"A roller that rocks and
rolls a long mild cigarette"

   Now it is true that every issue we review these little demons belonging to one ilk or another and usually find some redeeming quality to them. For instance the Rizla Rolling Box generated a very positive, if not somewhat bizarre, review in our March/April Issue where we found the "box" quite a useful tool. However, even though the rolling process was simplified and the resulting product was quite a nice little cigarette, it still suffered the same symptoms of the other handroller sticks in that it was just too strong of a smoke. It is a fact that actually handrolling tobacco usually produces much thinner smokes and these, though often hard to keep lit are milder at least throughout half of their length.

Well anyway, Mark Ryan of D&R Tobacco, probably having grown sick of my incessant whining about handrollers, sent me a little gem, unannounced mind you, that has to a large degree changed my mind at least about the possibilities of hand rolling machines. Made by Rizla, it is designed for 100 mm or wider papers (which Mark included). I let it set on my desk for about a week until one day, during a fit of boredom where I found myself taping "Amazing Boogie Bass" commercials, I decided to give it a try. My assumption that rolling tobacco using the longer papers in a longer machine would be even more difficult than my previous attempts with normal-sized devices was not borne out by experiment. Hey, this thing really works! Not only did the little blue roller make a perfect long cigarette, but when smoked, the resulting stick offered a level of mildness I had never enjoyed before in a handrolled product. Time after time, I was able to roll perfect 100+ mm sticks about the diameter of a Virginia Slim and each time their flavor and mildness using a variety of tobaccos was striking.

  In all seriousness, these kinds of machines all work pretty well but the added advantage, both mechanically and taste-wise, of the longer media make for a very nice smoke and a real alternative to taking injectors on trips and into the great outdoors. The orange blanket seems especially robust and grabs the paper when inserted very consistently. An added advantage is that you can roll practically any typed of tobacco in these, including ones that would jam an injector every time. I don't have a price on these guys but I suspect they are quite reasonable, under $10 certainly, and should survive a lot of rolling. They do especially well with long, fine cut halfzware blends. Whyntcha' try one and let us know what you think.