Binders appear to be the trash men of cigar leaf. It's trash men who hold civilization together. Stats tell us the heart surgeon adds three weeks to the average life. But if we stopped collecting trash and sewage, we'd have a plague of rats & typhus in three weeks.
I thought binders deserve at least a thread to themselves. That's why I bought five samplers of LO binders, rolled five identical gars, and I offer the comparo here. These gars are simple and mild: just hond seco filler, a super thin bit of FXSS CT wrapper, and the binder in between. I wondered what each binder would add for flavor. I took all five outside and smoked them all at once.
Left to right..
I have four or five other binders. The old reliable Dom, some aging KY sumatra from Larry Butcher, and several fillers I frequently use as binder, like the olor. Love that stuff. If I don't find my next stashworthy here soon (which I have been chasing for a month) then I might pull a repeat experiment with another five.
I thought binders deserve at least a thread to themselves. That's why I bought five samplers of LO binders, rolled five identical gars, and I offer the comparo here. These gars are simple and mild: just hond seco filler, a super thin bit of FXSS CT wrapper, and the binder in between. I wondered what each binder would add for flavor. I took all five outside and smoked them all at once.
Left to right..
- Honduras: This leaf is wrapper-worthy. Thin enough, wide enough, pretty enough. Certainly big enough. But it made a sour taste as a binder.
- Columbian: Small and coarse. This would only bind a reasonably small gar. The flavor was citrus and sweet. The burn was jagged. But here's the marvelous bit: it smoked significantly cooler than the other four.
- Cameroon: This stuff is not only too small, but friable as well. The flavor smooth and woody.
- CT1-LS: Huge, stretchy, ragged. You'd want to cut this in two & get two binder out of it; except that one of the two would be too ragged to use. Plus, you get maybe half as many leaves out of a pound. It's a nice straight burn and a warm creamy flavor.
- Ec Seco Shade: note: This is NOT the same as the Ec seco sh wrapper. They must sort this out before fermenting. It's very crinkly. It makes a straight burn and a neutral flavor.
I have four or five other binders. The old reliable Dom, some aging KY sumatra from Larry Butcher, and several fillers I frequently use as binder, like the olor. Love that stuff. If I don't find my next stashworthy here soon (which I have been chasing for a month) then I might pull a repeat experiment with another five.
