutored to-
baceo lover wishes to Indicate to his
envious friends that he is In possession
Of cigar of the first quality, he usual
ly says that he has n perfecto. By
perfeeto he means the best cigar OBJ
tainab.e, and ms Il rule he applies the
name to all products OF tho Havana
factories. But In truth, declares an
intelligent writer IN tho Kansas City
Journal. good many cigars that
never saw Havana arc genuine per-
fectos, and good many made In the
most famous factories of tho Cuban
capital. are not. The word, as Il mat
ter Of fact, does not refer to the quality
of q cigar at. all. II is simply. Il term
used to describe the shape, Aperfecto
may cost 81, and 1t may cost 2h"cents
There are half Il dozen cigar terms
thus, misused by the average smoker,
and there are several times as many
words of tho same sort whose mean
ing he Is utterly unable to fathom.
What native, corn fed smoker, for In
stance, knows. the difference between
panetela and q Reina Victorian And
how, many know whether there is a
real difference between II maduro and
an oscuro2 Yet oil of these terms are
the common property of cigar makers
all over the world. Like many cigar
brand names. they are of Spanish orb
gin, but the wanderlngs of Havana
tobacco and Cuban cigars have taken
them. into all countries and all Ian
guages.
The, great majority of cigars are put
up flfty In Il box, with thirteen on the
top. row,s twelve on the row next to the
top, thirteen on the next and twelve
on tho bottom row. When londres
cigar is packed 100 In II box In two
bundles tied with Il ribbon. It becomes
a Relna Victoria, which Is Spanish for
Queen Victoria, EARLY In tho late
queens reign Cuban manufacturer
invented this method Of packing and
called the resultant bundle after Great
Britaln's sovereign. The name has re-
manned ever since.
The word perfecto is term indleat-
Ing Il certain shape III cigars. A per-
fecto Is q smoke having whit Is gem
orally called the cigar shape"-that
Is TO say, 1t Is swelied near the end
which Is lighted and tapers gradually
down to the point or head. The end
of Il cigar which smoker puts In his
mouth is known among cigar makers
as the head. The other end, that
which Is lighted, Is called tho tuck
When, as often happens in perfecto
the tuck Is very small, it Is called 1
needle tuck or feather tuck, AN other
follow these lines more or less closely.
A thin, straight cigar, with littl'
more thickness in the middle than a
the tuck, Is called punetelu. The
average panetela is slightly longer
than n perfeeto 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 mado, The
virtue Of the perfecto is that Its small
er tuck lights more readily, and Its
more artistic curves give II greater
beauty.
A londres IL II sort of cross between
tho perfecto and the panetela. 1t IL
u perfecto from the head TO the thick
est part, and from there on to tho tuck
1t Is betwixt and between. Usually
the slope from the thlchest part to the
tuck has n gradual curve. The tuck
as n rule Is AZ large as that of n pane
tela.
A partegas is cigar shaped much
like a londres, except that the slope
from the thlckest part 10 tho head IL
usually not 50 rounded. 1t is a shape
not now as fashionable as It used TO
be, md even when cigars are genuine
partegas the box is seldom stamped
with the name.
A conchaa IL small blunt cigHr. AS
a rule It Is very satisfactory smoke,
and usually 1t lasts as long as per-
fccto. This Is because that thin tuck
OF the latter burns down rapidly. The
opera IL a very small cigar OF any
standard shape. 1t derives It's name
from the fact that 1t Is designed for
a short smoke between the acts, and
very often It Is called on entracte. The
brevas IL n large. clumsy cigar, good
for an hours putting The largest size
of all IL the Napoleon. Sometimes Ha-
yana Napoleons are six or seven inches
In length. The blaclicr ones are posi-
lively terrifying.
The better grades of cigars arc usu-
ally made In several shapes and sizes
There may be, for instance, the La
Flor dc Habana perfcctos, the La Flor
de Habana panetelas, the La Flor de
Habana operas, the La Flor de Ha-
bana partegas and tho La Flor do Ua.
bana conchas. Tho label Is the same
on all Of the sizes and shapes, but on
the front of tho box the name Of the
shape Is stamped.
On one end Of each box Of cigars will
| be noted another word. Sometimes II
| Is colorado, sometimes It Is claro and
| at other times 1t Is maduro. This indi-
Gates the color of the cigars within, or,
as uniformed smokers say, the
strength" The lightest of all cigars
are a yelowlsh brown. They are called
| claros. Next In order come the colora-
| do claros, which are darker brown,
and then como the eolorados, which
are about midway between 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 tho os
euro, and It was shiny black. But OF
late the fashion has been for light
cigars, md the word oscuro has almost
dropped out OF use.