First Cigars

[andrewislord]

I finally tried rolling cigars. I meant to watch a few videos but didn't have time and have been putting it off forever so I just did it. So I'm sure I did a lot wrong. I watched a video a while ago so I just went with what I remembered.






I smoked half of the smaller one. It was good. I don't have much to compare it to. I've only smoked like three cigars ever. I think two were White Owls and the other some swisher something or other. I hated all of them.




It smoked well, never went out until I put it out half way through. It tasted surprisingly good and was a lot smoother than expected. I was expecting to not like it.

The bigger one I'm going to let sit a while and possibly wrap again.



Whoa. I wrote this last night and lost it because the site was cleaning house or something. That Restore Auto Saved text thing works pretty damn well.

 

[FmGrowit]

LOL...good work.

What kind of tobaccos did you use?

 

[andrewislord]

All yours.

The wrapper is the Bezuki, which I've liked quite a bit.

Inside is strips and chunks of the TN90 Ligero you sent me.
And in the very center some shredded Fire Cured and a little of the Dark Air cured.
So mostly Burley.

I wanted some shredded in the middle to make sure it burned well.

And those tips on putting things in case I got in the different thread helped a lot.


And I've liked all of your tobacco a lot by the way.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

They look nice. I liken a hand rolled (novice) cigar to the difference between a real Christmas tree and a fake one. The fake one looks perfect, but the real one has character

 

[BarG]

The bezuki is a great recommendation for us beginners. It is tough enough and has a great flavor . I'm just now getting homegrown cigars from my lowest leaves, the bezuki wrapper with a little fire cured , homegrown and 2010 burley makes a good cigar.

 

[andrewislord]

Thanks everyone.

I'm going to roll like five tomorrow. I've run out of Virginia for the cigarettes so I'm on cigars now.

I like the small one's, as I can smoke them without choking.
But I think I'm going to get into cigars now. I need to go buy some to see what they are supposed to taste like. I'm shopping around for those big giant ones now.

They sell this stuff one Amazon? I had no idea. Looks junky.

Anyone here sell cigars?

 

[BarG]

Your going to like the sh.t out of rolling your own cigars. A recomendation would be from one novice to another is try the bezuki or VBN from Don for the outer wrapper. It does make a difference.

 

[andrewislord]

What does VBN mean? It was written on the Virginia Bright Leaf that was sent to me, but I didn't know what it meant.

 

[andrewislord]

The what I assume was Virginia was quite nice. I saved the best two leaves to make cigars out of but I needed it for cigarettes. I'm quite poor at the moment.
I really liked that Virginia. I could smoke nothing but that all day and be happy. I would smoke 2-3 packs a day, but still, at least they'd taste good.

Right now I'm smoking a nothing-but burley and oriental mix at the moment. I add the dark air cured to the burley(ligero) to make it a little less chokey, and some fire cured for taste, for now.
I miss the Virginia.
Don, I'll be making an order soon.

 

[BarG]

The what I assume was Virginia was quite nice. I saved the best two leaves to make cigars out of but I needed it for cigarettes. I'm quite poor at the moment.
I really liked that Virginia. I could smoke nothing but that all day and be happy. I would smoke 2-3 packs a day, but still, at least they'd taste good.

Right now I'm smoking a nothing-but burley and oriental mix at the moment. I add the dark air cured to the burley(ligero) to make it a little less chokey, and some fire cured for taste, for now.
I miss the Virginia.
Don, I'll be making an order soon.

Your way to happy/

 

[Steve2md]

Those look really good for your first time out. If you plan to purchase some cigars to learn the flavors, I would highly recommend spending the extra and going with "super premiums" to try. They taste like a cigar should. I like Victor Sinclair, Cohiba, Onyx, etc.

 

[Tom_in_TN]

I would say spend the money buying more whole leaf instead of over-priced cigars. You could get more cigars outta whole leaf for the same money. Sure, they are good, but for the money spent on premium, industry-made cigars you could buy whole leaf and learn something. I will sell you a box of 25, or less if you want, of a very nice, premium cigar made by Artueo Fuente, highly respectable cigar company. Plus the bonus is they have been aging since 2003. Very smooth, tasty, 45 to 60 minute smoke. Really fine tobacco rolled by top craftsmen. You couldn't find these cigars with that kind of age in your local smoke shop and the age does make it better.

The cigars you rolled look great and if you like them, keep doing that, and you will be far happier and wealthier than chasing down an illusion. Grow your own tobacco if have some space.

 

[BarG]

I'm at a 2 cigar minimum per day. 1 for the ride to work and 1 for the ride home.

 

[Steve2md]

I agree with tom, I'm just saying that if you plan to use purchased cigars as a bench mark, use good ones. VS are one of my personal favorites when I'm in a buying mood (or when Thompson has a special...)

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Right, Steve. Plus consider the alternative....a smoker walks into a smoke shop and ends up buying a handful of premium cigars. But, one of the cigars you buy came from a discount bin near the checkout. A hand-rolled cigar from a respectable company for $2. A couple of weeks later you hand the cigar to a friend, as a gift. Your friend breaks the cellophane seal and lights it up. Within minutes your friend begins to say things like, "WOW!!!!! That is a good cigar, thanks." Your friend continues to go on and on and on about how good the cigar tastes, describing it as a sweet citrus flavor, really smooth and PACKED with flavor. Your friend smokes the cigar down about an inch or so and hands it over to you to taste. You toke the cigar a few times and sure enough it is PACKED with a smooth, light, sweet citrus flavor. You hand-off the cigar to other friends who are herfing with you and one by one they take a few tokes and also notice the smooth sweet citrus flavor too!

Now, you and your friends are on a life-long quest to find another cigar with that sort of smooth, sweet citrus flavor.

 

[Steve2md]

Yup. Never discount the discount rack/bin. That's why I have an illicit love affair with Thompson Cigars...sometimes, their overstocks or factory seconds hit a home run. Sadly, this has taken a toll on my wallet, as I am now a cigar "snob" and am not a fan of machine rolled cigars anymore. As good a thing as uniformity is for the mass market, having rolled my own from home grown tobacco has spoiled me. Each and every cigar, even if hand rolled with the same ingredients, will be slightly different, and that's where I find my intrigue. I'm pleasantly surprised every time I light a new cigar that I have rolled (except for that one experiment with too much turkish...talk about rough...) I don't think I'll ever settle on a favorite blend, that would get boring.

 

[Steve2md]

Btw....smooth sweet citrus? Bring it on please!!!!!

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Yep, what could be better than smooth sweet citrus? Well, smooth sweet citrus with a nice, soft nic kick!!!! Bring it on please!!!!!

 

[Steve2md]

Brand and batch you found that in please? I have a knack for finding things...I'd love to try one, then duplicate it

 

[BarG]

Soak a few leaves in lemon-lime-orange fresh squeezed, and let them dry? or do it like tequila and take a squeeze of lime and a puff on a cigar.