When I roll long-filler cigars, I end up with two categories of scrap, which I store separately: long scrap (mostly from wrapper trimmings) and short scrap (filler trimmings from the foot and head).
Long scrap can be used as filler in the same manner as long-filler. It usually makes a smokable cigar, but the blending is all wrong, since it's mostly wrapper leaf.
Short scrap, on the other hand, ends up being a random mix of all the filler varieties that I've used in the recent past, and usually makes a deliciously blended cigar. The only trick is to find a way to keep a loose pile of short scrap from falling away as you attempt to wrap it on a diagonally placed (aligned to the veins) wrapper strip.
Shown below is a method that seems to work fairly well for me. In addition to a bunch of short scrap, I use a whole leaf of BigBonner's burley red tip for both binder and wrapper.
Stem the whole leaf. The better half-leaf of burley is selected as the wrapper, and is misted and set aside for a few minutes.
Estimate the mid point in the length of the binder half, the cut it parallel to the veins.
Flip the binder pieces so that their veins align, and lay them to match the rolling direction of the wrapper. (While the wrapper should be placed on the rolling surface with the underside up, it doesn't matter for the binder.) In overlaying the two binder pieces, so that the combined edge nearest you spans the length of the proposed cigar, inspect the upper (farthest) tips. Whichever extends farthest in the head direction (right, in the photo) should be placed beneath the other, so that it will hold it all together once rolled.
The pile of scrap usually needs to be way bigger than the intended ring size of the cigar. It also needs to be fairly full at both the head and foot (rather than the domed pile that it tends to settle in).
The pile needs to be pressed and squeezed into a narrower, longer shape by hand, then it is rolled in the binder into a crude mockery of a cigar. Remember that the main purpose of this binder is to keep the scrap filler in the same general Zipcode (postal code, for the uninitiated). Bulges and minor gaps are acceptable. [Don't tell any of the Aficionado crowd, but I use a clothespin to hold the head end of the bound bulk in place while applying the wrapper. No glue is harmed in the making of this cigar.]
Finally, the wrapper is applied. With scrap filler in low case, though not crumbly, the cigar can be wrapped as tightly as the wrapper's tensile strength will allow, and the cigar will still draw with ease. Too loose, and filler will fall out at both ends as you smoke it. I twist the excess wrapper end at the head, to keep the wrapper snug until I cut it for smoking, which in this case was immediately after I rolled it.
Finished short scrap cigar. The length is 7-1/2". The diameter ranges
from ~60 ring at the fattest point, down to ~45 ring at the head. The taper also assists
in keeping the scrap filler from loosening at the head.
Bob
Long scrap can be used as filler in the same manner as long-filler. It usually makes a smokable cigar, but the blending is all wrong, since it's mostly wrapper leaf.
Short scrap, on the other hand, ends up being a random mix of all the filler varieties that I've used in the recent past, and usually makes a deliciously blended cigar. The only trick is to find a way to keep a loose pile of short scrap from falling away as you attempt to wrap it on a diagonally placed (aligned to the veins) wrapper strip.
Shown below is a method that seems to work fairly well for me. In addition to a bunch of short scrap, I use a whole leaf of BigBonner's burley red tip for both binder and wrapper.
Stem the whole leaf. The better half-leaf of burley is selected as the wrapper, and is misted and set aside for a few minutes.
Estimate the mid point in the length of the binder half, the cut it parallel to the veins.
Flip the binder pieces so that their veins align, and lay them to match the rolling direction of the wrapper. (While the wrapper should be placed on the rolling surface with the underside up, it doesn't matter for the binder.) In overlaying the two binder pieces, so that the combined edge nearest you spans the length of the proposed cigar, inspect the upper (farthest) tips. Whichever extends farthest in the head direction (right, in the photo) should be placed beneath the other, so that it will hold it all together once rolled.
The pile of scrap usually needs to be way bigger than the intended ring size of the cigar. It also needs to be fairly full at both the head and foot (rather than the domed pile that it tends to settle in).
The pile needs to be pressed and squeezed into a narrower, longer shape by hand, then it is rolled in the binder into a crude mockery of a cigar. Remember that the main purpose of this binder is to keep the scrap filler in the same general Zipcode (postal code, for the uninitiated). Bulges and minor gaps are acceptable. [Don't tell any of the Aficionado crowd, but I use a clothespin to hold the head end of the bound bulk in place while applying the wrapper. No glue is harmed in the making of this cigar.]
Finally, the wrapper is applied. With scrap filler in low case, though not crumbly, the cigar can be wrapped as tightly as the wrapper's tensile strength will allow, and the cigar will still draw with ease. Too loose, and filler will fall out at both ends as you smoke it. I twist the excess wrapper end at the head, to keep the wrapper snug until I cut it for smoking, which in this case was immediately after I rolled it.
Finished short scrap cigar. The length is 7-1/2". The diameter ranges
from ~60 ring at the fattest point, down to ~45 ring at the head. The taper also assists
in keeping the scrap filler from loosening at the head.
Bob
