My home rolled cigars...

[w1lldabeast]

Progress?... They're starting to look like cigars..Hi, I found a couple of old presses on eBay, a steal at around ?12 each. The trouble is they are small figurado shape which is the hardest shape to roll. This is the only shape press that seems to come up on eBay over here as it was most popular in Europe, particularly Germany. I don't think I did too badly though considering I learnt from a few YouTube videos.. The main issue ive had is with blending. Once you have sampled the differnt Leaves and figured out a few blends you want to try, you roll. Then there is a couple of months at least to wait until the additional moisture from wrapper (you have to dampen it so it is flexible) has evened out and they have rested enough for it to taste even a little like the end product. If you sample too soon your not sampleing what you have created. So it is a loooonnnng process! It really shows how the skills and expeience the master blenders have deserve the title "Master"! It has massively increased my appreciation for a good cigar!! I'll try to post some picks soon.

[JamesA]

Sounds like an interesting project, look forward to seeing the pics!

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[Bad-Yeti]

Hell yeah, pics.

Sounds awesome though.

[Bigboned]

Pics with custard please

[w1lldabeast]

I know that they would never even come close to a quality smoke but it's more about the experience. The availability of leaf alone dictates this, all the high end quality tobacco is usually sold before it's been grown. I'm quite practical and hands on so it really appealed to me. I just couldn't resist giving it a try when I found I could get some leaf.* Anyway here are a few of my most recent attempts; http://www.flickr.com/photos/w1lldabeast/

[rokkitsci]

Hell, they look almost like REAL seegars, beastie boy!


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[crusse]

They look pretty damn good. I'm sure that if I tried rolling a cigar it would end up looking like a squashed sausage. What kind of tobacco did you use?

[Simon Bolivar]

Look better than any I saw rolled in the field in Cuba, great effort!

Just an innocent question, do you have to pay duty in importing tobacco leaf? I assume so but just interested. After all you can make you own beer & there's no tax or duty on it but you can't sell it. As the leaf would be imported I assume Duty but perhaps not tax?
NB: Mods, you can delete this question if it's too controversial.

[SmokeyDave]

Superb effort there, they look pretty amazing, especially for a 1st attempt!

[daniel2001]

They look terrific for a first attempt.

Look better than a lot of cigars from some big names...


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[Eddie]

My understanding is that duty is paid on tobacco for smoking even if grown if your own garden.

[w1lldabeast]

These are my most recent, not my first attempts. The first 20 or so looked more like rolled up cinnamon sticks than cigars :-)
Crusse- the tobacco is Nicaraguan and Dominican seco and liegro rolled in various wrappers. I would post the link as to where I got it but i think that may be against the rules...
Simon- believe it or not whole leaf tobacco is classed as agricultural goods so any tax and duty would be minimal. This came from the states, I've had two packages so far and neither have been stopped even though they were marked up as whole leaf tobacco.
It is up to whoever processes the tobacco to pay the tax and duty... the same site also sells different types of tobacco for cigarettes and pipes etc..

[molecularstudent]

These look amazing! I'm tempted to give it a try myself!

[Bigboned]

These look amazing! I'm tempted to give it a try myself!

Tempted to buy some more like!

[molecularstudent]

Tempted to buy some more like!

Yeah, or that haha