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This is a
Toscano or cheroot-style cigar; hand-rolled with long filler and a rough wrapper that ends in a pigtail; cut at the foot, hard to the touch and seemingly drier than "finer" cigars.
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From the story that the box tells, I estimate these to be from anywhere between 1956 and 1967. One reason is that the box lacks a tax stamp—mandatory on cigars before 1955—and looks to have never had one affixed. Also the address of the maker lacks a zip code; zip codes came into use in 1963 but their use did not become mandatory until 1967, and even then that was only for bulk users, although many companies adopted their use voluntarily earlier than that.
The cigars look to be in good condition and 19 of the original 50 remain. The wrappers are rough-looking, but they smell sweet, and not at all stale or musty.
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This is a puzzling box, though; despite their rough-and-tumble style, they are marked for sale at 2 for 25˘; the tax class is for more than 8˘ but not more than 15˘ apiece. That seems expensive for the late 1950s and for the kind of cigars they are, which makes me lean toward thinking that they are from the early '60s.
I'm not expecting much from this cigar; I cut the pigtail tip and again the smell is sweet but mild; almost like mild honey. The pre-light draw confirms sweetness and a bit of a bready quality, like baked goods.
It lights easily and immediately, I get more smoke than I expected; large volumes of nice smoke from this skinny, odd-looking thing.
The flavor defines itself as graham cracker, with honey still lingering in the background.
I wish I had more to tell you, but that's exactly what the cigar tasted like all the way through to the end, changing only to intensify slightly. The overall impression was pleasant and surprising because, as I said, I wasn't expecting anything from it; in fact, I had a backup cigar at the ready in case this one was crap. But, as it turns out, I really enjoyed this stick.
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That's interesting Joe.Those are still in production if I recall correctly.
I bought one in Gettysburg at Sutler's Row and tasted nothing like what you described.
It tasted very wood smokey,if that makes any sense.
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Originally Posted by bobarian:
Great stuff as always, Joe! 
:-) Clear?
No, not even close. Old, though. About like me.
:-)
Originally Posted by 68TriShield:
That's interesting Joe.Those are still in production if I recall correctly.
I bought one in Gettysburg at Sutler's Row and tasted nothing like what you described.
It tasted very wood smokey,if that makes any sense.
They still are being made, and the box doesn't seem to have changed over the years. They're about a buck apiece now, though; did some digging and found a box of 50 for $54. Machine-made and manufactured with the same crap they use to make cigarettes.
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The factory is one of the more interesting old buildings in downtown Wheeling. (You can glimpse it as you drive thru town on I-70.There are walkways several stories up that connect the building to what once must have been company housing. I think you can sign up to tour it during one of the town's annual historical festivals. Otherwise though they don't seem to be interested in even chatting with visitors who might wander in.
I got a walkthrough once while the bosses were at lunch...but don't tell anybody.
:-) Pretty neat place, at the time some of the rolling tables (for handmades of the distant past) and rolling machines (more recently in use but not lately) were still there.
All they were doing with the building then--about eight years ago--was storage for some of the machine made sticks the parent company produces elsewhere. Oh, and giving a very grumpy boss man a nice old office.
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