The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-06
CIGARS IMPROVED
BY Being Stored
100000 Worth in Humidor
of One Firm Alone
USE SPANISH CEDAR
Shelves Made of Only Wood That
Does Not Impart Its Order to the
Cigar-Strength Not Indi-
Gated by the Wrapper
USE SPANISH CEDAR

From the New York Sun.
NO man who has once smoked a
properly aged cigar viii ever go back
to the fresh article" declares the man
ager of the American branch of a Lon
don tobacco firm.
More than 100000 worth of aged and
laying cigars are stored in the hunlfdor
of this FIRMS Fifth avenue store. OF
these ss0,0 worth are the property OF
New York owners. The air in the little
room is never either cold or hot and
Is always absolutely dry.
The humidor is an Inside room per-
haps 10 feet square. Its walls, heavily
lined with asbestos, are nine inches
thick. on shelves that reach from floor
to ceiling are the cigars, most of them
in cabinets of Spanish cedar, the only
wood that does not impart its own odor
Ito the cigars, which are as sensitive as
butter or milk. The cabinets hold ESQ
cigars apiece. The cigars mature in
their own aroma. They do not dry out
since there Is no change of atmosphere.
Every one of the 80 or 40 different
leaves from as many different planta-
tions which are blended to make up
the high priced cigar has It's own
strength and flavor. AS the cigar ages
the resin which is in every leaf slight
lily permeates each other leaf, and the
whole becomes a smooth, sweet blend.
There are we'll known names on the
boxes. Coronas predominate to the
casual eye, with other high grade
brands well represented. The discrim-
lianting smoker, it seems, grades his
cigars according to strength as care
fully as he does his drinks. There is
the mild, after breakfast cigar. the ar
ticle of medium size and strength to
follow luncheon, and the large, full
favored variety which atones for the
after dinner absence of the ladies'
The difference in strength depends not
on the color of the wrapper, which is
the popular belief, but on the nature
of the filler. The taste for light colored
leigars Is due to this mistaken idea on
the part of the public. The demand fol
the light colors is only about 80 years
old, for the first cigars brought to this
country were oscuro--very drak. But
rotten tobacco leaves still further to
blacken them and convince our fathers
that they were getting the worth OF
their money
| Then some light colored products
grown on poor land, were put on the
market and the public began to buy
them under the impression that Ney
were mild. Mildness really lies in the
quality and seasoning Of the leaf and
not in its color. Aging. according TO
the manager, also insures mildness.
The humidor contains only aged cigars
and the aged cigars are for sale only In
quantities of 1000 more at an average
price of 5000 a thousand. Once purchased
the cigars are held subject to the owner 5
order free from storage or insurance
charges and furnished to him as he may
direct.
A cigar is supposed to be at its prime
after two years, but this depends to a
certain extent on the crop. Many of the
cigars in this humidor are of the 1904
crop, which was particularly rich in nat
ural oils.
The man who bought 5000 cigars from