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Piano Guy's FAQ Table of ContentsFAQ and cigar primerThis is the page from which you should be able to find answers to all of your basic questions and concerns about cigars. There are some very good FAQs already in place around the Internet, and some of them are listed here:
I will say that there are some isolated bits of misinformation in Cigar International’s link, so don’t go and microwave all of your cigars to rid them of beetles just because you read it on the web. If you can’t figure out if something is too far-fetched or not, ask me and I’ll do my best to give you a straight answer. To start things off, I wrote about cigar wrappers. If you would like to read about the different colors of wrappers and what they might tell you about the strength and flavor characteristics of the smoke, please check this out: I am also working on creating a glossary of cigar-related terms. All the words in italics throughout my articles will be found in the glossary eventually. When it is somewhat complete, it will be posted here.Back to TopAll about wrapper leafThere are many aspects to cigar wrappers. The color is the most obvious, but there are many other characteristics that can tell you a lot about the cigar, such as an oily sheen, bloom/plume, texture, and even strength. Then there are other issues like mold and beetles, but I’ll write about those problems elsewhere. As the sun shines on tobacco leaves, they basically get a ‘tan’. The lighter the color of the cured tobacco, the less sun it received, and generally the opposite is true as well. The flipside is that the darker the leaf, the more concentrated the tars and nicotine (and flavor). We’ll see later that maduro/oscuro wrappers are the exception.All about wrapper leaf
Back to TopCandela/Jade/Claro Claro (or Double Claro)/AMS (Green)This wrapper type is very easy to pick out, as it is green. The wrapper is generally a thin leaf that has been flue-cured (artificially heated) to seal in the chlorophyll. It is considered to be the mildest wrapper, and people have described it as having a sweet (if not slightly grassy or even papery) flavor. It is referred to as AMS (American Market Selection) since candela cigars were the smoke of choice in the US (and nowhere else!) from the 1800s through to about the 1960s. Since this wrapper is so mild, the filler and binder tobaccos are generally very mild as well so the wrapper’s flavor can still be tasted. Currently available candela cigars include: Astral Candela – 6.5x44 Bering - Plaza, Corona Grande, Casino CI Candela – Robusto, Toro, Churchill Flor de Oliva Candela – 5x50, 6x50, 6.5x52 Torpedo, 7x50 Hoyo de Monterrey – Governor JR Alternative to Macanudo – Devon, Rothschild JR Ultimate - No. 5, Toro, and CoronaBack to WrappersBack to TopClaro - (Light Tan)This is generally a shade-grown wrapper, and is often designated as such in the name (e.g. Connecticut Shade wrapper). All of the wrappers between the claro and colorado maduro categories have generally been picked when fully matured, then dried, baled, and cured naturally in large open barns. A high-quality claro wrapper often exhibits a very smooth, silky surface with very few bumps, thin veins, and an oily sheen. The flavor of this light-yellowish brown tobacco is very neutral, so the filler and binder are often toned down to not mask the subtleties of the wrapper. Currently available claro cigars include: Ashton (Regular line, Cabinet Selection) Avo (Classic, Domaine, XO Series) Don Diego (Regular line) Dunhill Dominican (Blue label)Macanudo GoldMontecristo (Original blend) Por Larrañaga (old Dominican blend – blue sub-band) Romeo y Julieta Reserva RealBack to WrappersBack to TopNatural - (Light Brown)Simply put, this is a slightly darker version of the claro wrapper above. Various sources use the ‘natural’ moniker as being synonymous with claro or with colorado claro (EMS). This is a very large category that refers to shade-grown wrappers that range from very light brown to a medium brown that isn’t dark enough to have any reddish hue, and thus is a bit lighter than EMS. This often includes Indonesian and Ecuadorian shade wrappers. Currently available cigars with natural wrappers include:A. Fuente (Regular line) Bauza CAO Gold Excalibur by Hoyo de Monterrey H. Upmann (Regular line) Macanudo Café Romeo y Julieta (Regular line) Back to WrappersBack to TopEMS - (Medium Brown)This slightly reddish, medium-brown shade of wrapper is often associated with cigars with tons of flavor and a little added strength. Some tobacco strains that are associated with this EMS (English Market Selection) designation include Cameroon, and some Sumatran and lighter Ecuadorian sungrown wrappers. With that said, many other wrapper leaves fall into this category, depending on the priming and the length of the curing process.Currently available EMS cigars include: (with Cameroon wrappers) A. Fuente Don Carlos Series A. Fuente Hemingway Series Astral Cameroon CAO Cameroon Casamontez (by Perdomo) Cohiba (Red Dot) Don Tomas Cameroon Collection Excalibur 1066 Flor de Oliva Grand Cameroon Henry Clay H2000 H. Upmann 160th Anniversary Selection H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon Indian Tabac Cameroon Legend Licenciados Cameroon Montecristo Serie V/VI/VII Partagas (Regular line, Serie S, Limited Reserve) Perdomo² Cameroon Toraño 1916 Cameroon (other EMS Cigars) Bolivar El Rey del Mundo H. Upmann Special Selection La Gloria Cubana Montecristo Platinum Por Larrañaga (new Honduran blend, no sub-band) TTT Trinidad Back to WrappersBack to TopColorado Maduro - (Reddish Medium - Dark Brown)This is a wrapper that often gets confused with maduro wrappers because they can become quite dark. The difference boils down to the way that the leaf is cured. The way that colorado maduro wrapper leaf is made is in the same way as the claro. The leaves are from higher primings (3rd or 4th) than the lighter wrappers, and are often sungrown instead of shade grown.A few wrapper varietals that typically fall into this category include Ecuadorian Sumatra Sungrown, Corojo, and proprietary strains such as Habana2000™ and La Vega Especial (found on Ramon Allones cigars). This category contains some of the most potent, full-bodied cigars out there, so be sure you know what you’re getting yourself into before trying these! Currently available colorado maduro cigars include: Ashton VSG Bolivar Fuerte El Rico Habano Flor de A. Allones Fuente Fuente Opus X H. Upmann Reserve Oliva ‘O’ Bold Punch Rare Corojo Punch Gran Puro Ramon AllonesBack to WrappersBack to TopMaduro/SMS (Dark Brown)Some smokers prefer a very dark wrapper on their cigars for their sweet, fuller-bodied character. The Spanish have always liked these, thus the designation SMS (Spanish Market Selection).As I insinuated earlier, there is a significant difference between maduro/oscuro wrappers and colorado maduro and other lighter-colored wrappers. This is because it takes higher fermentation temperatures and a longer time to case and cure these thicker wrappers to achieve this dark maduro color. Some manufacturers try to cheat by ‘cooking’ or dying the wrappers, but their final results are sub-par. One problem with ‘working’ the leaf so much is that a lot of the flavor can be lost during this process. As a result, these ‘overworked’ leaves can still be used to complement a milder cigar. In other words, don’t be scared off of a particular cigar because it is so dark that you think it might be too strong for you. There are not very many species of tobacco that can withstand this process, but some that can include Mexican Sumatra, Connecticut Broadleaf, and Habana2000™, as well as Brazilian and Costa Rican leaf. For more information, please check out the following site: JR. Cigars - Maduro Currently available maduro cigars include: Ashton Aged Maduro Avo Maduro CAO Brazilia CAO Maduro Diamond Crown Maduro El Rey del Mundo Maduro Flor de Oliva Grand Maduro Henry Clay Maduro JR Ultimate Maduro Oliva ‘O’ MaduroMacanudo Maduro Padron (Regular line, 1964 Anniversary, 1926) Partagas (Regular line Maduro, Black) Perdomo (Estate Seleccion, Perdomo²) Punch Maduro Romeo y Julieta Reserve Maduro Back to WrappersBack to TopOscuro/Maduro maduro/Double maduro/Negro (Black)The term oscuro refers to an extremely dark-brown to black wrapper. There are very few truly oscuro cigars on the market. They are created in the same way as maduro cigars, and oscuro only refers to this exceptionally dark color. This means that the same leaves and characteristics are found here as in the maduro line-up above. Currently available oscuro cigars include: Bolivar Fuerte Sun Ripened Oscuro El Rey del Mundo (Robusto series) Hoyo de Monterrey Double Maduro JR Ultimate Oscuro Onyx (all lines) Punch Maduro Maduro Sancho Panza Double MaduroBack to WrappersBack to TopOther shade and strains of wrapper leafThere is much more information about wrappers out there, from the origins of Habana2000™ and the re-introduction of Corojo, to the rise in popularity of Criollo and renewed interest in candela and rosado wrappers. To read more on some of these topics as well as a few others, check out the following link: Cigar International - Cigar101 Back to WrappersBack to TopPiano Guy
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