1. A method for automatically inspecting the outer wrappers of cigarettes for spot and stain defects comprising the steps of: storing a plurality of cigarettes to be inspected; providing a CCD camera and associated lens; presenting said at least one of said plurality of cigarettes for viewing by said CCD camera by sequentially rotating said at least one of said plurality of cigarettes; generating a video signal representative of at least one of said plurality of cigarettes; and analyzing said generated video signal to detect said spot and stain defects.