Wrappers A-Z: Cameroon

The Cameroon is my personal favorite non-Cuban wrapper, long regarded by many as the best wrapper leaf outside of Cuba. The Cameroon wrapper is originally from the Sumatran black tobacco plant and is a hard leaf to grow. Grown in Central Africa, the climate is so temperate that the plants are completely sun-grown, which is made even easier by semi-permanent cloud cover which helps keep uniformity in the leaf’s appearance. Cameroon wrappers have been used in a number of popular cigar brands for both premium hand-rolled cigars and machine-made cigars including Garcia y Vega, Arturo Fuente and different brands from General Cigar. Despite political problems and internal strife in Central Africa which causes many businesses to suffer, the cigar wrapper industry is thriving and continues to grow.

The leaf itself is also very small, thus many Cameroon-wrapped cigars are limited by size, no 60+ ring gauge Gordos here! It is popular for the variety of flavors present in the leaf. These flavors include notes of woodiness, slight spice and subtle sweetness which present themselves perfectly for blending in either a strong or milder smoke. Cameroon wrappers are generally a deep, rich brown in color, dark but not black. These types of cigar wrappers have become some of the trendiest on the planet, which has ideally positioned Cameroon tobacco producers for success in a global market.

Examples

• Arturo Fuente Hemingway Series
• Carlos Torano Exodus 1916
• Cusano 59′ Rare Cameroon
• H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon
• La Aurora Sublimes
• Nub Cameroon

Other Versions

• Cameroon Ligero – I’ve only seen this in one cigar, the La Flor Dominicana Cameroon Cabinet. Take the flavors listed above and amp up the spiciness and you get a familiar but different experience.
• Cameroon Maduro – just a darker version of the leaf, most likely sun grown; used in the Don Tomas Classico Maduro.
• Ecuadorian– I’ve read that the Cameroon leaf has been grown outside of Africa, in fact in Ecuador, but I have only found it on the Lucky 8 cigar by Puros de Armando Ramos.
• Sun Grown Cameroon – a misnomer, as all Cameroon plants are full sun-grown. But this description is used to describe the Don Tomas Cameroon.