Cigar smoking provides enthusiasts with a myriad of options for enjoying the pleasures of the tobacco leaf. From dark and strong to green and mild, cigars come in all varieties to suit the individual smoker’s taste. One important distinction in the cigar world is machine-made vs. hand-rolled.
The kings of fine, quality cigars are the hand-rolled variety. Available mostly through mail order and at local tobacconists, hand-made cigars offer smokers superior smoking experiences that showcase the best tobacco that cigar makers from around the world produce. Whole tobacco leaves of different varieties are cured, aged, blended, and rolled by masters of the cigar industry to create fine, hand-rolled cigars. Commensurate with the time, skill, and dedication required to produce hand-rolled cigars, there also comes a higher price tag. Although great hand-made cigars are available at lower prices, many of the best cigars are outside of a normal smoker’s everyday price range.
Machine-made cigars most often do not use the whole leaves of tobacco that the hand-rolled variety do, but often the trimmings from the rolling bench are used to produce them. Paper wrappings are frequently used over natural leaf wrappers, but some cigar makers do produce quality machine-made cigars with natural leaf wrappers. One of the big advantages that machine-made cigars offer over their hand-rolled brethren is the price. In some cases, a whole box of machine-made cigars can be purchased for the price of one premium, hand-rolled cigar. Machine-made cigars also come in a wide range of flavors that aren’t normally available on hand-rolled types.
One other distinction between hand-rolled and machine-made cigars is the length of time needed to smoke each type. Hand-made cigars, depending on their size, can require one to two hours to smoke from start to finish. Machine-made cigars smoke at a much faster pace.
Whether smoking an expensive hand-rolled stogie or a cherry-flavored blunt, cigar smoking options abound. Pricing, quality, and availability all play a factor in differentiating between machine-made and hand-rolled cigars. While both options have their pros and cons, the many cigar options available provide consumers nearly limitless choices to enjoy.
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