Cigar Wrapper Types and Colors

If you only learn one thing about cigars, learn the wrapper. It's the leaf you see on the shelf and the first one your lips touch, and it burns around the outside for the whole smoke. Two cigars with the same filler and binder can taste like different cigars once you change the wrapper.

The trouble is that cigar bands use two kinds of words for wrappers, and people mix them up. Some words describe color. Others describe the type of leaf, meaning the seed and where it was grown. A wrapper can be both, like a Connecticut broadleaf maduro.

Color first

Wrapper color comes from how long the leaf was cured and fermented, and from how much sun it saw in the field. Color describes how the leaf looks. It doesn't tell you how strong the cigar is, because most of a cigar's strength comes from the filler. A dark maduro can smoke mild, and a pale Connecticut can be surprisingly full. Darker wrappers do often taste a little sweeter, since longer fermentation brings out natural sugars, but treat that as a tendency, not a rule. From light to dark, these are the names you'll see.

• Candela. Green. The leaf is dried quickly with heat so it keeps its chlorophyll. It tastes grassy and a little sweet. You won't see many of them, but they make a fun curiosity.
• Claro. Light tan, usually shade-grown. Often smooth and creamy.
• Colorado claro and Colorado. Reddish brown, often with cedar and spice. Rosado is a similar reddish shade you'll see on Habano and Corojo wrappers.
• Maduro. Dark brown. Fermented longer and at higher heat, which brings out natural sugars. Think cocoa and molasses.
• Oscuro. Nearly black, from the longest fermentation. Often rich and earthy.

Maduro is a process, not a plant. Several different leaves can be turned into a maduro wrapper, and each one tastes a little different. "Natural" on a band usually means the leaf was left at its lighter, unfermented-to-dark shade.

The leaves you'll see most

Connecticut shade

Grown in the Connecticut River Valley under big cloth tents that filter the sun. The leaf comes out thin and smooth. It gives a mild, creamy, sometimes nutty smoke, and it's the classic choice for a morning cigar or a first cigar.

Ecuador Connecticut

Connecticut seed grown in Ecuador, where the cloud cover is so steady that it shades the plants naturally. Today you'll see far more Ecuador Connecticut wrappers than ones grown in Connecticut. They taste a lot like the original, mild and creamy, sometimes with a little more pepper.

Connecticut broadleaf

Same valley, very different leaf. Broadleaf grows in full sun, so it comes out thick and veiny. That makes it a poor natural wrapper and a great maduro. Most of the dark, sweet, chocolate-leaning maduros in a Tulsa humidor are wrapped in broadleaf.

Habano

Grown from Cuban seed, mostly in Nicaragua and Ecuador these days. Habano wrappers are often reddish brown and oily, with spice and cedar. If a tobacconist hands you a medium to full cigar with a little pepper on the lips, there's a good chance it's a Habano.

Corojo and Criollo

Two old Cuban varieties. Corojo was the great Cuban wrapper leaf for much of the 1900s, and you'll find it today mostly from Honduras and Nicaragua. It brings spice and a strong, earthy backbone. Criollo was traditionally a filler and binder leaf, and it shows up as a wrapper with a warm, bready, slightly sweet character.

Sumatra

Originally from Indonesia, but most Sumatra wrapper now grows in Ecuador from Sumatra seed. It's a little darker than Connecticut, with a gentle sweetness and some spice. It's a good middle ground if Connecticut feels too quiet and Habano feels too loud.

Cameroon

Grown in Central Africa. Cameroon is thin and fragile, with a bumpy, "toothy" surface. It's prized for a sweet, slightly spicy, almost floral flavor. Blenders use it when they want something elegant and medium-bodied.

San Andrés

Grown in the San Andrés Valley in Mexico, usually finished as a dark maduro or oscuro. It tastes earthier and drier than broadleaf, with dark chocolate and coffee rather than candy sweetness.

How to use this at the counter

Start with what you already know you like. If your coffee has cream in it, try a Connecticut or Ecuador Connecticut. If you drink it black and like dark chocolate, try a broadleaf or San Andrés maduro. If you like a little pepper in your food, try a Habano or Corojo.

The best lesson costs about the price of a couple of drinks. Buy two cigars from the same line that come in different wrappers, which plenty of brands make, and smoke them a few days apart. You'll learn more about wrappers from that than from any chart, including this one.

For more on how the wrapper fits with the rest of the cigar, see our anatomy of a cigar. Then ask for a side-by-side at one of Tulsa's cigar shops.