Just a guess, but I'll bet the people selling the cigars in catalogs don't have any idea, that all they get from the manufacturers are the basic leaf names. The impression I get is that most blenders keep their cards pretty close to the chest.
Typically depending on vitola there is anywhere of 6-10+ leaves per cigar in the filler alone, then there are typically 1-2 binders and a wrapper. The binders are wrapper quality leaves but do not meet the visual criteria for being wrapper grade. Each size has a slightly different tweak so that most taste nearly the same where a leaf may need to be added or subtracted but that is generally how the blending works to my understanding.
Not sure if this answers the question Ricky @Rhamlin but hope it helps
Brett
"When walking in open territory bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them."
Other'n a smidge of glue, all you have in a typical stick is just tobacco.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
Typically depending on vitola there is anywhere of 6-10+ leaves per cigar in the filler alone, then there are typically 1-2 binders and a wrapper. The binders are wrapper quality leaves but do not meet the visual criteria for being wrapper grade. Each size has a slightly different tweak so that most taste nearly the same where a leaf may need to be added or subtracted but that is generally how the blending works to my understanding.
Not sure if this answers the question Ricky @Rhamlin but hope it helps
Brett
When you see these vids where the torcedor is adding six to ten leaves, two binders, and a wrapper, he is rolling a gargantuan jawbreaker to impress the Gringo tourist.
When I roll my typical Uppowoc Perfecto, 5 1/4" long by 49 or 50rg, I use 2 1/2 leaves, and then I make both the binder and the wrapper from the same half leaf.
Take these two as examples:
The one above is a robusto from La Aurora -- 50rg x 5". The one below is an Uppowoc Perfecto I made this weekend; 5 1/2" x maybe 49 rg in the barrel. The UP contains 1/2 leaf each of Honduran seco, viso, and ligero, with one small frog-legged leaf of criollo 98. The ligero and criollo I used are leaves which are maybe just 9" long. The seco is a large leaf; but then, it's real thin. The wrapper is a half leaf of Ecuadorian ligero. That leaf is too narrow to provide a binder, so I used a half a Nic binder. I ordinarily would use a habano 2000 wrapper, which is a big leaf, 16 or 18" long and 14" to 16" wide, where the inner half moon of a half leaf makes the binder, while the outer crescent makes the wrapper. But I'm out of those H2Ks, and can't source them at present. Regardless, what you are looking at here is 2 1/5 leaves filler, half a leaf binder, and a crescent cut out of half a leaf for wrapper. You can't tell me they're squeezing three times that much material into the aurora. Both feel about equally firm. Given a few months rest, that fresh rolled will tighten up even more.
So, no, nowhere near so many leaves go into a cigar, not unless you're rolling a mandingo for the camera.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
Awesome information @webmost and I really appreciate the education, its really neat stuff to have some brothers actually rolling their own I always have huge amounts of respect for that! I'm thinking maybe when I heard the 6-10 leaves it is probably parts of leaves and clearly not the whole leaf itself as I know some blends have a lot that go into them. Either way, fascinating stuff and I really appreciate the info! Brett
"When walking in open territory bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them."
Anyone know if it's done like an ingredients list wher the most used comes first and so on? This just came to me as I was looking through the catalog.
This is one of the fine aspects of rolling your own, RHamlin. ... also the toughest aspect to get a handle on. When you twist up your own, you get to smell the leaf, taste the leaf, pinch off a bit and light it, so you can smell it smolder, and just generally get a whole snootful of the thing. You also know what country it came from and what seed strain was planted. Reading reviews of commercial sticks, you're lucky if you get: "Dominican fillers with a Nicaraguan wrapper". Buying the leaf, you expect to see "Ecuadorian habano shade ligero wrapper", which is what you see on the Uppowoc Perfecto pictured above.
Knowing what's in it is one thing; but combining them the way you like is a whole notheraminal. It takes a schidtlode of trial and error, is what.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
I think Ricky was asking if the first leaf listed out of three tobaccos, if that first one has the most, the second less, and the third leaf listed has the least. Like when you read the ingredients on a box of macaroni.
Typically depending on vitola there is anywhere of 6-10+ leaves per cigar in the filler alone, then there are typically 1-2 binders and a wrapper. The binders are wrapper quality leaves but do not meet the visual criteria for being wrapper grade. Each size has a slightly different tweak so that most taste nearly the same where a leaf may need to be added or subtracted but that is generally how the blending works to my understanding.
Not sure if this answers the question Ricky @Rhamlin but hope it helps
Brett
When you see these vids where the torcedor is adding six to ten leaves, two binders, and a wrapper, he is rolling a gargantuan jawbreaker to impress the Gringo tourist.
When I roll my typical Uppowoc Perfecto, 5 1/4" long by 49 or 50rg, I use 2 1/2 leaves, and then I make both the binder and the wrapper from the same half leaf.
Take these two as examples:
The one above is a robusto from La Aurora -- 50rg x 5". The one below is an Uppowoc Perfecto I made this weekend; 5 1/2" x maybe 49 rg in the barrel. The UP contains 1/2 leaf each of Honduran seco, viso, and ligero, with one small frog-legged leaf of criollo 98. The ligero and criollo I used are leaves which are maybe just 9" long. The seco is a large leaf; but then, it's real thin. The wrapper is a half leaf of Ecuadorian ligero. That leaf is too narrow to provide a binder, so I used a half a Nic binder. I ordinarily would use a habano 2000 wrapper, which is a big leaf, 16 or 18" long and 14" to 16" wide, where the inner half moon of a half leaf makes the binder, while the outer crescent makes the wrapper. But I'm out of those H2Ks, and can't source them at present. Regardless, what you are looking at here is 2 1/5 leaves filler, half a leaf binder, and a crescent cut out of half a leaf for wrapper. You can't tell me they're squeezing three times that much material into the aurora. Both feel about equally firm. Given a few months rest, that fresh rolled will tighten up even more.
So, no, nowhere near so many leaves go into a cigar, not unless you're rolling a mandingo for the camera.
That's cool! I thought it would be neat to try my hand at rolling my own. Do you use a certain site to get your leaves?
Doubt it. Blending tobacco is a science performed by instinct. Just my opinion.
Plus each leaf differs in size. You'd have to carefully weigh each leaf bit and pinch bits off to get a consistent proportional measure. Even then, one leaf will be a skosh damper than the next. Can't be all that a null when you have to pump out your 300 a day quota.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
WARNING: The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme. Proceed at your own risk.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Typically depending on vitola there is anywhere of 6-10+ leaves per cigar in the filler alone, then there are typically 1-2 binders and a wrapper. The binders are wrapper quality leaves but do not meet the visual criteria for being wrapper grade. Each size has a slightly different tweak so that most taste nearly the same where a leaf may need to be added or subtracted but that is generally how the blending works to my understanding.
Not sure if this answers the question Ricky @Rhamlin but hope it helps
Brett
When you see these vids where the torcedor is adding six to ten leaves, two binders, and a wrapper, he is rolling a gargantuan jawbreaker to impress the Gringo tourist.
When I roll my typical Uppowoc Perfecto, 5 1/4" long by 49 or 50rg, I use 2 1/2 leaves, and then I make both the binder and the wrapper from the same half leaf.
Take these two as examples:
The one above is a robusto from La Aurora -- 50rg x 5". The one below is an Uppowoc Perfecto I made this weekend; 5 1/2" x maybe 49 rg in the barrel. The UP contains 1/2 leaf each of Honduran seco, viso, and ligero, with one small frog-legged leaf of criollo 98. The ligero and criollo I used are leaves which are maybe just 9" long. The seco is a large leaf; but then, it's real thin. The wrapper is a half leaf of Ecuadorian ligero. That leaf is too narrow to provide a binder, so I used a half a Nic binder. I ordinarily would use a habano 2000 wrapper, which is a big leaf, 16 or 18" long and 14" to 16" wide, where the inner half moon of a half leaf makes the binder, while the outer crescent makes the wrapper. But I'm out of those H2Ks, and can't source them at present. Regardless, what you are looking at here is 2 1/5 leaves filler, half a leaf binder, and a crescent cut out of half a leaf for wrapper. You can't tell me they're squeezing three times that much material into the aurora. Both feel about equally firm. Given a few months rest, that fresh rolled will tighten up even more.
So, no, nowhere near so many leaves go into a cigar, not unless you're rolling a mandingo for the camera.
That's cool! I thought it would be neat to try my hand at rolling my own. Do you use a certain site to get your leaves?
I get most all my leaves from Whole Leaf Tobacco. If you're serious, send me your address, I'll fire you a kit. All you need on your end is a breadboard to roll on and either a pizza cutter or an ulu to cut with. I have so much leaf I'm literally overloaded. You would actually be doing me a flavor if you let me send you some. There's plenty here that there's nothing wrong with them at all but they're just not my faves.
Do it. Please. I really need to mail some of this off. I've become a leaf hoarder.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
Typically depending on vitola there is anywhere of 6-10+ leaves per cigar in the filler alone, then there are typically 1-2 binders and a wrapper. The binders are wrapper quality leaves but do not meet the visual criteria for being wrapper grade. Each size has a slightly different tweak so that most taste nearly the same where a leaf may need to be added or subtracted but that is generally how the blending works to my understanding.
Not sure if this answers the question Ricky @Rhamlin but hope it helps
Brett
When you see these vids where the torcedor is adding six to ten leaves, two binders, and a wrapper, he is rolling a gargantuan jawbreaker to impress the Gringo tourist.
When I roll my typical Uppowoc Perfecto, 5 1/4" long by 49 or 50rg, I use 2 1/2 leaves, and then I make both the binder and the wrapper from the same half leaf.
Take these two as examples:
The one above is a robusto from La Aurora -- 50rg x 5". The one below is an Uppowoc Perfecto I made this weekend; 5 1/2" x maybe 49 rg in the barrel. The UP contains 1/2 leaf each of Honduran seco, viso, and ligero, with one small frog-legged leaf of criollo 98. The ligero and criollo I used are leaves which are maybe just 9" long. The seco is a large leaf; but then, it's real thin. The wrapper is a half leaf of Ecuadorian ligero. That leaf is too narrow to provide a binder, so I used a half a Nic binder. I ordinarily would use a habano 2000 wrapper, which is a big leaf, 16 or 18" long and 14" to 16" wide, where the inner half moon of a half leaf makes the binder, while the outer crescent makes the wrapper. But I'm out of those H2Ks, and can't source them at present. Regardless, what you are looking at here is 2 1/5 leaves filler, half a leaf binder, and a crescent cut out of half a leaf for wrapper. You can't tell me they're squeezing three times that much material into the aurora. Both feel about equally firm. Given a few months rest, that fresh rolled will tighten up even more.
So, no, nowhere near so many leaves go into a cigar, not unless you're rolling a mandingo for the camera.
That's cool! I thought it would be neat to try my hand at rolling my own. Do you use a certain site to get your leaves?
I get most all my leaves from Whole Leaf Tobacco. If you're serious, send me your address, I'll fire you a kit. All you need on your end is a breadboard to roll on and either a pizza cutter or an ulu to cut with. I have so much leaf I'm literally overloaded. You would actually be doing me a flavor if you let me send you some. There's plenty here that there's nothing wrong with them at all but they're just not my faves.
Do it. Please. I really need to mail some of this off. I've become a leaf hoarder.
Kudo's to you rollers. Webmost got me started and I've tried a couple. It's definitely harder than I anticipated, but it's a cool experience.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
Kudo's to you rollers. Webmost got me started and I've tried a couple. It's definitely harder than I anticipated, but it's a cool experience.
Speakin' of pix and video, @webmost, ever thought of doing a video of your own process for "rolling your own"? I'd love to see how you do it, although I'd never be able to come within a country mile of duplicating your results.
But those were made a year ago. Think I'm way better now.
.... and still just an amateur
There's a youtube channel but I don't know how to link it.
Life sucks... me off. I write this from Amtrak en route to beautiful Vermont to buy a Moto Guzzi Jackal I will probably name Goldenbitch cause canis aureus is the jackal. Drinking Yuengling, money in my pocket, reading a book about pirates, talking to Bearswatter on the cell when the email alert dings cause my FX Smith's Sons shopping cart just made me more money. Running along the Hudson River sun shimmering. Christ on a crutch life sucks. Might have to light a cigar when I get to Rutland, see if I can get over it.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
Now, see, THIS is true artistry in action. If PBS put videos like these on the air instead of all those useless crappy landscaping painting shows and Tony Robbins infomercials I'd probably start donating to it again.
Nah... you gotta check out bliss cigar's vids ... music and everything
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
I generally use 2 parts Seco, 1 part Viso, and 1part Ligero for the bunch of a 50 ring. Seco for burn, Viso for flavor and Ligero for strength. If the bunch feels a little skinny I'l add one more part Seco. I'm using dominican binder leaf x 2. I usually bunch entubo but I am learning the folded leaf accordion style.
Man I am psyched! This stuff smells heavenly. And thanks for the tag alongside they are awesome can't wait to try them. Gonna give them some proper rest time after their journey first though.
Now that is just awesome, way to go Webmost that is such a neat gesture! Enjoy Ricky and good to see you back and posting good stuff again, hope the Mrs. Hamlin is doing good too, still sending prayers y'alls way!
Brett
"When walking in open territory bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them."
Comments
Not sure if this answers the question Ricky @Rhamlin but hope it helps
Brett
When I roll my typical Uppowoc Perfecto, 5 1/4" long by 49 or 50rg, I use 2 1/2 leaves, and then I make both the binder and the wrapper from the same half leaf.
Take these two as examples:
The one above is a robusto from La Aurora -- 50rg x 5". The one below is an Uppowoc Perfecto I made this weekend; 5 1/2" x maybe 49 rg in the barrel. The UP contains 1/2 leaf each of Honduran seco, viso, and ligero, with one small frog-legged leaf of criollo 98. The ligero and criollo I used are leaves which are maybe just 9" long. The seco is a large leaf; but then, it's real thin. The wrapper is a half leaf of Ecuadorian ligero. That leaf is too narrow to provide a binder, so I used a half a Nic binder. I ordinarily would use a habano 2000 wrapper, which is a big leaf, 16 or 18" long and 14" to 16" wide, where the inner half moon of a half leaf makes the binder, while the outer crescent makes the wrapper. But I'm out of those H2Ks, and can't source them at present. Regardless, what you are looking at here is 2 1/5 leaves filler, half a leaf binder, and a crescent cut out of half a leaf for wrapper. You can't tell me they're squeezing three times that much material into the aurora. Both feel about equally firm. Given a few months rest, that fresh rolled will tighten up even more.
So, no, nowhere near so many leaves go into a cigar, not unless you're rolling a mandingo for the camera.
Brett
Knowing what's in it is one thing; but combining them the way you like is a whole notheraminal. It takes a schidtlode of trial and error, is what.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
I get most all my leaves from Whole Leaf Tobacco. If you're serious, send me your address, I'll fire you a kit. All you need on your end is a breadboard to roll on and either a pizza cutter or an ulu to cut with. I have so much leaf I'm literally overloaded. You would actually be doing me a flavor if you let me send you some. There's plenty here that there's nothing wrong with them at all but they're just not my faves.
Do it. Please. I really need to mail some of this off. I've become a leaf hoarder.
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
And
But those were made a year ago. Think I'm way better now.
.... and still just an amateur
There's a youtube channel but I don't know how to link it.
Life sucks... me off. I write this from Amtrak en route to beautiful Vermont to buy a Moto Guzzi Jackal I will probably name Goldenbitch cause canis aureus is the jackal. Drinking Yuengling, money in my pocket, reading a book about pirates, talking to Bearswatter on the cell when the email alert dings cause my FX Smith's Sons shopping cart just made me more money. Running along the Hudson River sun shimmering. Christ on a crutch life sucks. Might have to light a cigar when I get to Rutland, see if I can get over it.
I am agog.
Brett