I am graduating from infant to toddler in my cigar rolling progression. I have a couple binders and wrappers in stock. To date all my sticks have been rolled with the same combination of fillers. (2 corojo 99 vizio(WLT) 1 corojo 99 seco(WLT) ) I'd like to branch out and experiment with varying the filler. What additional fillers must I include in my leaf collection?
Filler leaves that one MUST have in stock
- Thread starter ras_oscar
- Start date
That corojo viso I use more than any other filler leaf, I personally say keep that in your kit for sure. I cannot live without the Nicaraguan Habano seco, corojo seco, criollo ligero, Dominican ligero, and piloto cubano ligero. I primarily use fillers from WLT.
http://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/Mata-Fina-Filler-upper-stalk-position-BrzlMF.htm
http://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/Criollo-98-Viso-Crio98V.htm
swap them with some of the corojo viso, and/or use them as binder. even wrapper..
http://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/Criollo-98-Viso-Crio98V.htm
swap them with some of the corojo viso, and/or use them as binder. even wrapper..
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There you go down that slippery slope.
Dominican56
CRA #99997657
Try lots of different leaf. It's fun.
Also do yourself a favor and get some 2 gallon zip-lock storage bags. They work wonders for storing leaf.
Also do yourself a favor and get some 2 gallon zip-lock storage bags. They work wonders for storing leaf.
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Dominican56
CRA #99997657
I wasn't referring to long term storage, actually. But since you open the door, I'll step through it. Incidentally, how long is "longer term" anyway?
The two gallon bags are ideal for leaf storage and frequent use.
For long term storage you should be depending on something to assist these bags doing a good job of preventing the atmosphere getting to your leaf.
Simply store the 2 gallon bags in an air tight cooler. It's about as good as you can do at home without relying on some sort of exotic vacuum system.
"Long term" for those bags left out in the open is anything over a month and your leaves will be getting crispy. I really like the convenience of using them but a small mist of water now and then keeps things in balance. That's for my daily working stock.I wasn't referring to long term storage, actually. But since you open the door, I'll step through it. Incidentally, how long is "longer term" anyway?
The two gallon bags are ideal for leaf storage and frequent use.
For long term storage you should be depending on something to assist these bags doing a good job of preventing the atmosphere getting to your leaf.
Simply store the 2 gallon bags in an air tight cooler. It's about as good as you can do at home without relying on some sort of exotic vacuum system.
I saved a bunch of those high quality thick vinyl bags from WLT and put the tobacco in those for any storage longer than a couple of months and into an air tight cooler.
I've been pondering your post for some time. As a newbie I am necessarily in receive mode first and foremost. I understand that "tasty" cigars are a matter of personal preference. When brewing beer, there is a recipe for each standard style. Dry Stout, Pilsner, bock, American lager. Brew houses can and do alter the ingredients, hops, and yeast to arrive at their own unique take on the style. When baking a cake, there must be flour, water, oil and eggs. Each bakery can and does alter the flavoring additives to arrive at their own unique product. Once again, there is a standard starting point. I guess what I'm looking for is that starting point for cigar blends. It must be more than just grabbing random leaves and twisting them up into a cylinder. There must be components common to all successful filler blends.
I speculate that there are "condiment" tobaccos used in small amounts to alter flavor and "meat and potatoes" tobaccos that form the backbone of the stick. I wouldn't want to make a cake without flour, or a beer with no base malt. It might be fun to do a brew with 5 pounds of black patent, but I bet you wouldn't want to drink very much.
To restate my ramblings in the form of a question: Since there are no standard cigar styles, can we propose a standard recipe for:
1. A mild cigar
2. A full cigar
Dominican56
CRA #99997657
for me:
Honduras Habano filler or binder. LOVE this stuff
Criollo 98 Ligero WLT
Corojo 99 Ligero
Dominican Ligero
Corojo 99 Viso
Criollo 98 Viso
Brazilian Habano Viso (must be mojo'd with chardonnay, believe it or not)
Piloto Cubano Viso
Nicaragua Habano Seco
Nicaraguan Seco Long Filler
Dominican Seco Criollo 98
Dominican Seco
Ecuadorian Ligero Shade Wrapper
Mexican San Andres Wrapper
Corojo Oscuro Wrapper
Honduras Habano filler or binder. LOVE this stuff
Criollo 98 Ligero WLT
Corojo 99 Ligero
Dominican Ligero
Corojo 99 Viso
Criollo 98 Viso
Brazilian Habano Viso (must be mojo'd with chardonnay, believe it or not)
Piloto Cubano Viso
Nicaragua Habano Seco
Nicaraguan Seco Long Filler
Dominican Seco Criollo 98
Dominican Seco
Ecuadorian Ligero Shade Wrapper
Mexican San Andres Wrapper
Corojo Oscuro Wrapper
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I think we originally thought you were asking about specific SKUs at the main retailers. But based on this post, that is not what you were asking. There are quite a few charts and threads that show the basic formula of cigars, which is 1 seco, 1 viso, 1 ligero. More seco or viso accents the less strong aspects: more ligero accents strength. So:
1. Some seco and viso, a mild (e.g. Dominican volado) binder, a mild wrapper, typically some kind of Shade.
2. Some seco and viso, and some ligero, or more ligero, with a strong wrapper, e.g. Habano.
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AND HERE is a reposting of material I've written in other threads. None of us is this anal or technical about blending. Most of us just chuck some leaves together with a certain amount of ligero or lack thereof: it's just about the general ideas behind the formulas.
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I developed a formula that I use to help me quickly grasp the relative strength of my cigar.
Seco = 1
Viso = 2
Ligero = 3
If you roll a cigar with one leaf each, which is the basic blend, then you get 1+2+3=6. Divide by 3 (the quantity of leaves in a 3-leaf filler blend) and you get an average of 2. So a basic blend has an average of 2.
a single-leaf viso blend would also be a 2. 1 seco + 1 ligero would be a 2. 1 seco + 2 visos + 1 ligero would be a 2. You can check the math.
But three seco leaves alone would be a 1, so that would be mild. 1 seco and 2 ligeros ( 7/3 = 2.33) would be a 2.33, or strong.
What’s interesting is that there are many ways you can mix the leaf and change the blend while keeping it at 2. For example, for three-leaf blends totaling 6 and therefore averaging 2:
Balanced: 1 seco(1), 1 viso(2), 1 ligero(3) = 6
More burn, rich flavor: 2 seco(2) + ½ viso(1) + 1 ligero(3) = 6
Strong: 1.5 seco(1.5) + 1.5 ligero(4.5) = 6
Med-Strong with an emphasis on viso aroma: .5 seco(.5) + 2 viso (4) + .5 ligero(1.5) = 6
Strong with emphasis on ligero flavor: 1 seco(1) + ¼ viso(.5) + 1.5 ligero(4.5) = 6
Mild but with good viso aroma: 2 seco(2) + 2 viso(4) = 6
Classic mild Cuban robusto: 1 seco(1) + 2 viso(4) + “skinny ½, i.e. 1/3” ligero(1) = 6
Here’s a famous blending chart. I don’t know where it came from originally or if it’s even true. Cuban cigars tend to be mild or mild-medium, and these average out to 1 seco, 2 visos, .5 ligeros. That formula gives an average of 1.85, or mild-medium. (This chart uses the Cuban terminology rather than the Central American terminology. Cuban volado = seco; seco = viso; ligero = ligero)
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Here’s a famous blending chart. I don’t know where it came from originally or if it’s even true. Cuban cigars tend to be mild or mild-medium, and these average out to 1 seco, 2 visos, .5 ligeros. That formula gives an average of 1.85, or mild-medium. (This chart uses the Cuban terminology rather than the Central American terminology. Cuban volado = seco; seco = viso; ligero = ligero)
[/QUOTE]
The diagram above shows 3 primings, which you describe as the "Cuban" terminology. Since diagrams help me understand, I found this:
Which shows 5 criollo primings, not 3. (I am ignoring the corojo primings shown on the right of the diagram, because quite frankly I have never seen these offered for sale on the websites I purchase from.) I assume that each leaf gathers strength as it occurs on successively higher points on the plant, and the "primings" are merely arbitrary lines drawn on a linear progression.
Now my question when shopping to purchase leaf, should I be aware of what type of plant/country of origin the leaf is, or are all leaves sold retail to folks like us graded and packaged to a common standard, IE Volado is milder than seco is milder than visio.... etc.
Also, how come I never see corona leaf offered for sale?
Finally, Why are binder and wrapper leaves not identified by primings? Are they uniformly gathered from the volado priming?
The diagram above shows 3 primings, which you describe as the "Cuban" terminology. Since diagrams help me understand, I found this:
Which shows 5 criollo primings, not 3. (I am ignoring the corojo primings shown on the right of the diagram, because quite frankly I have never seen these offered for sale on the websites I purchase from.) I assume that each leaf gathers strength as it occurs on successively higher points on the plant, and the "primings" are merely arbitrary lines drawn on a linear progression.
Now my question
when shopping to purchase leaf, should I be aware of what type of plant/country of origin the leaf is, or are all leaves sold retail to folks like us graded and packaged to a common standard, IE Volado is milder than seco is milder than visio.... etc.Also, how come I never see corona leaf offered for sale?
Finally, Why are binder and wrapper leaves not identified by primings? Are they uniformly gathered from the volado priming?
Dominican56
CRA #99997657
The formula ignores what binder and wrapper bring to the mix.
The diagram above shows 3 primings, which you describe as the "Cuban" terminology. Since diagrams help me understand, I found this:Here’s a famous blending chart. I don’t know where it came from originally or if it’s even true. Cuban cigars tend to be mild or mild-medium, and these average out to 1 seco, 2 visos, .5 ligeros. That formula gives an average of 1.85, or mild-medium. (This chart uses the Cuban terminology rather than the Central American terminology. Cuban volado = seco; seco = viso; ligero = ligero)
Which shows 5 criollo primings, not 3. (I am ignoring the corojo primings shown on the right of the diagram, because quite frankly I have never seen these offered for sale on the websites I purchase from.) I assume that each leaf gathers strength as it occurs on successively higher points on the plant, and the "primings" are merely arbitrary lines drawn on a linear progression.
Now my question
when shopping to purchase leaf, should I be aware of what type of plant/country of origin the leaf is, or are all leaves sold retail to folks like us graded and packaged to a common standard, IE Volado is milder than seco is milder than visio.... etc.Also, how come I never see corona leaf offered for sale?
Finally, Why are binder and wrapper leaves not identified by primings? Are they uniformly gathered from the volado priming?[/QUOTE]Leaf Only has Ecuadorian Habano wrapper graded by priming. That's the only wrapper grade leaf I have seen graded by priming as well though.