Quote Originally Posted by webmost View Post
All these cigars are rolled by machine, of course, because here in this country, hey, we started making everything by machine a hundred years ago. Labor saving devices. Efficient. I just don't understand the objection to machines one bit. Hey, this computer keyboard is made by machine. The jeans I'm wearing were machine made. The beer here in my hand was bottled by machine. Why cigars have to be hand rolled is a mystery to me. Doesn't make them smoke any better.
I will not disagree that sometimes "hand made" is not the best. We know a few humidor makers who make complete crap - the Chinese pressboard machine made humidors selling on eBay are far better quality.

However - machine made does not automatically mean quality. As a matter of fact, all machine made cigars I've tried are - at best - "okay". But - the best cigars I've smoked we're hand rolled. The more skilled the roller - the better the cigar. And I've dissected machine made cigars and saw what was packed in it - clearly someone swept the floor of the tobacco factory and packed it into the cigar...

There's a damned good reason cigars are still hand rolled in "sweatshops" (your words not mine). Because those hand rolled cigars are truly the best. A skilled roller knows how to pick and pack/bunch the tobacco leaves, apply the proper pressure to the binder, and - most important - skillfully apply the wrapper. If it's done properly - it's a masterpiece.

If you truly want cheap smokes - why not take up cigarette smoking. Those are machine made and are a fair piece cheaper than even machine made cigars...