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Hand made/rolled... how do you tell??

imb1987imb1987 Posts: 2
in Cigar 101
First off, I want to say Hi, im a newbie to the forum and cigar world but have poked around some threads and really like the info and replies given! Bough my first cigar a little over a year ago and smoked it (my first one ever) just a couple months ago and was hook! I found the site and couldnt even relize how involed (and overwheliming) this all can be! I have done a little bit of reading and have found out that there are different ways cigars are made, hand rolled, hand made, machine made, etc. I have placed a couple of orders from the site and always read the discriptions, but I never see anything about how the cigar is made? Is there anyway to tell?

Thanks all, looking forward be hanging around!!

Comments

  • HaybletHayblet Posts: 2,429 ✭✭✭
    only machine made ones are the ones you would see in a gas station like Swisher, Phillies, Backwoods, etc. unless they sell above mentioned brands here all the cigars I have purchased here are hand-made/rolled however you want to put it. Also thanks for joining the forums we are chock full of information that will help you.
  • docbp87docbp87 Posts: 3,521 ✭
    Hand made/rolled cigars will say Hecho a Mano, Totalamente a Mano, etc. on the box, or band somewhere usually.
  • jship079jship079 Posts: 621 ✭
    The term "premium", when applied to cigars, indicates that it is not a machine made, mass market style of cigar. In order to be classified as such, it will have the following characteristics: Premium cigars are constructed from three parts; The filler, the binder, and the wrapper. The filler is the interior of the cigar. When a cigar is examined from the open end, the filler can be seen as the leaves that are twisted in spirals within the center of the cigar. When the term "long filler" is used, it means that the filler was constructed from full leaves. These leaves are picked, stored, and aged intact, and are obviously handled with great care. Rolling long filler cigars takes great skill to insure that it burns evenly and smoothly. The second type of filler is short filler. Short filler consists of loose clippings of leaves that are leftover from the long filler production, or leaves that broke anywhere along the cultivation process. Premium short filler cigars are made from 100% tobacco leaves, but just not the same leaf from end to end. Short filler cigars are still technically considered to be "premium", so long as the cigar is still completely hand made, and is constructed only from pure, untreated or unhomogenized tobacco. The next part of the cigar consists of several layers of leaves that encircle the spirals of filler. These layers are termed "binder". As the name implies, it forms the filler into a circular shape, so that the next, and final component, the wrapper, can be applied.
    As far as handrolled these are "premium"cigars complety constructed by hand. Hand made cigars can be mostly constructed by machine but the wraper put on by hand they our still "premium" cigars its just about short cuts to get the job done quicker and cheaper handrolled is more authentic and is how all the better brands are put together. All that to be stead that the words handrolled and hand made are sometimes used synonymous so manly look for the words Machine made and dont buy them
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    docbp87:
    Hand made/rolled cigars will say Hecho a Mano, Totalamente a Mano, etc. on the box, or band somewhere usually.
    there are some companies that have "hecho a mano" (made with/by hand(s)) on the bands that use a machine to help bunch the filler. the binder and wrapper are still applied by hand.
    these companies cannot put "Totalamente a Mano" (totally by hand) on their cigars. however those who dont use the machine sometimes still only put "heco a mano"

    if you are worried about if cigar.com is selling you hand made or machine made then all you will have to do is ask when you call. just know that there is a good chance that if it is machine made it isnt on the list of brands here.( a few exceptions thought ) if it is on that list it will say in the description somewhere that it is machine made
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    Also FYI... lots of machine made cigars are flavored (although there are a few exceptions w/ handmade cigars too, for example: Drew Estates ACID line). The reason why so many machine made cigars are flavored is because they use...ummm...let's just say sub-par tobacco and the flavoring hides the fact that the cigar tobacco is probably under fermented and releases ammonia, which is usually why the mm cigars stink so bad.

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    If it has a wood/plastic tip, it's machine made. Also, if you look at a handmade cigar, you will see three diagonal lines crossing the stick, which are the seams formed by the wrapper leaf when it was wrapped around the cigar.

    Also, when you study the wrapper, you will notice veins (anywhere from very small to large), clearly indicating that whole tobacco leaf is used. In machine-made cigars, there are no seams because the tobacco used for the "wrapper" is from sheets of homoegenized tobacco.
  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Perelman's CigarCyclopedia has different sections for machine made or hand made. I always check there for this kind of info.

    And somewhere I read that if a machine is used to help with the bunching, it's hand-rolled. If all of it is done by hand, it's hand-made.

    Marty

  • JumperJumper Posts: 135
    I was under the impression that several of the Drew Estate cigars are machine made, as well. In fact, I believe some of the Acids are.
  • mrpillowmrpillow Posts: 464
    You would be incorrect in that assumption, sir.
  • wwhwangwwhwang Posts: 2,878 ✭✭✭
    Jumper:
    I was under the impression that several of the Drew Estate cigars are machine made, as well. In fact, I believe some of the Acids are.
    Even though the ACIDs taste like old mowed grass, it's handmade. And it makes me sad to say that.
  • vegassparkyvegassparky Posts: 365 ✭
    went to a party this past weekend. one of the guys at the party was talking cigars. he pulled out some ISOM.... so he said. claimed they were hand made and REAL. Now im laughing my ass of cause they were fake. And he dogged me about my smokes. i had my a few MOW and 2 RP decades. the best part is, he sent one of his smokes home with my wife. so i looked it up.... machine made by an company in the U.S.
  • wwhwangwwhwang Posts: 2,878 ✭✭✭
    vegassparky:
    went to a party this past weekend. one of the guys at the party was talking cigars. he pulled out some ISOM.... so he said. claimed they were hand made and REAL. Now im laughing my ass of cause they were fake. And he dogged me about my smokes. i had my a few MOW and 2 RP decades. the best part is, he sent one of his smokes home with my wife. so i looked it up.... machine made by an company in the U.S.
    Dare you to tell the poor d-bag he got ripped off. :P He's probably smoking a White Owl with a Cohiba band lol.
  • vegassparkyvegassparky Posts: 365 ✭
    yeah he bragged about it and called my smokes gas station specials. should i deflate him or let the **** be?
  • wwhwangwwhwang Posts: 2,878 ✭✭✭
    vegassparky:
    yeah he bragged about it and called my smokes gas station specials. should i deflate him or let the **** be?
    Let the **** be. Him wasting money on a super premium White Owl is funnier.
  • sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    vegassparky:
    yeah he bragged about it and called my smokes gas station specials. should i deflate him or let the **** be?
    Send him the company's website. Everyone needs to eat humble pie once in a while. Your pie would go really well with a side of "you are an idiot."
  • wwhwangwwhwang Posts: 2,878 ✭✭✭
    Just out of curiosity, which cigar was he telling you that it's a premium ISOM and how did you find out it's an American counterfeit? lol
  • vegassparkyvegassparky Posts: 365 ✭
    local shop took a look at it. after i had a hunch. i looked online at the company line. everything they make is machine bunched then finished by hand. the company does have cuban made in its line. there is two lines of cigars being sold under one name( Quintero ) but the wrappers are very different.
  • jship079jship079 Posts: 621 ✭
    vegassparky:
    local shop took a look at it. after i had a hunch. i looked online at the company line. everything they make is machine bunched then finished by hand. the company does have cuban made in its line. there is two lines of cigars being sold under one name( Quintero ) but the wrappers are very different.
    Truth is most of the booking in the industry is being done by liberman anymore the tabacco is still premium on most brands
  • imb1987imb1987 Posts: 2
    WOW, thaks for all the great info!! More than I could have hoped for! I had a feeling that C.COM only some some good stuff! Everyhing I have orders so far I have been very happy with!
  • DiamondogDiamondog Posts: 4,171 ✭✭
    Hecho a mano...look at your boxes, stick bands..
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