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

[BrightonCorgi]

There must a be point where the location of the wrapper leaf on the plant crosses with color of the wrapper.  I can't believe all wrappers of a certain color are from the same area of the plant?  Cigars are separated by color when boxing.  

Does that mean variance of color between that production indicates the wrapper was from different parts of the plant?

[NSXCIGAR]

4 hours ago, joeypots said:

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.

 

From what I can gather, true maduro wrapper must have the two characteristics of coming from the top of the plant and also undergoing a longer than normal fermentation process. I suppose the length of the fermentation process is subjective, but everything I can find regarding the definition of true maduro leaf indicates that it must have both of these characteristics. Many references also state that the fermentation is carried out at higher temperatures, but I don't believe this is a absolute requirement.

As far as the tobacco used for the Cuban maduros there's no evidence that the tobacco is special or comes from a particular area in Cuba, just that it's leaf from the top of the same plants used for natural wrapper and that undergo at least two years of additional fermentation in bales at unknown temperatures.

[LGC]

Why wasn't the Maduro wrapper present until after the lousy H2000 strain was introduced? How come a thin, Maduro wrapper can't be produced with the suppleness and combustion characteristics of the corojo? Most of the Maduro wrappers shares more physical similarity with the thick wrappers on Dominicans and Nics.

[JohnS]

6 hours ago, joeypots said:

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.

 

Cheers @joeypots! I must acknowledge you in motivating me to start this reference thread in regards to this question. I researched my print media, and did extensive searches on the internet, but alas I found the information was all the same (i.e. homogeneous). I feel that @NSXCIGAR statements on maduro production echo my findings.

In regards to the controversial subject of dyeing, I did come across an article where two Non-Cuban cigar manufacturers 'scoffed' at the practice, stating that the process of fermentation, i.e. controlling the decay of the wrapper for it to darken, is a prolonged and exacting process.

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

Why wasn't the Maduro wrapper present until after the lousy H2000 strain was introduced? How come a thin, Maduro wrapper can't be produced with the suppleness and combustion characteristics of the corojo? Most of the Maduro wrappers shares more physical similarity with the thick wrappers on Dominicans and Nics.

I was thinking along similiar lines in relation to the fact that Habanos S.A. only brought out maduro-wrappered cigars 10 years ago (i.e. the Cohiba Maduro 5 series). 

You bring up a good point @Brandon, wrappers are the most expensive part of a cigar to produce and I acknowledge that @El Presidente has discussed 'suppleness' in maduro wrappers in his write-ups for 24:24 listings, when the Cohiba Maduro 5 and/or Partagas Maduro No.1 have been listed. He has mentioned that when there has been a hiatus of quality offerings of these cigars, wrapper coarseness (or alternatively, lack of suppleness) has been a factor.

[LGC]

I have a conspiracy theory...

The H2000 strain was a complete failure. My first box, and last, of Monte #2s were total crap. You couldn't smoke one without using 1/2 tank of butane and scorching the $hit out of the cigar.

Instead of scraping the entire crop, they decided to cook the wrappers further in an attempt to salvage the leafs. Voila... we market this as the new EL line!! We all know people love cigars super dark, super oily looking, and wrapped head to toe in shiny bands. If it's new, it has to be good!!! They rolled the dice, and everyone took it hook, line, and sinker. Heck, I was even fooled into wasting bucks on the 2000-2002 ELs... until I learned my lesson.