Stripping the wrapper

y2pascoe

Anyone ever strip the first half to half inch off the foot of their cigars before lighting them? A Jaime Garcia rep recommended trying that, as it gives you strictly the flavor of the filler before the profile completely changes when you hit the wrapper. I've seen some cigars like that with the exposed foot (ie Tat Wolfman), but never thought of stripping the wrapper myself.

kaspera79

y2pascoe:

Anyone ever strip the first half to half inch off the foot of their cigars before lighting them? A Jaime Garcia rep recommended trying that, as it gives you strictly the flavor of the filler before the profile completely changes when you hit the wrapper. I've seen some cigars like that with the exposed foot (ie Tat Wolfman), but never thought of stripping the wrapper myself.

I might just try it on some of my more "common" cigars. It will be an interesting lesson in recognizing the flavors provided by the wrapper and filler.

j0z3r

Interesting. I had never thought to try that. I'm a big fan of shaggy foot cigars for the exact reason you mention.

kuzi16

maybe a week ago there was a thread about cigars that show off the filler.
THIS IDEA will show off not only the filler but how the wrapper interacts with it.

i may have to do this soon.

BigT06

That an interesting idea for sure... but with ZERO rolling experience, and grizzly bear size hands, I'd def have to start with a very thick wrapper!

I'm assuming you'd have to pectin the wrapper back down to secure it after removing the desired amount of wrapper to keep it from unraveling?

kuzi16

if you peel it of "the right way" it sholdnt be too much of an issue. worst case would be that you touch it up with your torch if it starts burning weird at the transition point.

BigT06

kuzi16:

if you peel it of "the right way" it sholdnt be too much of an issue. worst case would be that you touch it up with your torch if it starts burning weird at the transition point.

well, the whole doing it "the right way" thing is gonna be my challenge...

would it be easier with a larger RG so there's more surface area to work with, or would that just be more room for error?

KingoftheCove

Noob observation and questions here, so............
What about the binder?

I was under the impression that most cigars that we smoke ("hand made" for the most part) consisted of wrapper, binder, then filler.
Are there cigars that are only a "wrapper" surrounding only filler tobacco?
Do they usually use the same tobacco for binder and filler?
I'd almost be tempted to simply cut 2 inches off a cigar I wanted to "test" this way, and get a clean/new pipe, and then smoke only the wrapper, clean the pipe, then the binder, clean the pipe, then the filler.

BigT06

That's another interesting idea King. I've heard of people smoking a cigar in a pipe... but not like you've described... very interesting, indeed!

and yes, hand rolled cigars typically have a binder. Some have 2. I can't think of any that don't... but there may be some.

jr_p951

This is one of those..."why didn't I think of that?". I'll have to try that!

kuzi16

KingoftheCove:

Noob observation and questions here, so............
What about the binder?

thats a good question. the binder does have a significant effect on it as well. you cant see it as much in the test we are discussing because you do need something to hold it together.

KingoftheCove:

I was under the impression that most cigars that we smoke ("hand made" for the most part) consisted of wrapper, binder, then filler.
Are there cigars that are only a "wrapper" surrounding only filler tobacco?

yes there are. most of these are cheaper and look very rustic. think of the Backwoods brand. this is the type of cigar that was smoked in the old west when people hand rolled cigars themselves.

KingoftheCove:

Do they usually use the same tobacco for binder and filler?

nope. some tobaccos are better or filler and some are better for binders. Binder tends to be thicker and stronger so it can hold the cigar together. it CAN be the same as some of the filler but it usually isnt.
i tend to think of the binder as part of the filler when it comes to blending. the wrapper is 40-60% of the overall flavor. the binder is 40-60% of the fillers flavor in my mind. i need to play around a bit more in a blending room to confirm this suspicion.

KingoftheCove:

I'd almost be tempted to simply cut 2 inches off a cigar I wanted to "test" this way, and get a clean/new pipe, and then smoke only the wrapper, clean the pipe, then the binder, clean the pipe, then the filler.

i would use 3 unused pipes for that.

this is actually easier of a process in a blending room. one of the things that blenders do is to roll a very small one leaf cigar and smoke it to understand what that leaf is bringing to the blend. once all laves are blended you are then able to taste all of those elements from each leaf and tweak accordingly.

y2pascoe

BigT06:

That an interesting idea for sure... but with ZERO rolling experience, and grizzly bear size hands, I'd def have to start with a very thick wrapper!

I'm assuming you'd have to pectin the wrapper back down to secure it after removing the desired amount of wrapper to keep it from unraveling?

I would take a double guillotene cutter and use it to gently cut around the cigar where you want to remove the wrapper. Just like unsheathing a wire.

JudoChinX

Cool idea for sure. Kind of a make your own shaggy foot thing. I think I'll give it a shot.

Amos Umwhat

I must admit I've always wondered "why?" regarding shaggy foot cigars. Best I could figure, was they wanted to show the filler thereby showing the quality of the tobacco. Never tried to light it, just snipped it off. I'll give it a whirl next time one of these is available, can't quite bring myself to perform surgery on any I have right now, most are figurados, and I like those the way they are.

StrongStyle

I've removed lots of wrappers, but usually on machine made cigars and to replace the filler lol.

wwestern

BigT06:

kuzi16:

if you peel it of "the right way" it sholdnt be too much of an issue. worst case would be that you touch it up with your torch if it starts burning weird at the transition point.

well, the whole doing it "the right way" thing is gonna be my challenge...

would it be easier with a larger RG so there's more surface area to work with, or would that just be more room for error?

This should work: Take your cutter put it at the desired point to remove the wrapper... barely put any presure and rotate your cigar a time or two then you can pick off the wrapper with no worry of ruining the who thing.