Handmade Cigars

Handmade Cigars

Cigar experts agree that the finest cigars are made by hand by skilled master rollers. It takes six months to learn to roll cigars and two years until a roller is considered a good roller. When comparing hand-rolled cigars to those manufactured by machine, the following is usually true.

1. In handmade cigars, the components--wrappers, fillers, and binders--are
   selected from the finest grades of tobacco.
2. Whole leaves are used, not scrapped or damaged leaves.
3. Leaves are carefully selected to create the blend.
4. The cigar has a better uniform burn and burns more slowly.

Preparing the Tobacco:

Before the manufacturing process begins, tobacco is shipped into factories and carefully stored in bales marked with the grade of tobacco. Storage is very important because the tobacco must be kept in perfect condition, and it has to be cured to the right degree. Factories have different methods for curing the tobaccos. Some factories (good ones) blend tobaccos from different years' harvests and develop choice combinations of tobacco. Leaves for filler are separated from other leaves. The stems of the large central rib of the leaves are ripped out before manufacturing and then stacked. The individual curing process then takes place. Leaves are blended, cured, moistened, and even liquored during fermentation. Sometimes as many as nine to eleven different grades of tobacco go into one of these piles for curing to create the right combination of flavor, aroma, and burn.

Wrappers are handled by the foreman, who selects leaves according to size, color, texture, and quality. Wrappers are usually counted out in small stacks of 25 or 50 and delivered to a cigar-maker. This cigar-maker will receive a corresponding amount of filler and binder for the cigar he/she will be making.

The roller uses a square piece of board, a sharp Cuban knife, and a pot of adhesive to complete the rolling process. Fifty cigars are arranged into a bundle, collected, and stored in cedar rooms. The scraps of tobacco, small leaves, and other waste are saved to be used for the manufacture of short-filler cigars.

The Rolling Process

1. The cigar-maker gathers up a pre-determined number of filler leaves of several types according to the blend formula to make a particular size and shape of cigar. He/she places one leaf on top of the other, then skillfully compresses them to form the body of the cigar.
2. A binder leaf is selected, and is rolled around the body of the cigar, forming the bunch. The cigar-roller trims the bunch to size, cutting off the extra length of filler leaves.
3. The bunches are placed on a block that usually contains twenty individual cigar molds. Each mold is the exact shape and size of the cigar desired. The upper half of the mold is then fastened into place, pressure is applied, and the mold is held in that position for several hours.
4. The wrapper is selected and cut to size. The bunch is enclosed in the wrapper, and the wrapper is rolled around the bunch spirally.
5. A small flap or "flag" of leaf, the end of the spirally wound wrapper, is then positioned at the head of the cigar by a colorless, tasteless adhesive.
6. The cigar is complete when the cigar roller trims the burning end to length. This end is known as the "tuck."

Finished cigars are carefully sorted according to their wrappers. They are first sorted by the finish (glossy or oily), then by color, so that almost identical cigars are packed in the same box. Government seals are affixed to the boxes before they can be shipped.

Some cigars can be smoked when they are made, but fine cigars, like fine wines, improve with age. When stored in Spanish cedar containers or rooms, the essential oils mingle with those of a cigar, helping produce the perfect blend. This process improves aroma and flavor.