Handmade Cuban cigars have long been regarded as the finest in the world. Known for their rich flavor, silky wrappers, and exemplary construction they have become one of the most highly prized luxury commodities. As such, they are priced accordingly which makes them obscenely expensive for the average wallet. For nearly two centuries, regularly smoking fine handmade Cuban cigars has remained an indulgence for those "swells" who could afford the steep tariff.

However, the Industrial Revolution nearly changed all that with its numerous man-replacing machines. The Por Larranaga factory introduced the "cigar making machine" to its gallery of rollers in 1925 and began to make the first-ever totally machine-made Havana. By cutting the human roller from the equation, the factory was not only able to make far more cigars, but at a far lesser cost. Factory by factory cigar making machines began to replace rollers until the torcedors took their plight to the people of Cuba by organizing a nationwide boycott of all machine-made cigars in 1937. It wasn't until the early 1950's when the rollers were unable to meet the worldwide demand for Cuban cigars that the machines were reintroduced into the factories, and this time it was without incident. Today over twenty-exported Havana brands include machine-made cigars as part of their line and these lesser cigars coexist with the traditional handmades.

There are two primary types of machine-made cigars available from Cuba:

Machine-Made - these are cigars that are entirely machine made from start to finish. They are comprised of short fill and utilize homogenized binders and wrappers, which are made from leaf and stem particles. Boxes are typically stamped with only "Hecho en Cuba" meaning "Made in Cuba."

Machine-Made Hand Finished - these cigars are bunched by machine with short filler, however a genuine wrapper leaf is applied by hand afterwards. Boxes of these in addition to the origin stamp also feature the "Hecho a Mano" hallmark. Although this means "Made by Hand" it should not be confused with the "Totalmente a Mano" hallmark stamp that means "Totally by Hand" and is featured on boxes of handmade premium Habanas only.

While on the topic of hallmark stamps, you will sometimes see "Envuelto a Mano" also burnt into the bottom of machine-made cigar boxes. Literally this translates to mean "Wrapped by Hand", yet note that this claim is solely referring to the cigars being handed sorted, cello sleeved, and box packed and not to the cigar's manufacture. Both machine-made and hand finished cigars sometime are packaged in this manner and bear this unique and often confusing hallmark.

Typically it is easy to tell hand finished from entirely machine made cigars by their wrapper. Hand finished ones possess an oily veiny wrapper that differs from cigar to cigar while the entirely machine-made cigar's wrapper is typically flat and somewhat dull. However, the machine-made cigar is typically far more consistent in appearance than its higher-grade counterpart.

A few important distinctions between Cuban machine-mades and those made by many American companies should be noted. First, Cuban machine-cigars are made with 100% tobacco unlike many American brands that introduce non-tobacco cellulose in the blend. In addition to these "non-tobacco additives", many American machine-made cigar manufacturers add chemicals to their cigars to improve their shelf life, burn, and color. Another critical difference is in the blending - American varietals a typically blended to be smooth, mild, and many times sweet while Cuban machine-mades are just the opposite. They are commonly very strong blends that deliver a tremendous rush of biting earthy tobacco flavor to the palate and also a pretty heady dose of nicotine. You have to remember that the Cuban people themselves consume most of the machine-made Havanas and they tend to prefer their cigars unadulterated.

The primary benefit to smoking machine-made Cuban cigars is their being significantly less expensive than the premium handmades. Some of them can cost as little as a single US dollar, and even the pricier hand finished vitolas seldom cost more than $4.00 each anywhere in the world. Of course, for your savings you are going to make some rather serious concessions. The first being consistency; there is infrequently any meaningful consistency in the flavor of most of Cuba's machine-made cigars. Secondly, the burn, draw, and overall construction will commonly be suspect amongst machine-made cigars. Without the benefits of first world engineering and chemical additives, Cuban machine-mades although pure, lack the construction and content needed to create a well-made cigar by machine alone. And finally, you will need to have a palate that can endure a much hotter stronger cigar than you are use to smoking. Many times machine-made Havanas can be quite harsh and off-putting to even the seasoned smoker.

In spite of these trade-offs, there are some rather enjoyable machine-made Havanas available to the consumer. The trouble is identifying those which best suit your tastes. Typically the better ones are in the 38 - 44 ring gauge range and are at the higher price end of the budget spectrum. One of the best ways to select the better machine-mades is to ask your tobacconists which are his most popular selling cigars. You can not judge them by their brands alone, because many some vitolas in a particular brand can be quite good while others can be very unpleasant.

To help you begin your search here are a few of the most consistent and better Cuban machine-mades we have experienced over the years:

Fonseca Delicias Gispert Habaneras No. 2 H. Upmann Coronas Majors H. Upmann Royal Coronas H. Upmann Excepionales Rothschild Jose L. Piedra Nacionales La Corona Perfectos Partagas Toppers Partagas Coronas Seniors Partagas Deluxe Partagas Perfectos Por Larranaga Lolas en Cedro Punch Royal Coronations Punch Souvenir Deluxe Quintero Nacionales Rafael Gonzalez Panatelas Extra Ramon Allones Toppers Ramon Allones Bits of Havana Romeo y Julieta No. 2 Romeo y Julieta Regalies de Londres Romeo y Julieta Perfectos

Most of the above recommendations are for 100% machine-made smokes, however, almost all of them are offered in the hand finished format, and even a few can be found as totally handmade vitolas. If afforded the choice, we suggest you always select the hand finished version over the entirely machine-made cigar. The more human hand operations a cigar goes through the better chance you'll have for enjoying your selected cigar.

There are dozens and dozens of different machine-mades that are produced under a wide variety of third tier brand names such as: Belinda, Cabanas, La Corona, Quintero, Statos de Luxe and Troya. All of these brands do indeed have their moments and make for satisfying cigars, but as a general rule these lesser brands reflect the stereotypical poor smoking image that machine-mades have "earned" over the years.

When the opportunity presents itself, we suggest you try everything at least once. We think you'll, more often than not, enjoy the economical and tasty machine-made smokes we've listed above and, from time to time you'll also discover a good La Corona or Statos de Luxe.

Machine-mades will never be as good a "smoke" as the totally hand-made Havana vitolas, but remember that the premiums enjoy the benefits of prime leaf selection, the experience and expertise of the rollers, and the consistency and complexity of their blends. However, the construction, depth and lushness of these world class cigars comes at a serious cost. We encourage you to not overlook machine-mades Cuban cigars in your quest to develop your smoking palate. Not only will they help to expand your palate, but we are certain you are likely to find some machine-made Havanas that allow you to enjoy some luxury on a budget.