On Friday I did my normal thing and made plans to head over to Kensington Tobacconist. Unlike my usual visit, there happened to be an event scheduled for that afternoon. The featured cigar was the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami. The added bonus to this event was that it also included a cigar roller working his craft.
The roller at this event was Papa Leo, a master roller for La Gloria Cubana. From what I understand, he is not one of the select rollers for the Artesanos line, but is a torpedo specialist. Communicating with Papa Leo was very difficult as he spoke very little English and not a sole at the event spoke more that a handful of Spanish words.
On a beautiful day in Pennsylvania, I stood outside watching Papa Leo roll cigar after cigar. While there, I spoke with the General Cigar rep briefly as well as several of the regulars that stopped in for the event. I made a point to bring along my camcorder to record a few minutes of rolling.
The video runs a little long at about twelve minutes. I was considering cutting it down but decided against it at the last minute. In the early stages of the video Papa Leo had a bit of a struggle with wind gusts. After the wind died down, he started moving at a very quick pace. I’m told on the average day he can roll approximately 150 torpedos.
Great video Walt! It’s nice to see where the smokes come from and this adds to the depth of flavor of StogieReview.com, not just reviews, but all things cigar!
Thanks for the post!
Nice look a the rolling process!
I was hoping for some commentary though 😉 Maybe an interview, or him rolling a cigar on a beautiful woman..oh wait, flashback to the cigarfest video 😉
Mike
Mike,
I would have loved to have Papa Leo talk us through the rolling process but there was a pretty big language barrier that no one at the event could overcome.
Tony,
Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for the comment.
-Walt
I get the feeling that rollers weren’t meant to ply there trade outdoors in the wind. LOL
Great vid Walt… aside from him fighting the wind it was pretty cool to see how the cigars are rolled. Love the random vids such as this one.
Loved the video. Also, great intro music!!
Keep up the great work!!
Nice video….
Great video Walt, I agree with everyone its nice to see other videos then just reviews. Seems Stogie Review is becoming all things cigar not just reviews and I like it. Great job Walt
JoseFloresJr
I’ve just gotten into the my cigar-loving side, so I’ve been snapping up all the possible information and such I can.
This was an awesome video to watch, very cool!
I do have a question after watching it though. He is applying the wrapper and then the cap with paste, correct?
If he is, is the “stick” of tobacco that he wraps the final leaf around the binder with the filler inside?
And if so, I assume he just made those himself earlier, and is doing a sort of a “finish “x” stage on all cigars, and then start on “y” stage on all cigars” approach, right?
Sorry if my question’s answer is glaring obvious, I’m just OCD about information!
-APC