dondford
Well-Known Member
Been at it for a couple of weeks and the following are lessons I have learned. These apply to me and may or may not apply to other newbies.
* Join this Forum and spend the time reading posts,watch every video you can find and research before you touch a leaf of tobacco.
* Buy good tobacco; in my zeal I bought from the first supplier I found on the 'net; it was crap and I have been paying the price since.
* Buy the best equipment you can afford and realize the equipment needed to roll a good cigar is really minimal.
* Take your time on the fundamentals of the rolling process. The actual rolling of the filler in the binder is critical.
* It really isn't hard to roll a cigar, it's harder to roll a good cigar and harder still to roll a near perfect cigar.
* The quality of a cigar is how it smokes and not it's appearance. The best smoking cigar I've rolled so far was also the ugliest.
* For me, the entubado method works best and is not that hard to learn, but you best not twist the filler when starting the roll into the binder. A entubado that is twisted will not draw and you're better off with a book method roll.
* Don't worry about appearance when starting out; don't use wrapper until you have the rolling fundamentals down solid, when you can roll 10 straight cigars that smoke well, start thinking about wrappers. Good wrapper tobacco is 2-3 times the price of filler tobacco; it doesn't make sense to waste expensive wrapper on a crappy cigar. You can always go back and wrap binder only cigars later.
* Don't worry about complex blends until you have the fundamentals down; start off with a simple blend that is right for you.
* Take good blend and smoking notes.
* Start with a size you are used to smoking, don't even think about anything but a parejo, best stay with a 5-6 incher.
*Give the cigars enough time to dry before smoking; newbies tend to roll a wet cigar. I will leave mine in my cool'dor several days to allow it to dry and settle down before smoking.
* Don't get frustrated, enjoy the journey and have fun.
Don
* Join this Forum and spend the time reading posts,watch every video you can find and research before you touch a leaf of tobacco.
* Buy good tobacco; in my zeal I bought from the first supplier I found on the 'net; it was crap and I have been paying the price since.
* Buy the best equipment you can afford and realize the equipment needed to roll a good cigar is really minimal.
* Take your time on the fundamentals of the rolling process. The actual rolling of the filler in the binder is critical.
* It really isn't hard to roll a cigar, it's harder to roll a good cigar and harder still to roll a near perfect cigar.
* The quality of a cigar is how it smokes and not it's appearance. The best smoking cigar I've rolled so far was also the ugliest.
* For me, the entubado method works best and is not that hard to learn, but you best not twist the filler when starting the roll into the binder. A entubado that is twisted will not draw and you're better off with a book method roll.
* Don't worry about appearance when starting out; don't use wrapper until you have the rolling fundamentals down solid, when you can roll 10 straight cigars that smoke well, start thinking about wrappers. Good wrapper tobacco is 2-3 times the price of filler tobacco; it doesn't make sense to waste expensive wrapper on a crappy cigar. You can always go back and wrap binder only cigars later.
* Don't worry about complex blends until you have the fundamentals down; start off with a simple blend that is right for you.
* Take good blend and smoking notes.
* Start with a size you are used to smoking, don't even think about anything but a parejo, best stay with a 5-6 incher.
*Give the cigars enough time to dry before smoking; newbies tend to roll a wet cigar. I will leave mine in my cool'dor several days to allow it to dry and settle down before smoking.
* Don't get frustrated, enjoy the journey and have fun.
Don
