The Maduro Wrapper and the Maduro Shade - what is the difference?

[JohnS]

I've wanted to build a reference thread in regards to the difference between maduro shade wrappers and the maduro wrapper process for a little while now, as I believe the terms can be a little confusing for the average cigar smoker. The main difference between these terms is in understanding that one of these is a reference to the colour or shade of the wrapper, the other represents the process undertaken to develop a wrapper for specific brands such as the Cohiba Maduro 5 series and the Partagas Maduro No.1.

Wrappers come from shade-grown plants, with the lightest shades coming from the bottom of the plant and the darkest shades coming for the top of the plant as it gets the most sun. In order these are; Claro, Colorado Claro, Colorado, Colorado Maduro and Maduro. These distinctions describe the shading of the wrappers

Maduro wrappers utilised in the Cohiba Maduro 5 series (released in 2007) come for the very top of these shade-grown plants, with extra aging (5 years) and fermentation required. These result in an added 'sweetness' 'to the flavour of the blend.

The Partagas Maduro No.1 was released in 2015. Habanos S.A described this cigar as follows, 'The Partagas Maduro No.1 offers the smoker all the flavour and intensity of Partagas, with a very special wrapper, selected from the best leaves harvested from the top levels of the “ Shade-Grown ” tobacco plant and which has developed, after an additional period of fermentation, a texture and intense color that are the ideal complements to the full flavour blend of Maduro No.1'.

And so, maduro wrappers in this sense differ from the shading reference above due to the process undertaken to produce these wrappers, which require extra aging and fermentation.

What about Limited Edition cigars? Do these utilise maduro-shaded wrappers or technically-speaking, are they maduro-processed wrappers? The wrappers on the cigars are described thusly, 'Limited Edition wrappers are darker than those found on standard Habanos. Darker wrappers come from the leaves picked from the higher levels on shade-grown tobacco plants, which are thicker. Such leaves demand longer periods for fermentation and ageing so they are left in bales for at least two years before the cigars are made.' In my opinion, these are maduro-shaded wrappers that are a little sweeter than normal, helping to influence the common 'chocolate-y' flavour of Limited Edition cigars.

(N.B. Information from this thread has been sourced from Habanos.com)

[kalibratecuba]

Thanks, John! Knowledge is power.

I also think there is a need to discuss the fact that a darker, maduro, leaf does not necessarily correlate with a "stronger" cigar.

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[Luca]

Thanks, John! Knowledge is power.

I also think there is a need to discuss the fact that a darker, maduro, leaf does not necessarily correlate with a "stronger" cigar.

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Yes. A common misconception with some people.

I was one of them until I tried a couple of different darker maduro cigars and realised that the wrapper leaf has nothing to do with the strength or body of a cigar.

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[Professor Twain]

Rob did an experiment and posted about it some years ago where he removed wrappers from various cigars and exchanged them to assess the impact of the wrapper on overall flavor. As I recall he estimated that it had a small difference, maybe 10%. I don't recall whether maduro wrappers were in the mix, seem to remember they were.

[JohnS]

3 minutes ago, Professor Twain said:

Rob did an experiment and posted about it some years ago where he removed wrappers from various cigars and exchanged them to assess the impact of the wrapper on overall flavor. As I recall he estimated that it had a small difference, maybe 10%. I don't recall whether maduro wrappers were in the mix, seem to remember they were.

I remember that thread as it gets referenced every so often. Here it is below...

 

[westg]

Brilliant John...even this morning I was wondering  reading RA's offerings .

Thanks mate 

[madandana]

Thanks John for taking the time to write this. Good info.

[BellevilleMXZ]

Great post thanks!!

[torrenfoot]

Great post John!

Are darker wrapper cigars considered to be higher quality, or does it come down to personal preference?


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[luv2fly]

Good stuff John, as always!  Thanks for the writeup!

[JohnS]

1 minute ago, torrenfoot said:

Great post John!

Are darker wrapper cigars considered to be higher quality, or does it come down to personal preference?

I genuinely believe the shade of wrapper comes down to both personal preference influenced by taste and experience. I also believe that certain wrapper shades go better with certain cigar blends. For example, the Ramon Allones Specially Selected, I would prefer with a Colorado Maduro darker wrapper, yet the Montecristo No.2 I'd prefer with Colorado/Colorado Claro lighter wrappers.

I think Habanos S.A markets the darker wrapper leaves from shade-grown tobacco plants as being better quality, but I can reassure you that you can get quality flavours from cigars with light wrappers. Below is some further reading on the matter...

 

[torrenfoot]

You're ever helpful@JohnS .. thanks mate!!


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[SCgarman]

Many say there are about 67 shades of wrapper color. Myself prefer the RASS with lighter wrappers versus the more Maduro ones. Just not a dark wrapper fan. It is mostly psychological, but cigars must be visually appealing to the eye, not just taste buds and smell.

[dgixxer252525]

I have often wondered about how the wrapper effects overall flavor...thanks for posting the links!

[vladdraq]

i didn't see any Cohiba Maduros lately, are they still making them?

[NSXCIGAR]

1 hour ago, vladdraq said:

i didn't see any Cohiba Maduros lately, are they still making them?

They are still in production and should be widely available. Rob just put some Magicos up last week I believe.

[NSXCIGAR]

7 hours ago, kalibratecuba said:

I also think there is a need to discuss the fact that a darker, maduro, leaf does not necessarily correlate with a "stronger" cigar.

This is true, but there is also confusion between the color maduro and maduro leaf. Dark wrappers may be classified as "maduro" in color but may not be the "mature" leaves from the top of the plant. True "maduro" leaves are typically darker but the color is actually irrelevant. Non-maduro wrappers can be darker than true "maduro" wrappers. 

And of course, HSA has it's own criteria for its "maduro" wrappers used in the PM1 and CM5 which is that they must undergo additional fermentation. This appears to be distinct from the process that HSA uses for its EL wrappers which is an additional aging of 2 years in bales. 

Whether true maduro wrappers result in a "stronger" flavor is obviously unknown, and how much of the wrapper flavor of Cuba's maduro wrappers is due to the aging and additional fermentation is impossible to know.

[vladdraq]

11 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

They are still in production and should be widely available. Rob just put some Magicos up last week I believe.

ok, thanks. This year i didn't see them at all in Cuba, last year they were everywhere that's why i was kinda wondering what's going on.

 

[JohnS]

1 hour ago, vladdraq said:

i didn't see any Cohiba Maduros lately, are they still making them?

 

30 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

They are still in production and should be widely available. Rob just put some Magicos up last week I believe.

Yes, @NSXCIGAR is right, they have been available lately in good quality, in fact, 10 count Magicos were up on yesterday's 24:24. Also, in the latest inFOH Edition e-mailed to members, El Pres mentions 2 maduro cigars in his current Top 5 cigars for August 2017...

4. Cohiba Genios - TOS OCT 16 - Some of the best thin, dark, silky, oily Maduro wrappers you will ever see.

5. Cohiba Magicos - AMO NOV 16 - I never thought I would see the day when two Maduro 5 cigars would be in my top 5. Well-deserved in August.

I remember asking El Pres, about a year ago, what was preferential in regards to wrapper shade for the El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme. His answer, well, let's just say it was like the famous account of Jesus' reply to whether taxes should be paid to Caesar, "It's not so much the wrapper shade as the silkiness of the wrapper and sheen on it" I was smiling at how simply profound his reply was.

[kalibratecuba]

This is true, but there is also confusion between the color maduro and maduro leaf. Dark wrappers may be classified as "maduro" in color but may not be the "mature" leaves from the top of the plant. True "maduro" leaves are typically darker but the color is actually irrelevant. Non-maduro wrappers can be darker than true "maduro" wrappers. 
And of course, HSA has it's own criteria for its "maduro" wrappers used in the PM1 and CM5 which is that they must undergo additional fermentation. This appears to be distinct from the process that HSA uses for its EL wrappers which is an additional aging of 2 years in bales. 
Whether true maduro wrappers result in a "stronger" flavor is obviously unknown, and how much of the wrapper flavor of Cuba's maduro wrappers is due to the aging and additional fermentation is impossible to know.

Totally agree!

This topic reminds me of other common misunderstandings when discussing cigars. I just had a conversation where full flavor and full body were used interchangeably. And, yes, he was talking about a cigar identified as being maduro.

Typically, I prefer to smoke alone.

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[HeadInTheClouds]

37 minutes ago, JohnS said:

 

Yes, @NSXCIGAR is right, they have been available lately in good quality, in fact, 10 count Magicos were up on yesterday's 24:24. Also, in the latest inFOH Edition e-mailed to members, El Pres mentions 2 maduro cigars in his current Top 5 cigars for August 2017...

4. Cohiba Genios - TOS OCT 16 - Some of the best thin, dark, silky, oily Maduro wrappers you will ever see.

5. Cohiba Magicos - AMO NOV 16 - I never thought I would see the day when two Maduro 5 cigars would be in my top 5. Well-deserved in August.

I remember asking El Pres, about a year ago, what was preferential in regards to wrapper shade for the El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme. His answer, well, let's just say it was like the famous account of Jesus' reply to whether taxes should be paid to Caesar, "It's not so much the wrapper shade as the silkiness of the wrapper and sheen on it" I was smiling at how simply profound his reply was.

This makes me happy to hear because I managed to get a 10 box of the magicos yesterday, as well as a 25 box of secretos two weeks ago. 

[canadianbeaver]

Great topic. Thanks guys. I agree that dark colour is typical of maduro of course, but darker, rich colour in non-maduro is so positive and appealing too. 

In non-Cuban marketing, cigars sold as maduro can be just wierd. The colours are not found in nature and make me appreciate the few Cuban maduros more.

No disrespect if you love these.

CB

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, canadianbeaver said:

The colours are not found in nature and make me appreciate the few Cuban maduros more.

NC manufacturers for many years utilized dyeing techniques to actually darken wrappers. This was actually more common than one would guess and was quite widespread until only a few decades ago and I believe some small manufacturers still do it to this day.

I would say those Ashtons would probably be classified as "oscuro" in color.

[canadianbeaver]

10 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

NC manufacturers for many years utilized dyeing techniques to actually darken wrappers. This was actually more common than one would guess and was quite widespread until only a few decades ago and I believe some small manufacturers still do it to this day.

I would say those Ashtons would probably be classified as "oscuro" in color.

Oscuro perhaps, and appreciate your knowledge. Comes up when I search Maduro cigar images, along with tons of dark, dark Padrons.

Not my business, just commenting that this is to dye for, not farming.

()

CB

[joeypots]

I thought that madurai wrapper was a product of fermentation. Wrapper leaf is bundled and allowed to ferment or age and then gets warm as a natural effect of fermentation. This is in contrast to other tobacco which is stored but pains are taken to prevent the leaf from getting warm. The heat makes the leaf very dark and the effect can be add a sweetness to the flavor of the cigar. Are Cuban madros, which I don't think were available until the Cohiba series, different than those of other cigars producing areas?Comments are appreciated.