Tom Johansmeyer of at Luxist.com has just written a short article on his experiences at Pepin Garcia’s My Father Cigars factory, where he had the chance to roll his own cigar.  Watching his experience in contrast to that of Don Jose “Pepin” Garcia makes it clear why extensive experience is needed to roll a cigar properly.  There are many aspects of rolling which require skill, for example cutting the leaf to correct shape, keeping the wrapper tight while rolling, rounding over the head, and applying the cap (in particular triple caps).  And that’s just applying the wrapper, ignoring the blending and rolling that were required to get the filler leaves tightly into the binder in the first place. Check out Tom’s youtube videos of the experience below:

Tom rolls a cigar:

Don Jose “Pepin” Garcia rolls a cigar: