“Maduro” is a Spanish adjective meaning “ripe”. By the loosest definition, a wrapper leaf is a maduro if it’s dark enough. Maduro is really a shade of tobacco, not a wrapper type. But it’s being used more and more as a wrapper type so I felt inclined to include it.
Maduros are generally thought of as either Broadleaf or of Brazilian origin. But take the Padron Natural and Maduro line for example and the only difference between the two is how long the leaves are exposed to the sun and the curing process. Maduros are usually stalk-cut instead of primed (layers of leaves at a time). The plants are cut at the base and allowed to wilt in the sun for a few hours to make them easier to handle. Quality Maduros are cured over a long period of time, often up to 5 years.
Due to the wrapper’s popularity, many have found shortcuts to getting a dark wrapper color. One method is painting the wrappers or dipping them in dye (I swear you can write on the wall with the head of a CAO MX2). Another is cooking the leaf using a device similar to a stovetop espresso coffee maker.
Maduro Versions
- Brazilian Maduro – see sections on Mata Fina or Arapiraca wrappers.
- Connecticut Broadleaf – see section on CBL.
- Costa Rican Maduro – very earthy, kind of like that weird flavor you get with a Mexican wrapper, but a little different. Try the Carlos Torano Reserva Selecta Maduro and the Bucanero Canon Cubano Maduro.
- Mexican Maduro – uses the San Andres Negro strain for this wrapper.
- Nicaraguan Maduro – My favorite maduro wrapper, the Nicaraguan version will more likely have more spice and earth than sweet, but the sweetness rounds and calms the strength and oomph of Nicaraguan tobacco. The best example is any Padron.
You really grossed me out about the “dye or painting “. Do you have a list of all cigars that have that ? I’d like to stay away from them. Good write up by the way. Thx
Padilla Obsidian is another Maduro which looks great at the next-best-thing-to-black shade, but soon reveals that it’s been dyed black. It’s not a tasty maduro as it is, but that’s another story.
Dying a wrapper is simply cheating.
@Robert
Often times wrapper leaf is “cooked” to create a darker wrapper, so that is also a possibility. I have also heard complaints here and there about various RPs in the past, notably the Edge Maduros. This is just one of those dirty little industry tricks of the trade that we can ignore or choose not to support (by not buying the product). Thanks for your comments!
Interesting about the painting. I haven’t noticed it with the MX2 (though I don’t doubt you on that point – it is unnaturally dark), but I did recently notice that my RP Olde World Reserve Maduro turned my lips and hands brown! At one point I licked the wrapper and touched it to see what would happen and had a significant coating of brown “paint” – for lack of a better word – on my hand. Can smoking that stuff be good for you? You’d think at the very least that it would negatively affect the taste in that the wrapper hasn’t had the time to ferment properly, correct? At any rate, I tossed it once I started getting painted by it! BTW, I hadn’t noticed this with RP OWRs in the past. Wonder if it’s a new time-saving measure for them?