of good quality of tobacco
and thoroughly sweat. If a full-flavored cigar is desired, choose the
dark colors, and the lighter if a mild cigar is preferable. The
lighter the color of the tobacco the lighter the ash and the milder
the flavor of the cigar. Light-colored cigars usually burn freer and
more evenly than dark ones. In selecting a cigar for its good burning
qualities, choose those (if such are to be had) covered with white
specks, or white rust; such cigars burn well, as white rust is found
only on well-ripened leaves. Select a firm, well-made cigar--one that
contains a good quantity of fillers--avoiding, however, in Havana
cigars, one made _too_ nicely, as it is sometimes the case that
superior external appearance is made to cover defects in the more
important qualities.

Such a selection will insure a cigar of good quality; one that will
hold fire and last the length of time appropriate to its size. A cigar
should not be chosen simply because it is made well, and neither
because its outside appearance (wrapper) is fine, both in color and
quality of leaf; rather depend upon the manufacture of the brand.
Havana cigars have as many distinct flavors as there are colors of the
leaf, ranging from very mild to very strong.

The first great requisite of a cigar is its burning quality, and the
second its flavor; without the first the latter is of little value. A
cigar made from leaf that does not burn freely will not possess any
desirable flavor, but will char and emit rank-smelling smoke, without
any desirable feature whatever. When both of these qualities are in a
measure perfect the cigar will prove to be good. There are two
varieties, at least, known as non-burning tobacco, of which we shall
speak hereafter. The flavor and burning quality of a cigar always
determine its character, and are found in perfection in those made of
fine even-colored leaf. Dark cigars have a thicker leaf or more body,
and consequently are stronger than light-colored cigars. When the
cigar is made of fine, well-sweat tobacco, and contains the full
quantity of fillers, the pellet of ashes will be firm and strong, and
should possess the same color all through, if the filler, binder and
wrapper are of the same shade of color. The finest-flavored cigars are
those of a medium shade, between a light and a dark brown,--not so
dark as to be of strong, rank taste, or so mild as to be deficient in
a decided tobacco flavor, but simply possessing su