Pics of your sticks!!

[plantdude]

Okay, that "cigaronni," as @plantdude so aptly called it, gives me a good understanding on you were telling me before about how you roll the filler: the stratified, uniform filler in the circumference and the swirling, convoluted interior with slightly bigger air gaps to account for the slower burning Ligero and Viso... Its a target so far I have best 'achieved' by rolling up the core filler and burrito-ing with outer filler. I now see how what I might call "pinwheeling", (your method as I understand it) would be more consistent... Unless I'm under-thinking it...

I had to knickname it. @MarcL is a cigar master and his ciggaroni showed us very nicely what the inside should look like. Looks tasty too

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Okay, that "cigaronni," as @plantdude so aptly called it, gives me a good understanding on you were telling me before about how you roll the filler: the stratified, uniform filler in the circumference and the swirling, convoluted interior with slightly bigger air gaps to account for the slower burning Ligero and Viso... Its a target so far I have best 'achieved' by rolling up the core filler and burrito-ing with outer filler. I now see how what I might call "pinwheeling", (your method as I understand it) would be more consistent... Unless I'm under-thinking it...

Holy crap. You're going to have a degree in this in no time.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Got a box from WLT today. I had to roll up a stogie with three of the new ones I've never had before. I learned nothing.

 

[Snowblithe]

Holy crap. You're going to have a degree in this in no time.

Haha, I appreciate your confidence! I have to say, in the dozen or so cigars I have rolled so far I can predict by sight which ones are going to have runs or smoke well (more of the former than the latter) based on the cross-section. The theory is easy, the hard part is actually producing.
For example, my most recent rolls. The one on the right is my first entubado attempt, the one the left is basically my intuitive method. Assuming I can draw air through both I think the one on the left wil smoke better overall, but the one the right needs refinement. I will find out if that’s case through the whole stick, but I must admit nerding out on this has been bloody fun! This forum kicks ass

 

[deluxestogie]

@Snowblithe, both cross-sections appear to have ¼ or more of their thickness wrapping around the circumference--like a lancero repeatedly wrapped to the thickness of a toro. They tend to not burn as uniformly if the outer filler is laminar. At least in my experience that is true. With simply crushing and combining sections of filler, or with entubado approaches, the circumferencial layers are simply the binder and the wrapper. I'm sure you will find what works best for you.

You are miles ahead of where I was with my earliest rolls. I've shot way past 15,000 cigars by now, and have no respect for tradition. Beauty is nice, but my cigars have to cook.

Bob

 

[Krausen89]

Good ol Pennsylvania Puros!

 

[Snowblithe]

@Snowblithe, both cross-sections appear to have ¼ or more of their thickness wrapping around the circumference--like a lancero repeatedly wrapped to the thickness of a toro. They tend to not burn as uniformly if the outer filler is laminar. At least in my experience that is true. With simply crushing and combining sections of filler, or with entubado approaches, the circumferencial layers are simply the binder and the wrapper. I'm sure you will find what works best for you.

You are miles ahead of where I was with my earliest rolls. I've shot way past 15,000 cigars by now, and have no respect for tradition. Beauty is nice, but my cigars have to cook.

Bob

I have probably only smoked two thousand cigars, and so far rolled a bit over a dozen myself, haha.
And really, in person the outside of the filler isn’t as tight as it looks and is more like laid bricks than seamless circumlamination. I’m hoping that means it will burn okay, but if not I’ll try something else. My goal at this point is tuning out inconsistencies near the binder/wrapper to avoid runs. I will certainly post the results of these attempts good or bad. I predict my entubado one will be tough to light evenly given it’s density.

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Smoked another Bob cigar today, filler was the excellent WLT aged Nic seco and some olor ligero with an msa binder and wrapper.

Super smooth cream and cinnamon. I am really loving the way the hand rolled mold free cigars smoke. It seems like they never get too hot, and always draw very nicely. I think something about the cigar being tapered with a large center contributes to this.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Second trial of the Ecuador Corona wrapper. I think, for my tastes, that I should either use a more narrow piece of wrapper, or roll a thicker gauge of cigar. It's pretty strong stuff.

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Second trial of the Ecuador Corona wrapper. I think, for my tastes, that I should either use a more narrow piece of wrapper, or roll a thicker gauge of cigar. It's pretty strong stuff.

View attachment 33313

I agree with you here, it’s incredibly strong. Also I found it a bit difficult to burn as a wrapper, but I think the binder leaf I used was too thick. Given how oily and strong this leaf is, I think it could be a great candidate for aging. I wonder what it will taste like in a year or two?

2014 aged Nic seco
Olor ligero
PA binder
Connecticut wrapper

As a thin gauge cigar, the cream is way amped on this one, and there is a nice spice from the ligero. Currently, my favorite leaf combo.

 

[Knucklehead]

Second trial of the Ecuador Corona wrapper. I think, for my tastes, that I should either use a more narrow piece of wrapper, or roll a thicker gauge of cigar. It's pretty strong stuff.

View attachment 33313

Did you have ligero in your blend? I used it for binder and wrapper with Nicaraguan seco and viso, no ligero. It was pleasantly strong but not what I would call too strong or overpowering. Ring gauge was larger than yours. The wrapper had a nice mouth taste to me.

 

[Jim D]

I agree with you here, it’s incredibly strong. Also I found it a bit difficult to burn as a wrapper, but I think the binder leaf I used was too thick. Given how oily and strong this leaf is, I think it could be a great candidate for aging. I wonder what it will taste like in a year or two?

2014 aged Nic seco
Olor ligero
PA binder
Connecticut wrapper

As a thin gauge cigar, the cream is way amped on this one, and there is a nice spice from the ligero. Currently, my favorite leaf combo.
View attachment 33314

Thanks for the recipe, were they about equal parts of each leaf? Inquiring minds want to know....

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Did you have ligero in your blend? I used it for binder and wrapper with Nicaraguan seco and viso, no ligero. It was pleasantly strong but not what I would call too strong or overpowering. Ring gauge was larger than yours. The wrapper had a nice mouth taste to me.

I did have ligero in it. 1 PA ligero, 4 Pelo de Oro seco, Dominican binder. I rolled one at work tonight that was 2 criollo viso, and... I forget. Forget it.

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Thanks for the recipe, were they about equal parts of each leaf? Inquiring minds want to know....

For the petite corona size I used about 50:50 seco to ligero by volume- it was at most a medium/full smoke. The olor ligero is pretty mellow. I’ve used the same combo in Robusto with 3 seco and 2 ligero, that was a mild stick. These go great with coffee earlier in the day.

 

[Amesanite]

My first Roll. A lot to learn. Loose draw but you know what..... It’s tasty as hell!!

Azucarado Oscuro II Cigar Blend Kit:

 

[deluxestogie]

That looks like an excellent first roll. Congratulations!

Bob

 

[MarcL]

Okay, that "cigaronni," as @plantdude so aptly called it, gives me a good understanding on you were telling me before about how you roll the filler: the stratified, uniform filler in the circumference and the swirling, convoluted interior with slightly bigger air gaps to account for the slower burning Ligero and Viso... Its a target so far I have best 'achieved' by rolling up the core filler and burrito-ing with outer filler. I now see how what I might call "pinwheeling", (your method as I understand it) would be more consistent... Unless I'm under-thinking it...

My first Roll. A lot to learn. Loose draw but you know what..... It’s tasty as hell!!

Azucarado Oscuro II Cigar Blend Kit:
View attachment 33331View attachment 33332View attachment 33333View attachment 33334

Well done. Welcome to the club!

 

[PressuredLeaf]

My first Roll. A lot to learn. Loose draw but you know what..... It’s tasty as hell!!

Azucarado Oscuro II Cigar Blend Kit:
View attachment 33331View attachment 33332View attachment 33333View attachment 33334

Wow great work, way better than my first roll. I’d also much rather have too loose a draw than too tight!

Corona-ish ~5x42
By volume:
50% aged Nic seco
50% Nic Condega ligero
Pa binder
Ecuador maduro wrapper.

Medium to full in flavor, medium on nicotine. Starts out a little spicy, but quickly transitions into rich and smooth “Nicaragua” flavors. At this point I’m ready to admit I’m obsessed with wlt Nicaraguan tobaccos, I don’t know why I bother buying anything else.

 

[webmost]

I hear nothing but good words about that "sugary" blend kit.
Smoke 'em up and roll some more.

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Corona
2 wlt aged Nic seco
1 Nic ligero
PA binder
MSA wrapper (despite being extremely thick it burns great)

Almost taste like a Padron. 2nd half is as good as most 1964 maduros I’ve had, and my sticks don’t cost $14.