Uncommonly tried cigar fillers for home growers

[BarG]

I tried my first Perique air dried unfermented cigar this morning for the drive to work. I was pleasantly surprised with it. I had a pa. red binder also unfermented with a Bezuki wrapper which I have grown quite fond of. These were some of the lowest leaves on the plant and the first to fully cure, and there was a distinct pleasant flavor for a cigar compared to other varietys of similar leaf position. It was a bit more flavorful than some of the lowest leaves on my regular fillers that have cured..

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Got some pa red in the dirt on my 3rd planting wave and just this week started harvesting the bottom leaf. Love the way this plant grows. Can hardly wait to get it cured and smokable.

 

[Boboro]

This bacca thang is realey startin' to work for us. Im' goin' to roll cegars this winter

 

[Tom_in_TN]

BarG, which leaf contributed the most flavor? Perique?

I do think we will have some fun trying different leaf in combos not often used for production cigars.

 

[deluxestogie]

You'll be amazed if you kiln the ripe tip leaf of the Perique and the PA Red. They come out with a deep, dark brown color, and an espresso to dark chocolate aroma. A tiny strip goes a long way.

Bob

 

[Chicken]

i admit ive only made about 4 cigars,

anbd they were unsmokable, due to being too tight,????

perhaps, i will try it again, around october,

to see if i can make a cigar that i can smoke<

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Bob, you sent me Perique seed and I never got it germinated so won't be able to experience that leaf. But, if the ripe tip leaves of PA Red also kiln out to those colors and aroma I will be happy. It sounds delicious.

 

[deluxestogie]

As I recall, the rank, rumpled PA Red tips hung in the shed from harvest until about the following June, before they had even colored up. They then went into the kiln for 1 month. After coming out, they smelled awful. Following a few weeks of rest, they settled down to something worth repeating. So be patient with thick, rank tip leaf. It just takes it a long time to fully finish aging.

Bob

 

[FmGrowit]

If someone want to do a small (limited edition) production grow, I'm paying $8 for aged, fermented filler. Wrapper is about double that, but wrapper is a whole other ball game.

One of the reasons I started this forum was to rediscover classic varieties to do small production grows.

 

[deluxestogie]

How many pounds of cured leaf is a "small" grow?

Bob

 

[BarG]

You'll be amazed if you kiln the ripe tip leaf of the Perique and the PA Red. They come out with a deep, dark brown color, and an espresso to dark chocolate aroma. A tiny strip goes a long way.

Bob

Bob, I know this is off topic for this thread but I have been having a hard time findind the 110 water heater part for my kiln, to regulate my crockpot. All I have been able to find is for 220. Does anyone have a brand or part# I could use to order from.

 

[BarG]

BarG, which leaf contributed the most flavor? Perique?

I do think we will have some fun trying different leaf in combos not often used for production cigars.

I believe so absolutely. I'll know better after tomorrows morning cigar test, If I can roll 2 that taste same. It hasn't happened yet. I may have had a strip of fire cured in there.

 

[deluxestogie]

Bob, I know this is off topic for this thread but I have been having a hard time findind the 110 water heater part for my kiln, to regulate my crockpot. All I have been able to find is for 220. Does anyone have a brand or part# I could use to order from.

Try here: http://www.plumbingsupply.com/elements.html#thermo part number 08143 (includes 150ºF breaker button), or 08123 (without the breaker). Lowe's (here, at least) carries them in stock.

Bob

 

[BarG]

Thank you! Thats been one of my my hold ups on experimenting with fermenting. I can't find a 110 thermostat without driving 80 miles and When I do drive 80 miles its usualy not my priority. The 08143 certainly looks to be 110 and can be ordered online if loews does not have it , will find out soon enough.
Tim

 

[deluxestogie]

For new cigar experimenters, I would recommend hunting down some cigars from the following US cigar makers, in order to see what American tobaccos can taste like in a cigar. Avoid any that say, "imported." F.D. Grave used to make a truly wonderful burley cigar, wrapped in CT Shade, called "Judges Cave." Now, unfortunately, they've applied that name to a Dominican knock-off. All of these cigars are machine made, and most use short-filler. But some are 100% tobacco, rather than using homogenized sheet binders. Notice that I don't include most "drug store" brands, since these are generally awful.

National Cigar: http://www.broadleafcigars.com/

F. D. Grave (Connecticut Valley Cigars): http://www.fdgrave.com/

The Marsh Wheeling Deluxe Stogie uses Little Dutch, PA Red, and I think a Maryland. Their wrappers are CT Broadleaf, I think, for the "Dark." [Yes. I'm partial to the Deluxe Stogies!] Their Mountaineers are nice little smokes.

Nearly all of these cigars are made from what might be considered floor sweepings--cut filler, maybe homogenized sheet binders, etc., but they are authentic American smokes that are not in the Cuban tradition. Although I have made many cigars that would hold their own in the "premium" cigar arena, among those from the DR, Nicaragua, Honduras, etc., it's my American-style cigars that I enjoy the most.

Bob

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Deluxe Stogie, wondered why you picked that handle. Good for you since it fits you very well.

I would buy some Marsh Wheeling Deluxe Stogies except I want to put any extra money that comes my way to build a kiln/flue cure chamber. I got plenty of PA Red, enough to trade for other leaf too. Love this plant and eager to get it cured for smoking. The PA Red seems to be a very thin leaf that would not make good binder/wrapper leaf. Could be wrong about that.

Have a few little, Little Dutch plants. Hope they hit their growth spurt real soon cause they are on the small side. Do not have any Maryland or CT baccy so hope those are not critical components. Maybe there is a substitute? I have Hav 142 and 425 curing out for binder. A bit of Comstock Spanish in partial shade. The YTB is almost cured. Those leaves have some strength and could be used as binder/wrapper, IMO. Have a bit of Black Mammoth - huge leaves - not too many holes either. FL Sumatra is up about 5' to 6' and looking OK.

I suppose it's gonna be an experiment. Thanks for posting the info on "authentic American smokes that are not in the Cuban tradition."

 

[deluxestogie]

The larger lugs of PA Red make a tasty, reddish wrapper out the kiln. As you go up the plant, the leaf becomes much narrower, and you run out of width to serve as much of a wrapper. Incidentally, the field-cured flyers from my PA Red are actually red, rather than the usual dull grayish-brown of flyers. I'm letting them rest a few weeks in the shed before trying them. Some might actually make delicate wrappers.

BigBonner has some CT Broadleaf. I've found that using it as a binder beneath a red burley wrapper changes the tongue taste of the burley.

Bob

 

[Chicken]

i swear all this talk of cigars.

makes me want to try my luck again, at making them { last time i faied miserablly ]

when i try it again im gonna have to be talked thru it,

. i have some wrapper, that BAR g sent me a while back,

and i think , i have a cigar variety in the patch [ vavilov ]

so i may give this cigar making another try,

 

[deluxestogie]

Chicken,
I watched your original cigar video, way back last year. You have the wrapping down well. I cut my filler to the length of the desired cigar, before I begin. I would suggest starting with low-case filler, and binding a cigar that's too loose, and without glue. The binder should be in somewhat higher case. Cut the head, then give it a draw (un-lit). Now you can decide how much tighter to wrap the wrapper over it. The wrapper needs to feel slightly moist and stretchy. It took me about 30 cigars to get the feel of how dry the filler should be. If you test them without glue, you can always declare a re-do, and unwrap it part way to loosen the filler a tad. I usually roll one cigar, clip it and smoke it, all without glue.

Bob

 

[Chicken]

^^^^

i will give it a try,, perhaps sooner than i think<

i'll watch my old video, and see what i did, and what i may want to do differntlly,

perhaps a more precise cut, on the wrapper,,,, e,t,c,

..