Cigars :: essays research papers

Cigars     There be signs everywhere that cigars argon becoming popular again. Forexample, you cant pass a magazine stand without seeing two or three newmagazines glorifying the subject, and restaurants all over the country bedevoting entire nights to "smoke dinners." So wherefore is the cigarette stillconsidered offensive and is generally scorned by all? This seems strange sincecigars and cigarettes have so many things in common both are made of tobacco,both are rolled into tube-like shapes, and both are smoked. However, it mustbe the differences that make the cigar so much more popular. Cigars are madefrom punter quality tobaccos, cigars are heap rolled, and cigars have a morepleasing aroma.     Both cigars and cigarettes are constructed of tobacco, but the care usedin raising delicately cigar tobacco is second to none. Only the finest leaves of theplant are selected. The drying and fermenting process is long (nine months forfil ler leaves and up to two years for wrapper leaves) and closely watched. pouf tobacco is swelled for quantity not necessarily for quality. Noregard is given to the aroma and smoke of the different types of tobacco. Theonly type of tobacco grown is fast-maturing strains they can get to the marketquickly. Careful and attentive raising is non existent. The leaves arequickly dried and thrown into boxes for shipment to the rolling factory.     Fine cigars are hand rolled, whereas all cigarettes are machine rolled.Including the type and quality of the leaf, rolling is the ultimate judge ofwhether a cigar is good or bad. Cigar companies go to great pains to be surethey hire only the best "Torcedores" (cigar rollers). If a cigar isunderfilled it will burn hot and harsh if it is overfilled it is "Plugged" andwill not draw. To be sure that the cigars are of the best quality, one out often is inspected (thats two out of each box). On the other hand, cigarett etobacco is first jammed into cutting machines where the leaves are shredded.Second, they go into the rolling machines where the shreds are perfectlymeasured out, rolled, and wrapped in paper. The only humans who come incontact with the tobacco, at this point, are the monitors who drag in up thedebris and add it back to the hopper. Since machines are doing the work, thereis very little quality control. Only one out of a thousand is checked (thatsone cigarette out of fifty packs).     Cigar smoke is savored and appreciated, while cigarette smoke isconsidered nasty and smelly.