Rolling Cigars

[Garlisk]

Hey folks, I'm pretty pumped about this so I'm making a thread to document the journey.

Got some cigar leaf in today and set to work rolling my first cigar. It has some flaws, but honestly, I'm really happy with the result so far. Gotta let it settle for a while before I smoke it, but it looks and feels like a cigar!

Sorry about the crappy cell phone pictures, maybe as I continue with this I'll try to take real pics if there's interest.

Ended up with a nice Robusto size, 5.5" x 56 ring (roughly).

 

[Avvatar]

Excellent! I hope that they're delicious. Congrats!

 

[Ponycarman]

Cool!

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

That's awesome, Jared! How long did it take you from start to finish?

 

[Garlisk]

That's awesome, Jared! How long did it take you from start to finish?

I would say about a half hour. I'm guessing we've all seen the pros roll cigars. I don't think I'll ever get that good (why would I?) but I think realistically it won't take me long to be at about 10 minutes a cigar if I prep stuff ahead of time.

In my head I have this romantic vision:
Sitting outside with a drink, smoking a pipe or cigar, all my rolling supplies, and an audiobook. Hopefully the weather gets a bit warmer soon so I can make that happen.

 

[Kentos]

Really cool! And there is an added benefit of knowing the bunchers name so you can curse him when you get a plugged one!

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Jared:

...keep at it and you'll became a 'Master'.

"A cigar is as good as [the] memories that you have when you [rolled] it". Raul Julia

 

[simon1]

Cool!

I watched the movie Shenandoah with Jimmy Stewart last night and a few times it showed him rolling his own cigars, apparently from the Virginia tobacco on his farm. I thought it would be neat to know how to do that.

 

[Garlisk]

Rolled up a few more tonight. Still haven't smoked one...have a few more weeks before that'll happen. Also the mold wasn't used for these...it just looks purdy.

 

[Kentos]

Awesome man, just awesome.

 

[Mike H]

Very cool!

 

[BradWorld]

Wow. That is really cool. I wouldn't even know where to start.

 

[Garlisk]

Wow. That is really cool. I wouldn't even know where to start.

I found this video super helpful to get me started. It took me from feeling like the whole process was magic to feeling like I could do it:

 

[kluber]

[emoji106]

 

[Price]

Those are some pretty respectable looking sticks, man. Nice work!

 

[Garlisk]

Two more sticks rolled tonight.

And then I decided to smoke the big ugly one that was an absolute rolling failure.

It was terribly constructed, and terribly delicious. Very pleased and can't wait to try the others!

 

[Kentos]

What is the rough per stick cost? Sounds like a hobby and that is 100% win if I can save some moolah.

 

[Garlisk]

Buying leaf like I did here should come to around $1.50-$2.00 a stick. Obviously the size of the stick can really alter that.

As with many other home-made hobbies, you can't and are not competing with the cheaper brands, you're competing with the more expensive brands. Home brewing is an excellent example of this. You don't home brew to beat the price of coors light...you home brew to beat the price of blue moon, or UFO, or -insert boutique brand here-. Its the same with cigars.

The real cost savings will come if I'm able to successfully grow/ferment my own leaf. Then the cost will be around $0.25 a stick. Its up to my processing at that point to make sure I get good quality leaf.

 

[Kentos]

Buying leaf like I did here should come to around $1.50-$2.00 a stick. Obviously the size of the stick can really alter that.

As with many other home-made hobbies, you can't and are not competing with the cheaper brands, you're competing with the more expensive brands. Home brewing is an excellent example of this. You don't home brew to beat the price of coors light...you home brew to beat the price of blue moon, or UFO, or -insert boutique brand here-. Its the same with cigars.

The real cost savings will come if I'm able to successfully grow/ferment my own leaf. Then the cost will be around $0.25 a stick. Its up to my processing at that point to make sure I get good quality leaf.

Thanks for the info! I’ll do some investigating.

 

[Garlisk]

Thanks for the info! I’ll do some investigating.

I bought my leaf from wholeleaftobacco.com, specifically the cigar blends because I didn't really know where to start.
Whole Leaf Cigar Blends

And then I used the video I linked earlier to get me going. Its fun, and not a huge investment.