Havana’s Best Custom Rolled Cigars Explained By A Torcedora

Custom rolled cigars in Havana, Cuba can be a bit of a gamble. You can spend up to $15 on a cigar and end up with a poorly made cigar. And that was our experience until we met Yolanda Gonzalez at the Habana Libre Hotel.

Custom rolled cigars in Cuba are not made as a branded Habanos release, they are rolled and sold in store, usually unbanded, with the quality living and dying on the person behind the table. That is why people chase them, because many of these rollers have serious factory experience, and when you find the right hands, you can get a cigar that feels properly Cuban without paying boxed cigar money.

What makes that even more interesting is the tobacco. Even though these cigars are not branded, the tobacco Yolanda works with is Cuban tobacco supplied by Habanos. Despite this, the price can still be far lower than even the cheapest standard production cigars. You are not paying for bands, boxes, names, or export presentation, you are paying for tobacco and hands, which is exactly what most people want.

These cigars also suit a lot of palates because the tobacco has already been processed before it reaches the rolling table, and after rolling, a rest helps everything settle, meaning they are typically ready to enjoy without needing long aging at home. When you combine that with the price, it is obvious why visitors from all over the world spend days trying to find the best custom rolls.

That search is what brought us to Yolanda at the Habana Libre Hotel, where she rolls inside the La Casa del Habano in the hotel itself. She has decades of experience, she has worked in factories including Partagás and H. Upmann, and you can see the difference in the way the cigars are built, because the pack feels confident, the draw is perfect, and the cigar smokes the way it should.

In the video linked below we sit down to speak with Yolanda to discuss what makes her cigars the best custom rolled cigars in Havana Cuba.