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- Mar 15, 2016
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BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE
Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over the next few weekends BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.
Pics of Your Sticks
- Thread starter blisscigarco
- Start date
Stop reading and start rolling.
It's in the doing that things get done.
You sir are correct. The last time I did a lot of rolling it was for my friends back in high school. I was pretty good at it. I think I could still roll a nice sized lancero
where you fellas getting leaves?? I love oliva cigars and anything I’ve tried from tatuaje. So leaf suggestions and blends would be a massive start for me. I’llhold off on growing my own till I have more free time. A website for where to place an order would be a cool start.
you are correct though. I need supplies
We mostly get our leaves from WholeLeafTobacco.com (aka WLT) or LeafOnly.com (aka LO). WLT is worlds way ahead far as customer service. LO may have some wrappers or variety the other doesn't. Plus, they will sell you a quarter-pound.
Growing your own? If you are gonna, gotta get started sprouting seeds next month. See the forum for growers at FairTradeTobacco.com. Me, I wouldn't grow. First off, I have a black thumb; and, second off, what an incredible pile of work! You can either get aged leaves from famous ground like Esteli or Vuelta Abajo, or else you can painstakingly reap what the bugs don't eat up in your back yard, sort it, age it, ferment it... There comes a point!
Welcome to our little puddle.
Growing your own? If you are gonna, gotta get started sprouting seeds next month. See the forum for growers at FairTradeTobacco.com. Me, I wouldn't grow. First off, I have a black thumb; and, second off, what an incredible pile of work! You can either get aged leaves from famous ground like Esteli or Vuelta Abajo, or else you can painstakingly reap what the bugs don't eat up in your back yard, sort it, age it, ferment it... There comes a point!
Welcome to our little puddle.
Thanks. I will at some point try growing. I grow plants for a living so I’m pretty good at it. First I need to see if I can get my brain wrapped around properly rolling something that tastes well. Then adjust.
the growing would be just for wrapper most likely. I think I could do a small plot and adjust watering accordingly to adjust the strength. The Florida sun grown cigars is what caught my interest in growing initially
I grew some a few years ago. I grew 3 types and did all the drying and fermenting. I really enjoyed the experience but the end result were cigars I didn't like. I'm a DIY type of person and I'd love to grow some again but I can't bring myself to do it when I don't like the end result.
Back in the 90's there were almost no craft breweries around and all the beer tasted the same. I was doing full grain brewing at home and making great beer in many styles that I couldn't buy easily. Sometimes a batch would become contaminated, which is a problem with small scale brewing at home. It was frustrating. Eventually the craft brew industry exploded and there were more great beers then I could drink. I decided to stop my home brewing.
The leaf available now is very good and provides tons of variety so no more growing for me.
Back in the 90's there were almost no craft breweries around and all the beer tasted the same. I was doing full grain brewing at home and making great beer in many styles that I couldn't buy easily. Sometimes a batch would become contaminated, which is a problem with small scale brewing at home. It was frustrating. Eventually the craft brew industry exploded and there were more great beers then I could drink. I decided to stop my home brewing.
The leaf available now is very good and provides tons of variety so no more growing for me.
Here's my second try on rolling freehand tapered heads with newspaper compression after binding. I'm trying out different options for how to negotiate the taper with the binder leaf, the wrapper and the double cap over the tip. My first four last week were really repulsive looking. These four are merely ugly. Next week I'mshooting for satisfactory. I also need to figure out how to keep the cigar diameter even right to the shoulder and then begin a distinct taper. Up to now I've been trying to create a taper by reducing the amount of filler at the tip when bunching, but that doesn't give me a nice distinct transition from barrel to taper. Next time I'm considering bunching and binding as if for a straight head, and then use a scissors to sculp the 1/2 to 3/4" taper before wrapping and double capping. As always I welcome your advice.
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- Mar 15, 2016
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Yeah, it's hard. Also kinda hard to explain the pro way, but it doesn't involve scissors. Here's how it's done:
I've tried making torpedos without a mold with varying success. I've tried the two methods mentioned. Reducing the filler and twisting the binder tight to create a taper. I also have tried shaping with scissors. They both worked but were not consistent. Maybe I just need more practice ..... of course I need more practice.
Is there a video out there where a torpedo is done without a mold?
Is there a video out there where a torpedo is done without a mold?
Whole Leaf Tobacco – Brazil CT Shade Leaf Cigar Wrapper 2012, 1lb.
Premium Connecticut Shade Leaf Cigar Wrapper 2012 crop Brazil.
wholeleaftobacco.com
Bunched a couple dolls last night, Blake's corojo bliss style, but I don't have the recommended wrapper...so I'm trying LO Ecuador Viso wrapper. This stuff sure smells good...
Two pics of the same sticks. Used the same half of a wrapper leaf on each. You'll see the veins from the inner cut part...
I may mimic your recipes @blisscigarco but I'll never replicate your craftsmanship. You certainly create professional quality cigars.
Two pics of the same sticks. Used the same half of a wrapper leaf on each. You'll see the veins from the inner cut part...
I may mimic your recipes @blisscigarco but I'll never replicate your craftsmanship. You certainly create professional quality cigars.
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2016
- Messages
- 2,956
Thanks. I may have some amazing new recipes to share with you, once I get all my notes and tests sorted out. Meanwhile, on the Corojo front, I've been doing a 3-1 or 2-1 seco-ligero thing with some very excellent binder/wrapper combos. Somehow the viso has fallen out of favor in my Corojo blends lately. I've also found that WTL Corojo is one of those few things that plays very well with the WLT Ec. Maduro.
Last edited:
Una Cholita, ROTT 2 minutes ago
Oral surgeries have prevented me from smoking for a month and a half. When I left off, I was still trying to perfect a blend for a short, dark Peruvian beauty. Hence, being unable to test smoke, I ceased rolling. Near as I can
Thursday came in sunny, bright, and mild. The kind of a day makes you realize how Spring came to be such a popular idea. Threw a leg over my Versys650LT about nine in the morning, intending to try out my new custom comfort seat. Did a little business at FX Smith's, 2 1/2 hours away. Too fine a day to return straight home, so I got myself lost. Not hard to do. Stopped ast a tobacconist in Westminster MD & sampled some pipe baccy. There was one guy playing hookey from the test range, another playing hookey from the fire dept., another playing hookey from I forget. Bought a couple ounces this and a couple that. Got lost again. Stopped for a chocolate chip cookie at a stand, in, what, Cockeysville?. There was a guy playing hookey from the Navy, another playing hookey from I forget, another retired didn't want to fool in the garden. I think it was National Hookey Day. Rolled on down the road, until, finally, the sun approached the trees, so I followed my nose until I found a road the number of which I knew. Home after six. Battlebots rocked.
BTW -- The seat works good. Not even so much as a whimper of monkey-butt.
So what you guys been up to? Not posting, I see.