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Adventures in home rolling

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These were sitting in the mold the last couple days so I finally wrapped them tonight. Had a little bit of an aha moment tonight finding that a 2" wide strip of wrapper is easier to work with on these small perfectos instead of a wider piece of leaf. Same blend as last time. Just ordered some more corojo seco today so I can roll more of the toasted marshmallow blend.
Those are some sweet looking sticks. Can't remember where I saw or readi it but the wrapper on all cigars should only be cut 2-2.5 inches wide to reduce the overlap reducing thickness which can cause burn issues.
 
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Those are some sweet looking sticks. Can't remember where I saw or readi it but the wrapper on all cigars should only be cut 2-2.5 inches wide to reduce the overlap reducing thickness which can cause burn issues.
Thank you! Yeah, I just barely came across that info. Sure enough it works way better. With these small perfectos if I cut the leaves right I can get about 6 wrappers out of one PA broadleaf leaf.
 
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Honestly, do the home rolled smokes taste as good as the commercial stuff? Every time I think I'm ready to take the plunge, I smoke something and think, I could never reproduce something this good.
 
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Honestly, do the home rolled smokes taste as good as the commercial stuff? Every time I think I'm ready to take the plunge, I smoke something and think, I could never reproduce something this good.
Once you get the hang of blending you can definitely make something that smokes as well as a commercial stick. There are some blends of mine that I have that I have enjoyed more than sticks I have paid upwards of $10 for.
 
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Honestly, do the home rolled smokes taste as good as the commercial stuff? Every time I think I'm ready to take the plunge, I smoke something and think, I could never reproduce something this good.
Yep. Pick your favorite premium or flavor profiles, choose the appropriate leaves and make it. You have total control and they cost $1-2 a cigar.
 
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The hard part is getting it all from the same place. Then keeping it all in budget.

I'm thinking 2.5 leaves Dom. Piloto Cubano seco, 1.5 leaves Dom Corojo seco, Ecuador H2K viso binder, and CT maduro. I'm afraid it might be too mild though. I want it to be medium bodied.

Has anybody tried the CT Havana 7?
 
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The hard part is getting it all from the same place. Then keeping it all in budget.

I'm thinking 2.5 leaves Dom. Piloto Cubano seco, 1.5 leaves Dom Corojo seco, Ecuador H2K viso binder, and CT maduro.

Has anybody tried the CT Havana 7?
Have not tried the CT Havana 7. The above blend sounds pretty mild. For a more balanced blend there should be some viso and ligero in the blend unless you are looking for something that is mild. Some blends of mine have less than a third of the blend as seco, but I prefer a fuller body/strength cigar. That's my favorite part of home rolling. I can roll exactly to my tastes.
 
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The down side is that Leaf Only doesn't carry a Viso Dominican Piloto Cubano. Nor does it carry Dominican Corojo. I was trying to replicate one of my favorite smokes, but I can't get it all in one place without spending nearly the whole budget on filler.
 
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For what it's worth, I have heard from others that the filler from wholeleaftobacco.com is better and that is the only place I have been ordering leaf from and am very happy with the quality and service. Leaf only has excellent wrapper leaf though and the ability to order 1/4lb at a time. The corojo at WLT is Dominican and one of my favorite filler leaves. If we get enough people interested, a group buy would be awesome to help get free shipping on orders etc. I personally am not a big fan of piloto cubano, not that it is bad, it's just not something that really speaks to my tastes is all.
 
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Too funny, I rolled 10 this evening too @brewinghooligan although they don't look as nice and I took a couple hours longer. I'll post them up tomorrow, it got too late to take pictures.

Yours look great!
Thank you Ron! I feel I did better on the last few batches than this one, but I look back to some on my first sticks and the ones I rolled without a mold and see how far I've come. Take a look on Etsy for molds, there are some deals to be had there, but I don't recommend perfecto molds. They are a real bitch to wrap.
 
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It's great to see the progress you all are making in here. Scrolling back through this thread and there is a significant difference! Looking great fellas!
 
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Hi, y'all.
I have been smoking cigars daily for about 20 years. I am now a home roller with about 7 months, 500 sticks, and 100 blends worth of experience. I have used most of the tobaccos at both WLT and LO. I could probably chime in with an opinion on a lot of things to do with rolling your own at this point but still consider myself at the beginning of the learning curve and the whole thing is still mostly a mystery to me. I consider it a very long process, learning to roll and blend and about tobacco in general, and consider the $1.50 sticks to be a very nice side benefit to the learning aspect.
Here is my rolling blog:
http://blisscigar.co/
 
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Hi, y'all.
I have been smoking cigars daily for about 20 years. I am now a home roller with about 7 months, 500 sticks, and 100 blends worth of experience. I have used most of the tobaccos at both WLT and LO. I could probably chime in with an opinion on a lot of things to do with rolling your own at this point but still consider myself at the beginning of the learning curve and the whole thing is still mostly a mystery to me. I consider it a very long process, learning to roll and blend and about tobacco in general, and consider the $1.50 sticks to be a very nice side benefit to the learning aspect.
Here is my rolling blog:
http://blisscigar.co/
@waikikigun Good to see you over here too!
 
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If your on a budget you can always grow your own tobacco. Plus when you grow your own leaf you get to dial it in to your liking and there is many more types available that you can not just go buy. Excellent work everyone

You know I have offered before that if anyone would like to partner up with me I will do the growing and processing and you pick the strain and then blend and roll the cigars and then we can split the bounty. Just an idea
 
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Here are my cigars from last night's marathon rolling session. Looks like @BrewinHooligan and I were rolling together from all the way across the country! LOL

Most of these ended up being way to large in diameter for my preference. I only have one or two that are a good diameter. I really need to get a mold I think to help out with sizing. I'll be checking out Etzy - but i may just take a chance and order one of the used 50 ring molds from WLT.


This is the nicest one from the session. Someday I hope to have a whole batch that look just like this!
 

Agentskull

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Hi, y'all.
I have been smoking cigars daily for about 20 years. I am now a home roller with about 7 months, 500 sticks, and 100 blends worth of experience. I have used most of the tobaccos at both WLT and LO. I could probably chime in with an opinion on a lot of things to do with rolling your own at this point but still consider myself at the beginning of the learning curve and the whole thing is still mostly a mystery to me. I consider it a very long process, learning to roll and blend and about tobacco in general, and consider the $1.50 sticks to be a very nice side benefit to the learning aspect.
Here is my rolling blog:
http://blisscigar.co/
I dont roll my own cigars, but i really enjoyed scrolling through your blog. Great collection of info there
 
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