The Handmade Cigar Difference

A handmade cigar is entirely made by hand with no machinery involved.

The binder is pliable and silky with enough strength to hold the filler. This is rougher than the wrapper, but of high quality .

The wrapper on a handmade cigar should be of high quality, burn steady, have a relatively smooth texture, and be slightly oily to the touch. It needs to have a pleasing taste also!

Do not confuse handmade with a hand rolled cigar.

A hand rolled cigar uses a machine in part of the process. The filler is bunched by machine and then given to a roller (torcedore) to apply the wrapper.

Some of the bigger hand rolled cigars actually have short filler (pieces of tobacco leaf). You can tell if a cigar has short filler by the ash. It simply will not be able to achieve a sizable ash. The burn will also be hotter and not as consistent as a handmade.

A machine made cigar is entirely assembled by machine.

The binder will consist of short filler and the wrapper will not be all natural.

The wrapper on a machine made cigar is homogenized to help provide the strength required to be handled by the machine without breaking. They can also have flavoring added.

Well made handmade stogies are the cream of the crop. As you can see, the difference can be substantial.

Beware of imitators making counterfeit cigars. This is a real problem, which not only hurts the manufacturers, but also the cigar aficionado. The manufacturer loses the sale, and the consumer has an inferior smoke not worth the money paid for it.

Remember, if the deal sounds to good to be true, it probably is!

Buying a handmade cigar does not guarantee a great cigar. Armed with knowledge and common sense, you can avoid many of the pitfalls. This will not only keep you from having a bad taste in your mouth, but will also save you money.

As we've said before....ask questions, learn, and have fun!

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