We field hundreds of calls each month about all things tobacco, RYO tobacco, cigars, and smoking accessories from customers. There are a lot of misconceptions about
rolling tobacco and cigars that you should know.
If you are smoking cigars of any kind other than machine-made cigars you should buy a cigar humidor and you can buy a decent humidor with an onboard moisture adjustment system for under a hundred dollars. If you are an RYO tobacco smoker there is no need to manually roll cigarettes, even if you only smoke 3-5 per day you can now get a decent manual cigarette machine for under fifty bucks.
Sure you can buy low-cost machine-made cigars in your local convenience store that are not going to stack up to a decent premium cigar in any sense of the word.
But, know you can also buy a decent machine-made cigar that will have a decent taste. No, it’s not going to stack up to a ten-dollar premium cigar; but, if you are in a hurry (and who isn’t?) check out our machine-made cigars page for some awesome deals.
Today you can get RYO tobacco in just about any flavor imaginable
From all the “berry flavors” (blueberry, strawberry, etc.) and a ton of flavors that are liquor influenced. RYO tobacco flavors are no longer tied to the “old school” mentality of just offering a few flavors – exotic flavoring is the order of the day today.
Read several blog posts (linked here) on how to create your one-of-a-kind RYO tobacco in your kitchen. No need to be tied to what RYO tobacco manufacturers think you want to taste; your tobacco tastes can be as varied as you want them to be.
Cuban tobacco for cigars is the ultimate in flavor and quality
In the last 20-plus years since the embargo cigar manufacturers have been growing great tobacco in a ton of countries around the world: the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Asia (multiple countries), and even here in the U.S. Now that the embargo has been lifted expect to have a lot more options for Cuban tobacco – but it’s old school thinking to use Cuban tobacco as the gold standard for cigars.
Thinking pipe tobacco only has a shelf life of a few weeks
If you store your pipe tobacco properly and it’s good quality and shipped to you in a container that’s airtight your pipe tobacco can last for a couple of months, assuming you also store it in a cool dry place and you reseal your package after every use. Yes, lower-quality tobacco sourced in your local convenience store may not last as long.
But, that’s a reflection of the overall quality of the product and possibly how it was sourced and stored during the manufacturing process.
Lighting a cigar with a match is never a good thing
You are inhaling the fumes from the match through your cigar and the tobacco can absorb some of the sulfur that is always part of lighting a match. You can get a great butane lighter for under twenty bucks and this is how you should light a premium cigar. Always use a lighter, with butane being the preferred fuel.
A small plug for us here at Windy City Cigars. In the last ten-plus years, we’ve helped thousands of consumers make RYO tobacco and cigar purchases. You’ll find our staff knowledgeable about any/all topics relating to cigars and BTW here in the office in Chicago, we typically have a premium cigar in hand as we work.
We are all tobacco enthusiasts ourselves and we use the products we are recommending we test a lot of them here in the office before we sell them!
Learn more:
Video Reviews of Eight Fine RYO Tobacco and Cigar Products
