Javan's Cigar Adventure (Pic Heavy)

[troutface]

Great thread! I jumped in full force and ordered a ton of sample tobacco to try, should be in mid next week. So excited to get rolling. Done a lot of research and am really surprised and maybe because I am pipe smoker but home rollers rarely discuss blends and flavor profiles, its mostly about the rolling. Either way looks like a fun and rewarding journey!

I ordered a bunch of sample leaf too when Javan started this thread, but got so busy that I haven't rolled any yet. In the meantime the leaf dried out and is now very fragile. I have to convert a cooler into a humidor and start rehydrating everything. May be a couple months before anything happens. ?

 

[Egg Shen]

Learning how to roll a cigar was in my wishlist for a while. Few weeks ago I decided to get some leaves from the States and start learning. Here are the leaves I used:
Wrapper - Brazilian Mata Fina
Binder - Dominican Binder
Fillers - Aged Dominican Ligero Piloto Cubano and Aged Dominican Seco Criollo 98
I also ordered some Bermocoll to use as the cigar glue.
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I watched lots of videos and read as much as I could before rolling one. However, mistakes were inevitable. I forgot to test the draw after bunching, only remembered right after wrapping the cigar and it was too late to unroll it. Another mistake was smoking it right after rolling. As a result, the draw was very loose and it didn't burn well, because I didn't give it enough time to dry properly. Still it was an amazing cigar.

Then I learned from my mistakes and rolled a second one. From the scraps of tobacco, I rolled a cigarillo as well. I have to say that it was the best cigarillo I had ever smoked. It didn't get hot, the burn, draw and taste were all consistent from start to finish:
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The cigarillo looks awesome. Good work!

 

[Egg Shen]

You know, I never thought about it, but it doesn't make any sense at all, does it??..............

It’s not as simple as many may guess. No fewer than 150 people’s hands have touched the tobacco that goes into fine cigars.

 

[AlanH]

So cool I want to try this where do you order the leaf from?

 

[jvnshr]

What!? You went for plain labeling too??

?

I used to write the type of tobacco I am using on the labels, but it was not efficient, so I decided to use a notebook. Every number corresponds to a separate blend.

 

[jvnshr]

Javan—this is inspiring. I went to a cigar event a little while back on the Fort Hamilton Army Base in Brooklyn during the summer and there was a guy rolling cigars quite quickly for the attendees to purchase (they smoked okay). The wrappers were quite moist and supple, resulting in a pretty smooth looking cigar. I'm going to have to try my hand at this someday. I've got a bunch of pipes i need to make before diving into yet another aspect of a pastime, You seem like you're having a fun journey and it's wonderful to see. You've motivated me to eventually try rolling my own.

You should absolutely try.

I ordered a bunch of sample leaf too when Javan started this thread, but got so busy that I haven't rolled any yet. In the meantime the leaf dried out and is now very fragile. I have to convert a cooler into a humidor and start rehydrating everything. May be a couple months before anything happens. ?

@ltstone has recently contacted me. He has rolled many cigars and absolutely enjoying the hobby. It is good that the leaves dried out, otherwise you would have had a mold problem. In order to rehydrate them, just mist some distilled or filtered water and keep them in a plastic bag. The moisture content is different for fillers, binders and wrappers.

So cool I want to try this where do you order the leaf from?

wholeleaftobacco.com and leafonly.com

 

[SmokeRings79]

Let me know when you get to the marketing phase...

 

[Jimmy_Jack]

Did this for a while. Had a great time and enjoyed rolling them. A lot to learn. Taste was pretty darn good too. If you can get some peruvian and ecuadorian tobaccos to mix in. Great flavors. Ill have to find some pics of the cigars I rolled.

 

[jvnshr]

Let me know when you get to the marketing phase...

What if I am already in the marketing phase? Just kidding, but one thing that I would do without getting tired is selling good cigars, hopefully I will have that opportunity one day.

Did this for a while. Had a great time and enjoyed rolling them. A lot to learn. Taste was pretty darn good too. If you can get some peruvian and ecuadorian tobaccos to mix in. Great flavors. Ill have to find some pics of the cigars I rolled.

Thanks for the advice. I will absolutely try to get some. So far I have used Ecuador Los Rios Wrapper, pretty good actually.

 

[ltstone]

Sorry guys, just now saw the replies to the thread. Yeah like Javan said , I'm having a blast rolling and blending. Especially the blending part. Once you get a basic feel of the component tobaccos its not too hard to start making some tasty cigars. Surprisingly many sticks can be quite complex and tasty with just two or three different leaves.

 

[ltstone]

Did this for a while. Had a great time and enjoyed rolling them. A lot to learn. Taste was pretty darn good too. If you can get some peruvian and ecuadorian tobaccos to mix in. Great flavors. Ill have to find some pics of the cigars I rolled.

Its surprising how many big name companies seem to neglect the more exotic tobaccos like Peruvian, Colombian Brazilian etc, I enjoy smoking Paraguayan all on its own, very tasty.

 

[yohanan]

This has been a great thread, I hope you post some more pics of your hard work, you are an inspiration, Thank You.

 

[Egg Shen]

Its surprising how many big name companies seem to neglect the more exotic tobaccos like Peruvian, Colombian Brazilian etc, I enjoy smoking Paraguayan all on its own, very tasty.

Brazilian is in play by the majors. (CAO brand comes to mind.). I would love it if they ventured out into using leaf from other geographically unusual origins though assuming the quality is there. These places you name have fertile soil…maybe someday those pipelines will open. I’m sure the local farmers could use the income.