Long vs Short filler

I often get asked questions about the difference between long and short filler Habanos and the difference in their construction. The simple way of looking at it is that long filler cigars are made with the whole leaf and the short filler cigars are made with the rests of these full leaves. The trimmings from bunches of long filler cigars are combined with other selected chopped tobaccos to create the blends for short filler Habanos. The Torcedor rolls the filler into whole binder leaves with the aid of a flexible mat fixed to his bench to form a firm bunch. The wrapper is applied by hand in the normal fashion. These short filler Habanos are also marked as 'Totalmento a Mano' - totally hand made. Naturally, the short filler cigars are considerable cheaper than long filler Habanos. The other aspect that people find confusing, in the Machine made Habanos and how they fit into the long and short filler debate. Machines have been used in the making of some Habanos since the 1950's. They are capable of both long and short filler construction, but only in considerable small sizes. 'Mecanizado Habanos' (machine made) are less expansive to make and therefore are much cheaper than hand made Habanos.