For the casual cigar smoker hand rolled cigars must seem rather exotic and beyond their reach.  You can’t buy them in grocery stores or anywhere else other than tobacconists and online specialty stores.  They come from beyond the borders of the United States and there’s an air of elitism about them because they seem to cost more than machine rolled cigars.

But the reality is quite different and once you’ve smoked a hand rolled cigar, you may never want to go back to a machine rolled cigar again.  Sure you might have to find a tobacconist to buy them from or even shop online for them, but you won’t have to pay a premium price for them unless you’re buying a premium cigar.

You certainly won’t mind looking beyond your grocery store for your cigars once you’ve tried a hand rolled one because the difference is like chalk and cheese – and that goes for even the cheapest hand rolled cigars.

So why is there such a difference?

The Filler

The filler in hand rolled cigars are made from pure tobacco leaves. While different leaves may be used for each part of the cigar, you are getting genuine tobacco in your cigar. That may sound a little strange until I tell you that the filler in machine rolled cigars contains other items besides tobacco.

In a hand rolled cigar all you get in the filler is tobacco leaf cut long to fit the length of the cigar.  In a machine rolled cigar you get preservatives and other chemicals, finely chopped (almost minced) tobacco – tobacco that’s often just leaf scraps and other parts of the tobacco plant that no cigar roller would ever use – and paper as well.

With nothing but genuine tobacco in the filler of a hand rolled cigar you know that the taste is going to be everything you had hoped it would be.

The Binder

The binders in hand rolled cigars are genuine tobacco leaves. These are coarser than the leaves that are used in the filler, but they are carefully chosen by the highly skilled cigar makers to ensure that they match or enhance the taste of the filler.

Imagine what it would be like to be smoking glue? That’s what you get in the binder of a machine rolled cigar – glue that is used to hold together chopped up pieces of tobacco that would never be used in a hand-rolled cigar.

The Wrapper

Once again, a cigar roller will choose a tobacco leaf that either enhances or adds to the flavor of the filler and the tobacco leaf he or she chooses for the wrapper will have to look appealing too.

Quality

Machine rolled cigars just can’t compete with the quality control that goes into hand rolled cigars and it’s that human element in hand rolled cigars that makes all the difference at every stage of production.

A good cigar roller will put their heart and soul into what he or she creates and their efforts produce a quality product – one that gives cigar smokers and outstanding experience – and that’s definitely worth paying for.

However hand rolled cigars are not always perfect. No matter how good a cigar roller may be there is always room for human error so you will occasionally get a hand rolled cigar that isn’t perfect. Perhaps it’s wrapped a little too tightly to draw well; perhaps there’s a soft spot that you missed when you checked the cigar at the tobacconist.

There will be faults in even the best hand rolled cigars that you probably won’t find in a cigar that’s been produced by a machine. But the smoking experience that you will get from a hand rolled cigar is so much better and once you’ve tried one, you’ll be prepared to overlook those occasional lapses in quality.

What to Look For

So if there are some occasional faults in hand rolled cigars what should you look for?  If a tobacconist will allow you to hold the cigar, then give it a gentle squeeze between thumb and forefinger.  It should feel firm but not hard and definitely not spongy. If the cigar is part of a box of cigars compare the color
of the cigar you have chosen with the cigars that remain in the box. If there is any difference in color or any staining on the cigar then pass on it and look for another.

Even though it’s impossible to get an exact uniform length and width in a handmade cigar and the overall shape may not be exactly smooth you should not accept any cigars that have noticeable lumps or bumps along their length. A good hand rolled cigar will not be a perfect shape but nor should it be misshapen in any way.

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