268 



CUBAN CIGARS. 



root or middle of the leaf. One elaborate process follows 

 another for the perfection of a work of art for as such we 

 must regard a cigar." 



Hazard, in his admirable work on Cuba, devotes consider- 

 able space to cigars, their manufacture, varieties, and use, in 

 which he speaks of the various brands as follows : 



" The brands known as * Tara MayauJ and the c Guisa? 

 are perhaps the most celebrated made upon the Island. Of 

 the ' YaraJ which has some considerable reputation, partic- 

 ularly in the London market, I confess I cannot speak favor- 

 ably. Cigars that I smoked made from this leaf, and which 

 are much smoked in the vicinity of Santiago de Cuba, I 

 found had a peculiar saline taste which was very unpleasant, 

 as also a slight degree of bitterness ; many smokers, however, 

 become very fond of this flavor. When I state that in 

 Havana alone there are over one hundred and twenty-five 

 manufacturers of cigars, it will readily be understood there 

 must be a great many inferior cigars made even in Cuba. 

 Havana may be called the c City of cigars,' from its reputa- 

 tion and the immense number of factories there are in it for 

 the manufacture of cigars, from the smallest shop opening 

 on the street, employing three or four hands to the immense 

 fdbricos erected expressly for this purpose, and employing 

 five or six hundred. 



"Let not any one imagine, then, that because he is in 

 Havana he will get no poor cigars, for a greater mistake can 



not be made, for 

 just as vile trash 

 can there be pur- 

 chased as a n y 

 where; and it 

 appeared to me 

 that in buying, 

 from time to time 

 in different 

 fabricos, a few 

 cigars it was 

 rarely I found a 

 really good one. 

 It behooves, 

 then, every lover 

 of a good cigar 

 to make himself 

 familiar with the best makers and brands, and to purchase 



CUBA* CIGAR SHOP. 



