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Part Three: Las Vegas Big Smoke Sunday Seminars

Roll Your Own

Posted: Thursday, November 15, 2007

By Gregory Mottola  

Mike Giannini (left) with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo

It's hard to imagine that after two nights of Big Smoke evenings, gambling, drinking and virtually no sleep that anyone would be able to sit in a room and take a class in cigar rolling, but Big Smoke attendees are not only passionate about cigars but also determined to absorb every aspect of the culture. The Roll Your Own seminar has been a Las Vegas Big Smoke tradition since 1998. Attendees spend the late morning learning how to put a wrapper on a cigar's bunch (the combination of filler leaves held together by a binder leaf) as though they had all been transported to a cigar factory. No matter that they were sitting down to work on no sleep and (in a few cases) a blood alcohol level over the limit.

Attendees tried their best to master the tools of the trade.

Each prospective roller entered the ballroom undaunted, sitting down to a rolling station set with a razor blade serving as a chavetta, a plastic board on which to work, a cup of water to moisten the leaf and a tiny cup of gomma, which is a natural gum used as an adhesive. There was also a La Gloria Cubana cigar waiting at each station for the rollers to smoke while they rolled. This year, however, something unexpected happened: many of the prizes turned up missing. Usually great prizes await those who roll the best cigars, but this year they all inexplicably vanished. Thankfully, guest roller Pope "Papa" Leo had the presence of mind to keep all the rolling materials with him at all times, so the seminar could go on. It was announced that the winners would be sent their prizes at a later date. Leo, who's been rolling cigars for 50 years, was truly the hero of the event before he even started rolling.

Leo, a master roller from El Credito, inspects a wrapper leaf.

Once the crowd settled in with their tools, Mike Giannini, director of marketing for El Credito Cigars, took the mic and introduced Leo and the host, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, president of El Credito and the maker of La Gloria Cubana.

"I'm called a cigar master, but I'm not really a cigar master because I can't roll a cigar," said Perez-Carrillo. "So don't feel bad if you don't roll a cigar as well as [Leo] does or some of the other people, because I've been in the business for 38 years and quite frankly, I'm terrible at it."

This admission did not stop Perez-Carrillo from making good-natured fun of the audience members, bringing some humor to an otherwise academic morning.

Leo's workbench was projected on a large screen so that everyone in the room could see how he cut the wrapper leaf, moistened and finessed the tobacco, positioned the cigar, and rolled. A man like that makes it looks easy. He can roll and finish a cigar in what seems like a single motion, but Perez-Carrillo was careful to go over the process step-by-step.

Attendees sat shoulder to shoulder and rolled their own smokes.

The audience was instructed to first prepare the Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper leaf by stretching it out, making it as wrinkle-free as possible without tearing it. Occasional dabs of water rendered the wrapper more pliable. The next step was to cut the perimeter of the leaf in order to smooth out the edges, then make a sickle shape. After that, it was time to place the bunch on the wrapper leaf for rolling, taking care to slightly stretch the leaf, keeping it taut. This produces a tighter seam and a better-looking cigar.

"When my father started buying this leaf back in '72, this was from the Oliva family," said Perez-Carrillo, referring to Tampa, Florida's Oliva Tobacco Co. "We're still buying from them up to this day, so needless to say, we've bought hundreds of thousands of pounds of this wrapper."

Perez-Carrillo walked around the room ribbing some of the sloppier rollers.

"We have a gentleman here who's been coming here nine years and he's still making the same mistakes," said Perez-Carrillo, who strolled over to another roller and asked, "Do you really want to turn that in?"

Click on the image to watch a video!

Perez-Carrillo offered some consolation to those who were having a hard time of it, reminding them that, depending on a factory worker's natural ability, it takes anywhere from two to five years to perfect the art of cigar rolling.

At the end of the seminar, all the cigars were collected and judged by Perez-Carrillo and Giannini. The first prize went to the ugliest cigar, and there were plenty of candidates. Another prize was awarded to the most creative cigar, which ranged from cigars dressed up in mini-outfits to cigars decorated with risqué bands. The winner was a grouping of three cigars tied with twine: each had a different band, two of which depicted Larry and Moe of the Three Stooges. The third band depicted Ernesto Perez-Carrillo -- the third stooge.

Mike Giannini holds up the Three Stooges cigar creation.

When the laughter settled it was time to select the best cigars. The third-place winner was given a box of La Gloria Serie R No. 7s and a box of El Rico Habano cigars. The second-place winner was presented the same two boxes, plus a box of Reserva Figurados.

The first-place winner was Tim Black, an eight-year veteran of the Big Smoke. The Ontario, California, resident won the 2006 Serie R Limitada Humidor valued at $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to the El Credito factory in Miami, where he will visit the factory, perfect his rolling skills under the tutelage of Perez-Carrillo and go on a tour of South Beach.

"Our trips are like Vegas," said Giannini. "What happens in Miami stays in Miami, because the things that go on at night, we can't mention."

Winner Tim Black (center) of Ontario, California, took the stage with Carrillo and Giannini to accept his award.

Black was very excited but very much taken by surprise.

"This guy is shaking up here," said Perez-Carrillo.

"I really enjoy the Serie R," said Black, "it's my favorite cigar."

Some Roll Your Own participants were brave enough to smoke their own creations. A few of the cigars smoked well, while others unraveled, but regardless of how the cigars turned out, the group remained good-spirited and were as focused on getting to the Scotch-tasting seminar next door as they were on rolling a smokable cigar.

Photos by Sjodin Photography

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