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Rolling a Nice Cigar from Short Scrap

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deluxestogie

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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.

Garden20131101_1001_scrapCigar_burleyLeafAndScraps_300.jpg


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.

Garden20131101_1002_scrapCigar_divideBinder_300.jpg


Estimate the mid point in the length of the binder half, the cut it parallel to the veins.

Garden20131101_1003_scrapCigar_overlayBinderPieces_300.jpg


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.

Garden20131101_1004_scrapCigar_pileOnCuttings_300.jpg


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).

Garden20131101_1005_scrapCigar_formFillerPile_300.jpg


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.]

Garden20131101_1006_scrapCigar_boundBulk_300.jpg


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.


Garden20131101_1007_scrapCigar_wrapped_300.jpg

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
 

MarcL

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That looks really nice Bob. It will take a while to get through that one.
 
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Matty

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Dang you roll some big smokes! Lol. I try not to collect scraps cause I like long filler better. So, every cigar I roll I stuff scraps into the filler bunch. I still have a bag of scraps though and every once in awhile I'll roll a few short filler sticks, thing is, I made a cigar roller :)
 

deluxestogie

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You need to video that & post it as a tutorial.
I'm an old codger. Most of my life transpires in still shots, many still in black and white.

More seriously, there are nearly toxic levels of cigar rolling videos out there. The only unique info that I present in this thread is how I lay out the binder and pile the short scrap. The rest is generic cigar rolling.

Bob
 

Smokin Harley

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Nice picture directions Bob. I was just wondering how to go about rolling short scrapper smokes. I plan on making them more like a backwoods smokes size. Might be a nice use of the Fire Cure leaf pieces I have left.
"10 minute wonders".
 

BarG

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I got the pictures and I have several bags of scrap like that. The best way to learn is to improvise when needed. Thanks for sharing .
 

BarG

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That was cool, sure made it look easy.
You know with all the fine instructionals out there what is one thing they all have in common?
....An area to work specificaly for rolling possibly. Think about it. If you dedicated a small area just for that. I roll on my cutting board[2'x3' corian] and my dining table mostly. Mine always has a venison onion in the background flavor.
 

deluxestogie

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I roll on my cutting board[2'x3' corian] and my dining table mostly. Mine always has a venison onion in the background flavor.
I always use my cutting board (thick polypropylene), as shown above. But it's the underside. The top side is reserved for food preparation. No dedicated area--just the kitchen counter.

Bob
 

Gdaddy

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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.

This is a very interesting point and I couldn't agree more. For some reason the wrapper leaf in the scrap throws the flavor off and is better removed.

Some say the more wrapper the better. Can't get enough. If , as some suggest, that the importance of the cigar wrapper contributes 80% of the flavor why does it spoil the soup in this cigar? Too much of a good thing? It certainly does throw the blend out of whack but why? What makes the wrapper different than the other filler?
 

dondford

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The discussion of how much favor the wrapper contributes to the cigar continues, but I can't see the 80% figure (or any anywhere close to that) I think I made the point in another thread that the favor profile of the cigar plus the favor profile of the wrapper is a big factor. If the cigar is very mild and the wrapper is very strong, then that % is higher but I suspect no one blends cigar's that way. Does the wrapper contribute to the favor profile of the cigar, I'm sure, but I suspect in most cases it's much less than some claim. Someone else suggested taking two of the same cigars, take the wrapper off one, then smoke both and compare. That's a good idea.
 

Bruck

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Very good use of the trimmings!
I tried recycling scrap into cigars, i.e., when bunching/binding, I would add some of the scrap leaves. Trouble is, it introduced too many variables into the blend, which is to say the resulting flavor was kind of all over the map.
So now I just save it up and every so often steam it to make cavendish for pipe tobacco blending. Another good use is as filler for a "cigar leaf twist" which makes for good pipe tobacco and chew.
 

deluxestogie

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New Idea for Rolling with Short Scrap

A couple of years ago, Knucklehead sent me a "blunt" size thumb roller. After many attempts to roll little cigars in it, using short cut cigar scraps and a section of wrapper leaf, I gave up. The thumb roller works well for a rectangular paper wrapper, but is a bust for wrapping in a helical fashion (like a regular cigar wrapper).

Today, out of nowhere, the idea came to me: roll several short scrap, crummy cigars in the thumb roller, then combine them ("entubado") inside a hand-rolled binder and wrapper.

I made three thumb-rolled cigars, each with a random and sloppy wrapper scrap to hold them together. No glue. As each was removed from the thumb roller, its head was held closed with a clothespin. I combined three of these, side-by-side, within a snug binder (which compressed them into a cylinder), then applied a wrapper.

Voilà! A firm, 4-3/4" x 45 ring cigar. The scrappy filler is confined within 3 mini Zipcodes, and the binder and wrapper transform them into a really nice, smokable cigar.

If you or a loved one happen to have a blunt roller...

Bob
 

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That's a great idea. The Triple Entubado. (I could almost swear I ordered one of those at Taco Bell) I'll have to try that with mine.
 

jclif43

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This shows the construction of mixed filler from left to right. mata fina, pa, corojo seco, medium scrap from recent long filler offering and corojo seco. It gets stacked, then folded in its self, rolled up and then molded. nic rosada wrapper. One shown finished.
All from https://wholeleaftobacco.com/

https://i.imgur.com/AiNnjOy.jpg
Marc, please explain what you mean by fold in itself and rolled? Are you saying like you would roll up a cinnamon roll. Just trying to understand the technique. Thanks.
 

MarcL

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......
Marc, please explain what you mean by fold in itself and rolled? Are you saying like you would roll up a cinnamon roll. Just trying to understand the technique. Thanks.
Yes. I can see it that way. It gets stacked, then folded in its self starting at the bottom then rolled up like normal.
I'll say that having some long filler throughout the scrap is why I show it like that in the picture.
 
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