CobGuy
Well-Known Member
Niiiiice .... drool, drool ... 
Pics of your sticks!!
- Thread starter Indianamac
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Not really an "Arturo" anything, but close to the smooth, rich, medium strength maduro cigars from Fuente. After guessing at a Fuente Reserva Maduro blend (for a new forum member), I decided to cook one up. I didn't have all the ingredients I wanted. I was lacking any Cibao Valley seco leaf. Since Cibao Valley Criollo 98 ligero is the very mildest of the ligero leaf from that region, I hunted for the lightest color leaf of that.
Wrapper: WLT Ecuador Maduro Wrapper
Binder: WLT Dominican Binder (single)
Filler:
- WLT Cibao Valley Criollo 98 ligero (lighter color)
- WLT Cibao Valley Vuelta Abajo ligero
- WLT Cibao Valley Corojo 99 viso
Bob
CobGuy
Well-Known Member
Love the name!
About how many leaves of each variety did you use for that?
-Darin
About how many leaves of each variety did you use for that?
-Darin
That was way back an hour ago. I'm not sure if I remember.
I believe it was
WLT Cibao Valley Criollo 98 ligero (lighter color): 2 or 3 leaves
WLT Cibao Valley Vuelta Abajo ligero: 1 leaf
WLT Cibao Valley Corojo 99 viso: 1 leaf
The Olor (Dominican Binder) adds a distinct and rich flavor that is not present in the filler selection, but only a half leaf, that is, just a single binder, is plenty. A whole leaf is too potent. Although the blend is stronger than I had hoped, I can enjoyably smoke the entire stick--unlike many dark, commercial blends, which make my head spin.
Bob
CobGuy
Well-Known Member
HA! I know the feeling.
Sounds like I need to snag some of the Cibao Valley leaf ... quite popular around here!
-Darin
col555
Well-Known Member
Cibao valley Ligero, Cibao valley Viso, Ec Seco binder all from WLT, Habano Wrapper from BigBonner
MarcL
Well-Known Member
Stealth Stogie
Long, thin, cheap cigars, known as "stogies", originated in western Pennsylvania during the early 19th century (maybe a little earlier). They were sold by the handful, along with divining rods, 50 pound bags of coffee beans, hogsheads of tobacco, and cakes of sugar, as well as a few other essentials, to settlers and pioneers heading west. "Last general store before the wilderness."
My only direct experience with them is from having smoked uncountable boxes of (the now extinct) Marsh Wheeling Deluxe Stogies for decades. The company began production in 1830. These contained Little Dutch and Pennsylvania Red fillers, and were wrapped in a dark Pennsylvania broadleaf of some sort, or a lighter leaf (eventually Connecticut Shade).
My suspicion is that they were originally wrapped in Little Dutch, which would account for their traditional long, thin shape. That's all you can wrap with Little Dutch--long and thin or short and thin.
The stogie in the photos was intended to be a "luxury" stogie. The filler is entirely Pennsylvania Red. I used my own Criollo for a double binder, and wrapped this in WLT Ecuador Maduro. In a token gesture toward its stogie heritage, I used the cutaway from the back edge of the wrapper leaf as its wrapper--the part with thick veins.
That's where the stealth comes in. It was a pretty thing, mostly by accident, so I decided to snap a photo. But the discard wrapper has so little surface texture that my "smart" camera couldn't focus on it. Anything but the cigar would be in focus. I shot 10 photos of this stogie. Of those, only these two had the cigar itself in focus. In the first, the background is not Pennsylvania Red, but is Long Red, which is a reasonable proxy.
This is a delicious cigar. The filler and binder are two years old. The magic just worked. That's not always a given.
Bob
Long, thin, cheap cigars, known as "stogies", originated in western Pennsylvania during the early 19th century (maybe a little earlier). They were sold by the handful, along with divining rods, 50 pound bags of coffee beans, hogsheads of tobacco, and cakes of sugar, as well as a few other essentials, to settlers and pioneers heading west. "Last general store before the wilderness."
My only direct experience with them is from having smoked uncountable boxes of (the now extinct) Marsh Wheeling Deluxe Stogies for decades. The company began production in 1830. These contained Little Dutch and Pennsylvania Red fillers, and were wrapped in a dark Pennsylvania broadleaf of some sort, or a lighter leaf (eventually Connecticut Shade).
My suspicion is that they were originally wrapped in Little Dutch, which would account for their traditional long, thin shape. That's all you can wrap with Little Dutch--long and thin or short and thin.
The stogie in the photos was intended to be a "luxury" stogie. The filler is entirely Pennsylvania Red. I used my own Criollo for a double binder, and wrapped this in WLT Ecuador Maduro. In a token gesture toward its stogie heritage, I used the cutaway from the back edge of the wrapper leaf as its wrapper--the part with thick veins.
That's where the stealth comes in. It was a pretty thing, mostly by accident, so I decided to snap a photo. But the discard wrapper has so little surface texture that my "smart" camera couldn't focus on it. Anything but the cigar would be in focus. I shot 10 photos of this stogie. Of those, only these two had the cigar itself in focus. In the first, the background is not Pennsylvania Red, but is Long Red, which is a reasonable proxy.
This is a delicious cigar. The filler and binder are two years old. The magic just worked. That's not always a given.
Bob
col555
Well-Known Member
A 46x6 Grand Corona with a Cibao Valley Ligero and Viso from WLT using a PA binder and wrapper from @Bigbonner
An Embarrassment of Long Scrap
I've been evaluating a couple of dozen commercial cigar leaf samples over the past week or so. All sorts of nice stuff. My pile of long scrap was threatening to create a hazardous leaf slide onto my kitchen floor. In an emergency remediation, I brought out a large, dark, oily wrapper leaf-half that had already been prepped, and was resting in a Ziplock bag on the counter. I don't remember what it is. Something nice looking.
Acting quickly, I snatched up the entire pile of long scrap, and rolled it in the mystery wrapper. This binding leaf was so long that the remainder was able to cover the top half of the cigar once more. Whew! Leaf slide averted.
I attempted to compress the long scrap filler into a more civilized ring size, but failed miserably at that. What a yummy thing. It probably contains a blend of 15 varieties from over a half-dozen countries--never to be duplicated.
Bob
I've been evaluating a couple of dozen commercial cigar leaf samples over the past week or so. All sorts of nice stuff. My pile of long scrap was threatening to create a hazardous leaf slide onto my kitchen floor. In an emergency remediation, I brought out a large, dark, oily wrapper leaf-half that had already been prepped, and was resting in a Ziplock bag on the counter. I don't remember what it is. Something nice looking.
Acting quickly, I snatched up the entire pile of long scrap, and rolled it in the mystery wrapper. This binding leaf was so long that the remainder was able to cover the top half of the cigar once more. Whew! Leaf slide averted.
I attempted to compress the long scrap filler into a more civilized ring size, but failed miserably at that. What a yummy thing. It probably contains a blend of 15 varieties from over a half-dozen countries--never to be duplicated.
Bob
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
7" Cheroot made with T13 viso & Paraguay Flojo seco fillers, bound with T-13 viso, and wrapped with T-13 viso.
MarcL
Well-Known Member
I just now finished doing that a minute ago. minus the Flojo.
Nicely done. Those really long ones are tricky to roll, but a pleasure to smoke.
[You do realize that people don't use slide rules any more. Not since about 1974.]
Bob
[You do realize that people don't use slide rules any more. Not since about 1974.]
Bob
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
From my cold dead hand. The thing about a slide rule that you don't get with an app, is that you obtain and maintain an understanding of the degree to which each factor contributes to the result. It enables you to manipulate the calculation almost intuitively.
I must have missed the part about adding and subtracting logarithms in my Intuition class.
This Spanish Claro wrapped morsel was crafted without the aid of a slide rule.
Bob
EDIT: After careful consideration, I have to admit that the breakfast of champions is more of a morson than a morsel. An IHOP "Big Bite" rather than a mere small bite.
CobGuy
Well-Known Member
Piloto Cubano Ligero and Brazilian Mata Fina Viso wrapped in Red FCV.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
Nice stogie, Cobguy. You know, rolling your own is really the way to go for smaller or narrow gauge cigars and cheroots. Toscano has its place, but gets monotonous. The only decent large cigarillos out there are Philippino Caprichos, but after one or two, they just aren't strong enough. Mehari isn't big enough. I remember the old Danneman Brazilian cigarillos were good, but it seems all I can find locally are the lousy flavored ones. Estillo Cubano makes a really good lancero. Por Larañaga lanceros are so poorly rolled, (too tight), you can only smoke half the box. I'll be effed if I have to pay twenty clams for a Davidoff lancero. WLT and my own hands have made the best small, narrow gauge cigars.
CobGuy
Well-Known Member
Thanks, CV ... the only Cheroots I purchase from time to time are the Kentucky Cheroots by Avanti. (Old habits die hard!)
~Darin
D0CH0LLIDAY
Active Member
Put a mexican san andres wrapper on one of my dominican blend cigars to see how it tastes:
Pre-prandial Salute to Whole Leaf Tobacco
My dinner is currently on slow simmer, and won't be ready until about 1 cigar from now. [For our European metric members, that converts to one Virginia hour, give or take.] This WLT Ecuador Maduro wrapper was not trimmed at all, and I used no binder (or glue or mold). The wrapper is just that sturdy and stretchy. Its compressive ability is excellent. It's a medium+ cigar. Ecuador Maduro adds some power, as does the WLT Piloto Cubano viso and WLT Nicaragua Habano seco. (Yup. It's got some punch, for a seco.) Toning it all down is WLT T-13 viso, which is thiner and mild.
Thanks, Don, for a selection of some of the finest leaf in the world.
Bob
My dinner is currently on slow simmer, and won't be ready until about 1 cigar from now. [For our European metric members, that converts to one Virginia hour, give or take.] This WLT Ecuador Maduro wrapper was not trimmed at all, and I used no binder (or glue or mold). The wrapper is just that sturdy and stretchy. Its compressive ability is excellent. It's a medium+ cigar. Ecuador Maduro adds some power, as does the WLT Piloto Cubano viso and WLT Nicaragua Habano seco. (Yup. It's got some punch, for a seco.) Toning it all down is WLT T-13 viso, which is thiner and mild.
Thanks, Don, for a selection of some of the finest leaf in the world.
Bob
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