Wolf & Ruhland

Wolf & Ruhland was founded in 1909 in Munich by a Mannheim merchant, Hermann Wolf, and his sister-in-law Käthe Ruhland; the Munich factory did so well that in 1917 they looked for a second site, and found it, through a friend, Karl Hilz, in a village of the Bavarian Forest, Perlesreut, where they hired a hundred and seventy people — the village called the boss "Father Wolf". In the hard years it was Karl Hilz who took over the firm; his son Hermann kept it afloat with a petrol station and a garage; his granddaughter, Cornelia Stix, has run it since his death in 2006, in the third generation, with ten people.

It is, she says, the last manufactory in Bavaria still rolling cigars by hand. A single machine helps; for some styles the women form the bunches by hand on a foot-operated device, and the wrapper is applied by hand — the entry says so precisely, because the line this atlas draws runs between hand and machine. The tobaccos come from Java, Sumatra and Mexico; the recipes, some going back to Karl Hilz, are kept by the owner's son, Martin, with no added flavours or scents. The Virginia, a slim cigarette, is the house's mark; the Toccata Torpedo, the largest, wears a hand-written band.

A village factory, a century and three generations old, without trade press: its source is a regional magazine. This atlas keeps it because it rolls, and has since 1909.

Range Depth

• Virginia

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Mild

  The slim cigar, the house's mark — it smells of the Bavarian Forest, the owner says.

• Toccata Torpedo

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Medium

  The largest size, whose band is hand-written.