The color of your cigar can often give you an idea of what the cigar may taste like. Generally speaking, the darker the tobacco wrapper the stonger the flavors will be. But that is not always a safe asumption. There could be a light colored wrapper, but a stronger selection of filler tobacco or a darker wrapper with a lighter blend of filler tobacco. To really find out what the cigar is like, read our reviews and ask your local tobacconist. As you continue your journey with cigars, you will start to notice different subtlies that are found in the different types of tobaccos, the different sizes, and of couse the different colors of the wrapper.
The darker tobacco leafs are typically due to the amount of time the tobacco leafs have spent on the tobacco plant. Allowing the leafs more time on the tobacco plant leaves more time in the “elements” most notably the sun. To compensate, the tobacco leaves create more oil to protect themselves from those elements.
There are a vareity of colors that cigars can be, but a normal cigar will fall into 8 different colors and is always based on the color of the wrapper. Along with the colors, there are several different wrapper types, each carrying distinctive, shapes, textures, and qualities.
DOUBLE CLARO (also called Candela or American Market Select)- green to greenish brown. The color is achieved by picking the leaf before it reaches maturity, and then drying it rapidly. Very mild, almost bland with very little oil.
CLARO – light tan. Usually this is the color of shade grown tobacco. Connecticut Shade wrappers are said to be some of the finest in the world. Shade grown tobacco is grown under large canopies to protect the tobacco from harsh sunlight. Neutral flavor and smooth smoking.
COLORADO CLARO – mid-brown, tawny. (For example, brands such as Dominican Partagas or Fuentes, using Camaroon wrappers.)
COLORADO – reddish dark brown, aromatic. A cigar with this wrapper tastes robust and rich.
COLORADO MADURO – dark brown, medium strength, slightly more aromatic the maduro. Usually gives a rich flavor, as found in many of the best Honduran cigars.
MADURO – dark brown to very dark brown. These usually have more texture and veining than the lighter wrappers. They are often described as oily looking, with stronger taste – sweet to some palates with a unique aroma.
OSCURO – very dark brown or almost black. They are the strongest tasting of all wrappers. These wrappers tend to be from Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, or Connecticut Broadleaf.
The darker the color, the sweeter and stronger the flavor is likely to be, and the greater the oil and sugar content of the wrapper. Darker wrappers will normally have spent longer on the tobacco plant. or come from higher altitudes: the extra exposure to sunlight produces both oil (as protection) and sugar (through photosynthesis). They will also have been fermented for longer.
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