Cigar Rollers - Art and Science Rolled Into One!
A product of a bygone era,
cigar rollers combine patience,
skill, and experience to make each cigar a thing of beauty.
Most of the famous and highly skilled cigar rollers come
from either Cuba, the Dominican Republic, or other Central
American countries that grow tobacco.
This isn't a job for someone who likes to move quickly.
It's slow, precise work to shape the form of the filler and
wrap the leaves just so. While there are obviously machine-
made cigars, human cigar rollers consistently produce the
best cigars available. In fact, Cuba even labels their
cigars with the tags "hecho a mano" for finished by hand
cigars, and "totalmente a mano", which means totally by hand.
Cigar rollers must take care to keep the tobacco moist, in
particular their wrappers. They employ special knives for
the process of cigar rolling, called a "chaveta".
Cigar rollers work at their craft for a long time, and the
difference between their work and that of a machine can be
felt the instant you get one into your hand. Test me on
this one!
Posted by cigar-rollers
at 3:21 AM EDT