i am interested in getting into rolling my own cigars. One of the questions I have is how good can the cigars get? The websites I have found that sell leaves don’t offer a range of aging/fermenting so it seems to me like you would be at the mercy of these businesses. Can you roll great cigars with these leaves? Or is it more to enjoy the hobby of rolling?
I hope you are encouraged as this is a great hobby especially if you like working with your hands.
Can you roll "great cigars" simply by pulling leaf from the bag? What blend could be used to taste like a Padron or a Fuente? Cigar producers like Padron spend MUCH more time and effort processing the leaf to produce great tasting cigars. Unfortunately, a Padron can't just be pulled out of a bag as they have recipes that are family secrets. There is NO blend of bag tobacco that will give you a Padron.
However, rolling a decent smoking cigar is not that difficult. Members here produce nice looking cigars in just a couple of weeks practice that smoke reasonably well. In fact, better than many store bought cigars. However, to answer your question, in order to make a "great cigar" will require some additional steps once you purchase the leaf. That's the beautiful thing, you can take this hobby to whatever level you want. Rolling a pretty cigar is only one component to a 'great cigar'. (Everyone has a different perspective on what 'great' is.)
My advice... what are you waiting for? Get rolling and discover the difference!