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The Long Con: A Homeroll Adventure (Advice Needed)

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Once again, I seek the collective wisdom and advice of the rolling community here for another absurd project. But first, a little background...

Background:
A family business owned by a good friend of mine will be celebrating its 100 Year Anniversary shortly... in 2019. I've gotten the bright idea to show up with a set of commemorative home rolls for everyone attending the celebration. Usually, I would just roll the cigars haphazardly about a week before the event and show up with them still damp. But this time, I thought a small amount of foresight could improve upon the final product I'd present.

The Goal:
My goal is to blend, roll, stash, age, and present 100 cigars at the celebration. The business has been in the family for four generations, so I thought perhaps four different vitolas would be neat and allow for variety of selection. The majority of the party-goers will be casual smokers at best, suckered into partaking only due to my coercive marketing tactics and roguish charm, so it seems sensible that the blend would be kept Mild-Medium. The business is oil and lubricant distribution, so I had thought any homage that could be paid to that (i.e. oily wrapper or barrel shaped vitola *cough* pig *cough*) may be cool. I suppose it would also be possible to do both a "Light" and a "Heavy" blend to appeal to broader audiences, though I don't know if the composition of smokers warrants that level of diversity.

The Questions:
- What sounds best for a mild, but flavorful blend that would still age well? Should I blend something strong and hope it tones down?
- Any vitola recommendations?
- How bad of an idea is this? Do I even have the attention span?

Current Tobacco Inventory:
Brazillian Mata Fina Filler - WLT
Nicaraguan Habano Seco - WLT
Nicaraguan Habano Viso - WLT
Nicaraguan Habano Ligero - WLT
Criollo 98 Ligero - WLT
Criollo 98 Viso - WLT
Criollo 98 Seco - WLT
Corojo 98 Ligero - WLT
Corojo 98 Viso - WLT
Corojo 98 Seco - WLT
Dominican Seco - WLT
Paraguayan Flojo Africa Viso - WLT
Honduras Habano Wrapper - 2012 - WLT (Not very nice)
Ecuadorian Maduro Wrapper - WLT
PA Oscuro Wrapper - LO
PA Oscuro Binder - LO
PA Viso - LO
PA Seco - LO
CT Shade Wrapper - Jorge
Dominican Ligero - Jorge


Below I'll list off the proposed blends/vitolas, so as to keep everyone's ideas accessible and easily identifiable for discussion. Updates will be provided as I embark, as will samples for testing. Expect things to go awry.

Thank you very much in advance. I think this will hopefully be a pretty slick presentation for my friend and his family on such a monumental occasion.

Cheers,
Spenny
 
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Your most sure-fire vitola in this case is probably a robusto. Smokes mild and looks familiar. Surefire wrapper = CT shade.
Blending strong and hoping it goes mild in a few years probably won't work with the tobaccos we have at hand, IMHO. It did not work for me at a year and a year and a half, anyway.
 
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Your most sure-fire vitola in this case is probably a robusto. Smokes mild and looks familiar. Surefire wrapper = CT shade.
Blending strong and hoping it goes mild in a few years probably won't work with the tobaccos we have at hand, IMHO. It did not work for me at a year and a year and a half, anyway.
Appreciate the info! Did your tests retain the strength they had when fresh or mellow out too much?
 
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Rip off @BrewinHooligan's marshmallow blend ;) I bet that'll age just fine!
Funny you mention this as I was eyeballing the inventory and dammit if most if not all the leaf needed is in your inventory. The marshmallow blend works well with any wrapper I have ever used on it so I say, give the blend a shot with your different wrappers and see how you like it. I agree with sticking to a robusto, it seems to be the most widely accepted vitola for noobs and seasoned vets alike.

1/2 leaf nica habano seco, 1/2 leaf corojo seco, 1 leaf corojo viso, 1/2 leaf Jorge ligero, Dominican binder for your bunch. I have recently swapped out CT broadleaf for the PA oscuro as I prefer the flavor, burn characteristics, and finished appearance for the true "marshmallow" version. I haven't tried this blend wrapped in CT shade yet, but have a few test sticks resting I will burn soon. If you wrap it in San Andrés it goes from toasted marshmallows to chocolate malted milk balls (Whoppers), and it is a very flavorful and tasty smoke wrapped in Ecuadorian Habano but I can't quite describe the flavor profile as well as other versions. Fill up a mold with the blend, wrap it in a variety of wrappers, and give them a try after they rest a month or two, then start rolling what you think will be most appealing to a large crowd.
 

Dominican56

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Once again, I seek the collective wisdom and advice of the rolling community here for another absurd project. But first, a little background...

Background:
A family business owned by a good friend of mine will be celebrating its 100 Year Anniversary shortly... in 2019. I've gotten the bright idea to show up with a set of commemorative home rolls for everyone attending the celebration. Usually, I would just roll the cigars haphazardly about a week before the event and show up with them still damp. But this time, I thought a small amount of foresight could improve upon the final product I'd present.

The Goal:
My goal is to blend, roll, stash, age, and present 100 cigars at the celebration. The business has been in the family for four generations, so I thought perhaps four different vitolas would be neat and allow for variety of selection. The majority of the party-goers will be casual smokers at best, suckered into partaking only due to my coercive marketing tactics and roguish charm, so it seems sensible that the blend would be kept Mild-Medium. The business is oil and lubricant distribution, so I had thought any homage that could be paid to that (i.e. oily wrapper or barrel shaped vitola *cough* pig *cough*) may be cool. I suppose it would also be possible to do both a "Light" and a "Heavy" blend to appeal to broader audiences, though I don't know if the composition of smokers warrants that level of diversity.

The Questions:
- What sounds best for a mild, but flavorful blend that would still age well? Should I blend something strong and hope it tones down?
- Any vitola recommendations?
- How bad of an idea is this? Do I even have the attention span?

Current Tobacco Inventory:
Brazillian Mata Fina Filler - WLT
Nicaraguan Habano Seco - WLT
Nicaraguan Habano Viso - WLT
Nicaraguan Habano Ligero - WLT
Criollo 98 Ligero - WLT
Criollo 98 Viso - WLT
Criollo 98 Seco - WLT
Corojo 98 Ligero - WLT
Corojo 98 Viso - WLT
Corojo 98 Seco - WLT
Dominican Seco - WLT
Paraguayan Flojo Africa Viso - WLT
Honduras Habano Wrapper - 2012 - WLT (Not very nice)
Ecuadorian Maduro Wrapper - WLT
PA Oscuro Wrapper - LO
PA Oscuro Binder - LO
PA Viso - LO
PA Seco - LO
CT Shade Wrapper - Jorge
Dominican Ligero - Jorge


Below I'll list off the proposed blends/vitolas, so as to keep everyone's ideas accessible and easily identifiable for discussion. Updates will be provided as I embark, as will samples for testing. Expect things to go awry.

Thank you very much in advance. I think this will hopefully be a pretty slick presentation for my friend and his family on such a monumental occasion.

Cheers,
Spenny
Well, how did this work out for you?
Are you rolling them?
 
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Funny you mention this as I was eyeballing the inventory and dammit if most if not all the leaf needed is in your inventory. The marshmallow blend works well with any wrapper I have ever used on it so I say, give the blend a shot with your different wrappers and see how you like it. I agree with sticking to a robusto, it seems to be the most widely accepted vitola for noobs and seasoned vets alike.

1/2 leaf nica habano seco, 1/2 leaf corojo seco, 1 leaf corojo viso, 1/2 leaf Jorge ligero, Dominican binder for your bunch. I have recently swapped out CT broadleaf for the PA oscuro as I prefer the flavor, burn characteristics, and finished appearance for the true "marshmallow" version. I haven't tried this blend wrapped in CT shade yet, but have a few test sticks resting I will burn soon. If you wrap it in San Andrés it goes from toasted marshmallows to chocolate malted milk balls (Whoppers), and it is a very flavorful and tasty smoke wrapped in Ecuadorian Habano but I can't quite describe the flavor profile as well as other versions. Fill up a mold with the blend, wrap it in a variety of wrappers, and give them a try after they rest a month or two, then start rolling what you think will be most appealing to a large crowd.
I'm drooling while reading this post... and I'm gonna order this portfolio soon! Are they all from WLT?
 
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