![]() This black-as-night wrapper shade is achieved by leaving the leaves on the plant as long as possible, by using only the leaves from the top of the plant, and by fermenting them for an especially long time. A maduro wrapper lends significant flavor to a cigar: it tends to be mild in aroma, but to have robust, almost sweet flavor. For maduros, leaves are either toasted in a pressure chamber or fermented longer in above-average heat. Maduro means "mature" in Spanish, which refers to longer time needed to cure this color wrapper than wrappers that are lighter. ![]() This shade can vary from a deep reddish-brown to almost black. These wrappers are often shade grown.ĭarker than colorado, lighter than maduro. These cigars are medium-brown to brownish-red and full flavored, though soft and subtle in their aroma. Light reddish-brown often grown in direct sunlight, and given longer to mature before picking. Flavorwise, these wrappers have little to offer, and allow the flavors of the filler tobaccos to dominate the taste of the cigar. Years ago, this wrapper was tremendously popular in the United States, and it was a point of amusement for Europeans.Ī light tan color, most commonly achieved by growing in shade under cheesecloth tents, picking the plants early and air-drying the leaves. This wrapper is light green, a hue created by a quick-drying process using heat that locks in the green chlorophyll of the tobacco. Additionally, sunlight can play a factor: a wrapper grown in sunlight is typically darker than a shade-grown wrapper of an equivalent seed strain.įrom light to dark, the seven commonly used wrapper color descriptions are: Wrapper leaves vary in color due to the many methods for processing tobacco and the variety of tobacco strains used. ![]() A simple way to begin understanding the color designations is to remember that, just as the state of Colorado is in the middle of the United States, the color "colorado" comes in the center of the color range. Just as there are seven basic colors that make up the rainbow, there are seven basic color distinctions among wrappers, with an infinite number of shades between each color. Example: Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series Corona MaduroĬigar wrappers come in a wide array of colors, from the palest of greens and yellows to dark black. The traditional dimensions are 5 1/2 to 6 inches with a ring gauge of 42 to 44. This is the benchmark size against which all other sizes are measured. They may be either round or box-pressed, meaning that the sides of the cigar were pressed square prior to packing or, in some cases, by pressure in the box. Parejos are straight-sided cigars most have an open foot for lighting and need to be cut before smoking. Also important to note is that there is no consistency of strength from brand to brand: one company's corona is likely to taste very different from another's. While a cigar's strength is determined by the tobacco it is rolled with, thin cigars have a tendency to burn hotter than fatter ones. An 8-inch cigar made with mild tobaccos will be mellow, while a thin, short cigar rolled with powerful tobaccos will be full bodied. There is no correlation between the size of a cigar and its strength. A cigar with a 42 ring gauge, for example, is 42/64 of an inch in diameter. Cigars are measured by two factors: length, which is given in inches, and "ring gauge," a designation of a cigar's diameter broken into 64ths of an inch. Shapes & SizesĪ cigar shape can vary greatly in size from brand to brand, so describing a cigar by its size as well as shape is important. This primer will be continued over the course of the next several issues and will highlight a range of cigar topics, from shapes and colors to the proper cutting, lighting and storage for your smokes. But the cigar coverage in our pages piques their curiosity, and some of these new readers may become new smokers.įor these novice smokers, and for those who may not have yet discovered cigars, we offer Cigar 101, a crash course in the basics of cigar smoking. Many people read our magazine who may never have thought about smoking a cigar. Through our events, our website and sections such as "Cigar Adviser" in our magazine, we've tried to provide aficionados with opportunities to meet others who share their passion, and forums for providing you access to the best, most accurate cigar information possible.īut that's not enough. Between the Big Smokes across the nation and our Internet chat rooms, we've done our best to help foster a community of connoisseurs. One of the missions of Cigar Aficionado has always been to bring cigar lovers together.
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