5 Things You Need To Know About Machine Made Cigars

Since their inception in the 1920s, machine-made cigars have come a long way to become a viable competitor to hand-rolled cigars. In fact, when they first appeared in the market cigar lovers were so peeved that it resulted in a worldwide decline in cigar consumption.

We love our Totalmente a Mano; I know I do. But machine-made cigars have made such leaps in taste, construction, and quality that even cigar aficionados can admit to enjoying a few.

Whether you are inveterate who wants to peek into machine-made cigars or a novice who is just dipping their toe into the stogie world, here are a few things you need to know about machine-made cigars.

1.    Machine-made cigars don’t mean low-quality cigars.

The presumption that all machine-made cigars are low quality smokes is totally outdated. Even though most brands pack garbage short fillers, other brands use pristine premium tobacco blends and exquisite flavors that deliver a satisfying smoke as a premium cigar.

A good example is the Black and Mild who use pipe tobacco, the most flavourful and sweet of all tobacco, for their machine-made rolls. These are top-notch premium blends applied to machine-made cigars.

2.    Machine-made but hand-rolled?

Did you know that some cigars are both machine-made and hand-rolled? Well, it’s true! Some “hand-made” cigars are not really 100% made by hand. A process called machine-bunching prepares the fillers and binder by machine, then the cigar is hand-rolled as a final step. Cuban cigars are notorious for this practice.

If you want to find out if your cigar is truly hand-made, look out for “Totalmente a Mano” on the packaging. If you find “Hecho a Mano” instead, your cigar is machine-bunched then hand-finished.

Don’t sweat it though, you may never even notice the difference.

3.    Machine-made cigars have different wrappers

Did you know that cigar wrappers account for 70% of flavour? Well, they do. This is why the wrapper is the single most important component of a cigar.

Typically, machine-made cigars are draped in Homogenized Leaf Wrapper. It’s a mixture of tobacco scraps and adhesive rolled out into a paper-like sheet.

However, high-end machine-rolled cigars use a natural leaf wrapper to bring out as much authenticity as possible. Backwoods and Swisher Sweets Cigars or Sweet Woods are among machine-made brands that use a natural wrapper.

The cheapest machine-made stogies use a tobacco-infused paper similar to the one used on cigarettes.

4.    Machine-made cigars are more consistent than hand-made cigars

Cigar consistency is a matter of grave importance to all cigar manufacturers. And even though we love our hand-made cigars, they are prone to human error. If a torcedor has a mishap while rolling your premium smoke, it can affect the draw and ultimately your smoking experience.

The machine-made cigar comes from carefully calibrated machines that leave no room for human error. You can count on a White Owl or a Swisher Sweets to draw and taste exactly the same for decades.

5.    Machine-made cigars don’t benefit from aging

Machine-made cigars are meant for immediate consumption. Do not put them in your humidor. Aging is for premium smokes with long fillers in perfectly rolled natural leaf wrappers.

Additionally, since most machine-made cigars have some kind of flavor, the flavor may permeate other stogies or the humidor itself. This will definitely ruin your good premium smokes.

Store your machine-made cigars in their packaging and smoke them as soon as possible.

Ultimately, machine-made cigars are not as bad as they are made out to be. If you do enough research, you can find one or two brands that you enjoy nearly as much as a premium stogie.