Wrappers and their effect on taste

[Andreas]

Hello FoH 

Since I am fairly new to cigars I have wondered how the wrappers of others marques than Montecristo and RyJ affect the taste of the cigar. 
For example, what does an oily and dark wrapper bring to a Bolivar or what does a great wrapper bring to a Hoyo? 
How do you identify a great wrapper across the different marques and how does that wrapper affect the taste across those marques? 

Btw this is my first post on the forum so please let me know if this has already been covered in a previous post. 
I appreciate all of your inputs. Thanks 😃

[cigaraholic]

You’ve got about 5 years of wrapper reading on this forum to catch-up on👻 I suppose most of us here have our dream wrapper for every brand we smoke....and sometimes dreams change. Probably the most common thing we all share is oil, you can’t have enough. Cigars that look like they’ve just been dipped in 20w50 are a wet dream. As for shade, we all have personal preferences. For me I like the shade of the wrapper to match the body of the cigar. So the heavier the cigar the darker the wrapper. And I want the color to really be intense, not dull or dusty. Of course we all have stories of cigars that looked like shit and smoked like heaven. Unfortunately the easiest way to spot a good wrapper is the most expensive, put the cigar in your mouth and taste it. When you put a cigar in your mouth and it’s so tasty you don’t have to light it, that’s a great wrapper. Something that used to be common place last century, but with the new tobacco strains it’s a rare experience these days. The best research is done with a lit cigar, enjoy the ride!

[Andreas]

@cigaraholic Thanks a lot for the great response! 
Makes total sense with the shade of the wrapper "follows" the body of the cigar in terms of quality. 
I will do some more research by personally examining going forward 😉

Do you feel like there is some cigars that benefit more from a great wrapper? For example like Monte and RyJ. 

[Fuzz]

Don't forget to post an introduction here.

[cigaraholic]

 I’m greedy, I want beautiful wrappers on all my cigars 👻  We’ve been lucky to be on a good run of exceptionally high quality tobacco the last few years, you’ll be happy you found this place!  Unfortunately the last couple of years cigar prices have gone through Jupiter😰😰😰

For me, taking the 2 brands you mentioned, I like rosado wrappers on RyJ. Not because my last name is Rose, it seems to give that cherry flavor I love. Last century I preferred Monte’s with a dark chocolate wrapper, this century the best regular production  Monte’s I’ve smoked have been a light milk chocolate. I don’t get that hung up about wrapper shades, I’m just glad to be doing my patriotic duty to destroy Castro’s tobacco as quickly as I can🔥

[garbandz]

after 50 years of enjoying cigars, I find that weak, pale wrappers are to be avoided.

Mottled wrappers can be excellent, very dark wrappers can be hard to burn, or can be dyed .

Shiny or "oily " wrappers will usually have more and stronger aromas, and add a lot to the enjoyment.

Light khaki colored wrappers can be excellent or awful, depending on the care given during curing.

Size does not influence me as far as a desired wrapper color, a non issue.

  

[BrightonCorgi]

Part of the wrapper preference per different marcas are just ocular.  A different shade may smoke better blind and we don't care.  I love any cigar in a rosado wrapper.  Do rosado wrappers have a better flavor?  Probably not, but they look beautiful.

[El Presidente]

Quality wrapper rules. 

The thinner the guage the more impact it has. 

Take a Maduro 5 magicos wrapper and put it on a CORO. Take the CORO wrapper and put it on the Maduro 5. 

The original Magicos  transforms into a CORO. The original CORO transforms into a Magicos

This is an extreme example but true. It is a great experiment for those at home. Many of you are DIY'ers. Find a P2 in Rosado and change it over with a colorado maduro Monte 2. Make up some pectin glue, grab a sharp knife and you are good to go. 

[Chas.Alpha]

Easier example: Take 2 cigars for the same box, remove one of the wrappers and write your review... 😳

[SCgarman]

Call me crazy but I have a '15 box of RASS that I would like to rid of because the wrappers are ultra dark. For myself dark wrappers literally change the taste profile of a cigar like the RASS. I realize most of this is more psychological than reality, but hey us guys are visual creatures. If it appears ugly in your eyes, that is already a huge disadvantage even before taste profile kicks in.

[MrBirdman]

You’ll no doubt get some good advice here and in older threads, as there are definitely some hard and fast rules (avoid anything sandpapery or leathery/thick). Beyond that, and as usual with this hobby, you’ll only really learn what you like through experience. 

[rascalmonkey]

sometimes darker wrappers need more aging

sometimes really light wrappers taste like poison

let's see.... what else do i know after 18 yrs of smoking one habano a day? not much more

[GoodStix]

15 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

us guys are visual creatures. If it appears ugly in your eyes, that is already a huge disadvantage even before taste profile kicks in

hey no fat shaming 😉

[havanaclub]

I have noticed in my experience that the darker the wrapper, especially with oil, the more fireproof it becomes. Sometimes age helps them burn, sometimes not. I think 16-17 went through some dark fireproof wrappers. Especially 2017.


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[BrightonCorgi]

44 minutes ago, havanaclub said:

I have noticed in my experience that the darker the wrapper, especially with oil, the more fireproof it becomes.

The EL wrappers are often like this.  Especially on Partagas.

[KCCubano]

8 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

The EL wrappers are often like this.  Especially on Partagas.

Have had a few like that. Hoyo Regalos come to mind. Thickest wrappers I have ever seen. 

[SmokyFontaine]

I've never had a poorly constructed cigar became good because of the wrapper, nor have I had a well constructed cigar turn bad because of the wrapper. The combination of good and good can make for great, but I'm in the minority camp that the impact of the wrapper is closer to "bro science' than it is objectively more impactful than the higher amount of filler. Would love to smoke one "great" wrapper then follow it up with a bad one on back to back days. But for now, I mostly light them on fire and hope they aren't badly underfilled.

[rcarlson]

I've found mottled wrapper the best indicator 70% of the time rather than shade.

I take that back. . . aroma when you first open the box is the best indicator every time for me.   

[Dimmers]

Oh reminds me of the crazy science experiment thread many moons ago where you guys switched wrappers on sticks. Some very interesting results!

[SCgarman]

I had two boxes of MUR12 RASS. One box was great, colorado wrappers. Other box was a 180. Dark wrappers that were literally fireproof and wouldn't burn. You would have to constantly re-light the cigar several times as the wrappers seemed to be made of fire retardant material. I still have a few of these sticks left, have no desire to smoke them. 

[Connoisseur Kim]

On 4/14/2022 at 9:56 AM, havanaclub said:

I have noticed in my experience that the darker the wrapper, especially with oil, the more fireproof it becomes. Sometimes age helps them burn, sometimes not. I think 16-17 went through some dark fireproof wrappers. Especially 2017.

I also had the exact same experience with Partagas Series 1 EL 17 in the past. Its wrapper was typical dark as nightish EL Colorado Maduro and asbestos grade burnproof that made me extremely mad, since it was an extremely tedious chore with constant relighting 😵. Since then, I prefer CCs with Colorado Claro-Colorado wrappers even more.

[SCgarman]

On 4/15/2022 at 12:54 AM, Connoisseur Kim said:

I also had the exact same experience with Partagas Series 1 EL 17 in the past. Its wrapper was typical dark as nightish EL Colorado Maduro and asbestos grade burnproof that made me extremely mad, since it was an extremely tedious chore with constant relighting 😵. Since then, I prefer CCs with Colorado Claro-Colorado wrappers even more.

I agree with you on wrapper shade preference. Dark wrappers seem to alter the characteristic taste profile of certain cigars. And I simply just don't like dark wrappers.

[Connoisseur Kim]

14 hours ago, SCgarman said:

I agree with you on wrapper shade preference. Dark wrappers seem to alter the characteristic taste profile of certain cigars. And I simply just don't like dark wrappers.

Absolutely @SCgarman! CCs with darker wrappers tend to have different flavor profile compare to CCs with lighter wrappers. I'm also more satisifed with CCs with lighter wrappers, since CCs with darker wrappers like Cohiba Madruo 5 mostly have too sweet toothish aroma (between Connie A and Genios, I strongly prefer Connie A over Genios).

[jakebarnes]

On 4/14/2022 at 11:54 PM, Connoisseur Kim said:

I also had the exact same experience with Partagas Series 1 EL 17 in the past. Its wrapper was typical dark as nightish EL Colorado Maduro and asbestos grade burnproof that made me extremely mad, since it was an extremely tedious chore with constant relighting 😵. Since then, I prefer CCs with Colorado Claro-Colorado wrappers even more.

Oof. This brings me back to the Monte D. That thing resented fire. 

[teamrandr]

I personally haven't noticed a ton of difference on flavor if the RG is above 42.  The burn does seem to be effected by the shade. Though it seems the binder may indeed be the culprit there.  My two cents: the wrapper is more a visual aspect.  It can contribute to the overall experience more than the overall flavor.