Knowing about cigars

The appearance of the cigar will depend on its elaboration process, especially on the final part, where the color of the wrapper leaf is chosen. This will be of great incidence in the cigar’s final appearance. The wrapper’s range of tonalities is due to: the variety of seed and the methods used in the treatment of the tobacco leaf, time of sun exposure, place and height in the plant it belonged to, and the fermentation process it received.

An expert cigar taster will take into special consideration the wrapper’s color, because the expert knows that the color of the wrapper signals where the tobacco leaf came from. He will then focus on appreciating its taste, aroma, combustion, etc.
The neutrality in the wrapper’s taste is merely a factor in achieving the cigar’s full body and aroma. Achieving this, no doubt, depends on the essential composition and the specific combination of the tobacco in the filler.

In this way, it is the wrapper’s color that gives away the leaf’s place of origin.

Natural Light Tan

is a pale yellowish brown that reveals a shade grown cultivation under cheesecloth tents, and a recollection of leaves that haven’t been totally matured and have been air dried quickly. Thus, this color defines a pretty neutral taste.

Natural Light Tan leaf type

Yellowish light green

Is called Double Light Tan or “Candela“. It is also obtained through a fast drying process which uses artificial heat. This confers the “green” of the chlorophyll held back in this process. It is may also be called “Jade” or A.M.S., acronym for American Market Selection. They usually have a mild, rather sweet taste.

Yellowish light green leaf type


 

Reddish to dark browns

Has a generic denomination, “Colorado” or “Carmelita”. Nevertheless, there are great differences according to the process that the wrapper receives in different areas around the world.

Colorado ó "carmelita" leaf type

Mid Brown

Is a light reddish brown, consequence of being sun grown. Its most probable places of origin are Sumatra and Ecuador, but it might also come from Cameroon. It has a silky or shiny appearance and its taste is generally stronger than the taste of a cigar with a lighter colored wrapper.

The presence of pure red in the tobacco leaf signals that its origin is most probably in Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, or it is a Connecticut variety. Its oily reddish appearance is connected to the high concentration of oils in a shade grown leaf. It is tasteful and possesses a subtle aroma, therefore making it one of the most appreciated cigars in Europe. It is called E.M.S., after English Market Selection.
Between the reddish dark brown and the so-called darkest brown cigar, there is a brown colored leaf that takes the name of Dark Brown.

Mid brown leaf type

 

Darkest Brown

Uses a leaf whose fermentation process is longer and exposed to higher temperatures. According to the stages of this process and the place of origin, the color may turn out a shade between a dark reddish brown and black. The Darkest Brown leaves are usually thick, dark, with an oily shine, and the cigars that result from them have a strong, sweet taste, but with a subtle aroma.

Darkest brown leaf type
 

Black cigar

Uses a blackish leaf that comes from the crown, or highest place of the tobacco plant, and has been exposed to the sun for as long as possible. These wrappers are usually found in Brazil or Mexico. They contain a large amount of sugar due to their natural composition and the prolongation of the fermentation process.

Black leaf type