A Cigar Wrapper Can Make or Break a Great Cigar

A cigar wrapper is a piece de resistance of any great cigar. It does a lot more than hold a cigar together. It helps to define the flavor and overall experience of smoking a great cigar. When you are diving in and purchasing your next cigars box, you want to have a least a working knowledge of cigar wrappers.

Forgive us for waxing poetically about the importance of a cigar wrapper, but we believe it’s critical to inform and engage you with the hope you might (small plug) take the plunge and give us some of your business with a purchase. But, regardless, we hope this deep dive into cigar wrappers gives you deep insight.

Six Critical Issues about Cigar Wrappers and their Impact on your Cigar’s Quality 

Your Cigar Wrapper should be paired with the right filter and binder. You have to holistically think about all of the ingredients that go into a great cigar, not just the wrapper by itself. The filler and the binders should be from the same seed variety and foliage level – if these are well matched, then the wrapper will impact the overall taste of the cigar, assuming the filler and binders are of good quality. Think about the correlation between the wrapper and the filling and binder – these are critical.

Suppose you pair an Ecuadorian wrapper (usually mild and neutral) with a filler and binder that are Ligero (usually found at the top of a tobacco plant). In that case, the wrapper is not going to be the source of flavor. But for a cigar with leaves from the bottom of the plant combined with a robust Ligero wrapper, the wrapper will define the overall taste of the cigar, not filler and binder. Just remember the relationship between the filler, binder, and the wrappers – it’s essential.

A Great Cigar is like Real Estate – The Location of the Plant Defines the Taste

The location of the plant and weather are critical to defining the quality of the cigar wrapper. In the wine business, most aficionados will tell you the terroir (the soil and environment) has a considerable impact on the quality of the wine. This is true when you are assessing the quality of a cigar wrapper. The same seed stock planted in a different location will impact the taste of your cigar differently. Just ask any wine connoisseur if he or she likes California or the French wine and stand back.

When cigar tobacco is grown (anywhere in the world), the soil’s composition has a significant impact on the leaf. Usually, mineral-rich soil (high in potassium, iron, and magnesium) will get a plant with a much richer flavor that is robust and aromatic.

If you dig into (no pun intended) into PH balance, that will also tell you something about the plant’s quality. If you do your research, note a PH balance of 5.0 to 6.5 helps create a plant that will better assimilate minerals and nutrients and give you a richer flavor.

Weather and the geographical location of where the plant is grown will impact the cigar wrapper flavor – too much rain or drought dissipates the health of the plant, giving you a radical difference in the quality of the plant’s health and taste.

The seed stock of a plant is another important variable and contributor to flavor. Again, like wine, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Many think a wrapper from seed stock in Ecuador is lighter in flavor and milder and should be paired with the right filler and binder that does not overpower it.

But, some cigar smokers think and Ecuadorian wrapper (seed stock) is too acidic in taste and prefer a Habana type of wrapper, which is more robust and fuller-bodied in taste. Wrappers from Indonesia usually have a somewhat wooden flavor (originating in the curing process in a barn). Others prefer a Dominican wrapper, with an inherently spicier flavor that is more complex.

Ring Gauges Have a Huge Impact on Your Cigar’s Flavor Origins

The ring gauge of your cigar wrapper has a significant impact on the flavor. Most good quality cigars have three primary components that define the taste of the cigar: you have filler leaves (the blend), the binder (about 50% of the leaf), and a wrapper (almost always half of a leaf).

In most cases, a cigar with small rings will generate more flavor from the wrapper than a thick cigar. Ring gauges very dramatically, generally from the mid-’30s to up to 60, with a small cigar-like Panatela with a ring meter in the 30-35 range and a much bigger cigar Presidente with 52-60 ring gauges.

Bigger cigars usually have a higher number of fillers competing for the overall taste, contrasted with a smaller ring cigar, which has much less filling. And the shape of your cigar is also essential, and it too impacts flavor.

When you are smoking a smaller perfecto cigar at first, you are tasting the wrapper itself and not much of the fillers. As you enjoy more of the cigar and get into the center, you’re smoking much more of the fillers and experiencing the entire blend’s taste.

A Great Cigar Wrapper should be stored appropriately, Fermented and Processed

The method in which a cigar company processes their tobacco and wrappers defines the complex blend of flavor characteristics that make a great cigar. When you are doing your research, realize the curing process is essential – a wrapper is made by heating a barn or shed with high temperatures, which determines how green the tobacco is. If your stick has a green or grassy taste, the tobacco was probably not cured properly (processing time equals more costs), giving you not a great experience.

Fermentation helps remove some of the acidic characteristics, nitrogen, and ammonia from the cigar wrapper; once these impurities are removed in fermentation, the cigar burns evenly and adequately. If the manufacturer scrimps on fermentation during production, you will get a cigar with higher levels of impurities, and it’s not going to taste as good.

Conversely, if the manufacturer over ferments (it’s a delicate process), your cigar wrapper will lose essential oils that help produce an excellent aromatic experience; much of the tobacco’s natural strength is lost in the process, and the leaf does not look as glossy.

Again, like a great wine, the wrapper bales’ aging is critical, making the tobacco combust appropriately and improving the overall taste. If the wrapper is not appropriately aged, it’s not going to taste as good, giving you a taste of raw, greener tobacco that is not optimum for most cigar smokers.

A Properly Stored Cigar will Always Improve Your Experience 

Most aficionados will tell you to store a cigar in a low humidity environment with a 70-degree temperature and 68% humidity. You are investing when you buy cigars, a high-quality humidor for storage helps you protect your investment. Five critical issues for best cigar storage:

High humidity produces fungus (film coating), which, even when wiped off, negates flavor.

A cigar high in Ligero in the blend should be stored at slightly lower humidity.

Too low humidity is not good: essential oils can be lost.

If the cigar is stored with conditions that are too dry, you will lose flavor characteristics.

Terrible storage conditions can only negate your cigar’s flavor, but they can also raise the quality (slightly) of a cigar that was not fermented or appropriately aged.

A Great Cigar is the Sum of Many Parts Including the Cigar Wrapper 

There is so much that goes into a great cigar. As we said at the outset, an excellent cigar wrapper can make or break a cigar. But, where the plant was grown, actual seed-stock origin, the number of ring gauges, the quality of fermentation, and the storage all help to define your experience.

You need to understand and appreciate how wrappers impact the smoke and the flavor experience for great taste and occasion. We hope this post was helpful and informative.