A very interesting article.

I am accumulating enough cigar CEUs to trade for a new humidor!

I just discivered there are a bunch of other articles about cigars in archives under cigar talk. If you haven't read these, its a great resourse.

Amazing all the things you can discover in"Archives", Trace.

I remember the drying and curing houses in Cuba from when I was a little boy. They were not so large as football fields but contained much tobaccos. Growing of the tobaccos was a way of life. The people of great wealth werre the growers. We were not growers. It is for me a pleasent memory.

No wonder a single cigar can cost so much. It makes you wonder how they produce the cheap whiteowls.

Jasper, White Owls, much like many of that genre are made with the clippings (referred to as short filler) left over from the lower grade production houses. A binding agent is mixed with it to make a "mixture" and then they are machine pressed and made. The problem is that many have grabbed an Owl, thinking that was a good example of a cigar and of course it is not. Cigars are much like wine. The good ones take time to ferment, age and mature. Different varieties and regions produce different blends. Hmmm..I think you just gave me the idea for another article! Thanks!