| With Patrice Hirschfeld: | | | | Curing Wrappers |
| Does A Dark Wrapper Mean A Strong Cigar? | | | | Once properly picked, wrapper leaves are hung up |
| Maybe you have heard that the darker the wrapper, | | | | the same day in a curing barn for drying. Draining out |
| the stronger the cigar. This is both true and not true. | | | | the huge quantity of water contained in the green |
| Let me explain! It is true if the two cigars you | | | | material can be complicated. The process has to be |
| compare are made from the same blend, have the | | | | neither too slow, nor too fast. The barn is checked |
| same binder, and their wrapper has the same origin. | | | | several times every day and ventilation is adjusted |
| You may know that going from the bottom to the | | | | according to the humidity inside the barn and the |
| top of a tobacco plant, leaves become darker in | | | | outside weather conditions. If necessary, heaters are |
| color and stronger in taste. But things are not just | | | | used to help the drainage. |
| that simple, and this is another example. If you | | | | Cigar Wrapper Characteristics |
| compare a slim panatela and a Churchill, both with the | | | | To be acceptable as wrapper, tobacco leaves must |
| same components and exactly the same wrapper, I | | | | be clean, evenly colored, shiny, elastic, solid but thin, |
| bet you will find the slim panatela stronger than the | | | | with veins drowned into the parenchyma, large and |
| Churchill. It is not true when the two cigars have | | | | without holes. And last but not least, they must burn |
| different blends and binders, or the two wrappers | | | | properly, giving ashes as white as possible. Easy, you |
| are not of the same origin. For example, rolled on the | | | | think? No, it's a headache to grow and process |
| same bunch, a light brown, Cuban seed wrapper will | | | | wrapper leaves! It's difficult to imagine how many |
| be stronger than an oily, dark brown, Cameroon | | | | people have sweated before you finally smoke your |
| wrapper. If you like mild or medium cigars don't be | | | | premium cigar. |
| afraid of Maduros: these black wrappers are generally | | | | Is An Open Air Or Shade Grown Wrapper Better? |
| mild and sometimes sweet, compared with some | | | | Traditionally, tobacco grows in open air fields. |
| brown ones. | | | | Wrapper tobacco is a fragile material. At the end, it |
| Growing Wrapper Leaf. | | | | has to be perfect. Strong direct sun radiation can |
| A wrapper grower has a dream : to get perfect | | | | deteriorate the result. To avoid the risk, fields can be |
| leaves to produce a Premium Wrapper. As soon as | | | | covered with cloths fixed on poles, providing an |
| he starts the operation, the dream becomes a | | | | artificial shade. This process, together with irrigation, |
| nightmare: weather conditions, insects, fungus, | | | | allows to grower to keep the growing conditions |
| viruses, and all kinds of parasites are here, ready to | | | | under control. In some equatorial countries, thanks to |
| destroy his hopes. From the time he starts setting | | | | a naturally cloudy sky, this expensive equipment is |
| the seed beds until the moment he picks the last | | | | not necessary. |
| leaf, it is a permanent struggle. | | | | |