A cigar is born

In the fields | Tobacco process | Cigar morphology | Cigar rolling(1/3) | Cigar conservation

Cigar Rolling
1-2-3

These are the different phases in the creation of a cigar:

a) The wrapper and binder leaves are sprayed with water (casing) to ease rolling, then the central vein of each leaf is removed (stripping).

b) The bunchbreaker makes the filler blend in his hand, folding accordion-style a cylindrical bunch which is rolled in the binder. He then places the bunch in a wooden mould over which he puts pressure for 30 minutes (turning the bunches after 15 minutes to prevent ridges forming where the two mould halves come together).