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FOrum Blend Phase 2 - Wrapper Discussion
Alex_Svenson
Posts: 1,224 ✭✭✭
Okay, votes are wrapping up in a bit. It is safe to say that the forum blend will be medium, or medium to full but we will need to tally the votes. Below is a complete list of wrappers to choose from with some tasting notes for each. Note, that I am listing the primings available, where available. Seco, Viso and Ligero. For you green horns as a reminder, seco is the bottom of the plant and the middle leaves are viso and the upper leaves are ligero. As you work your way from the bottom leaves to the top, you pick up more flavor, more nicotine and more strength but you lose composition in some cases. Give you guys are looking for something medium or medium full (waiting on result from the vote), I would suggest staying away from anything seco. I would also recommend sating away from Connecticut or Indonesia for now. That is my only 2 cents I can offer based on where we are in the process. This is not a voting thread, simply a discussion thread. Voting thread will go live Tuesday. the wrapper will be a very important component of the blend as it will be responsible for setting pace. It contributes more than 50% of the flavor influence. If this were cooking, right now we would be deciding if we want to cook chicken, fish or steak. That is how important it is. Also note that as you get into ligero wrappers for habano seed, they are fermented to a full oscuro resembling what most cigar smokers identify as maduro.
Habano Brazil (Seco, Viso, Ligero) - rare wrapper only grown by one company and only sold to about 2 or 3 factories world wide. Used on cigars like san lotano habano and many of the Jesus Fuego blends. This cigar is a classic habano but very elegant. Not in your face. Notes of cedar yet balanced with spicy and some leathery notes.
Arapiraca - Found on CAO Black VR and Cigar.com Brazilian Label. Sweet maduro grown in brazil. Sugary qualities and an oily wrapper. Sweet with notes of wood and and a light peat and maple.
Mata Fina - Found on cigars like CAO Brazilia for example. Brazilian wrapper with a nice light sweetness but a core of chewy, leathery flavors and light spiciness.
Indonesia - Thin and somewhat blotchy wrapper. It is slightly sweet yet bitter also with a sharp finish. Found mainly on cheap cigars. IE Flor de Oliva.
Connecticut Ecuador - Found on Man O War Virtue and Davidoff. Beautiful yellow or orangish wrapper. Grown with proprietary Connecticut seed under the cloud cover of ecuador. Floral and brady notes with some cedar sweetness. Best with mild or mild to medium bodied blend.
Habano Ecuador (seco, viso, ligero)- the industry's most popular wrapper found on a slew of blends including tatuaje, man o war, Oliva Serie V and a host of others. Excellent color and uniformity. Classic cuban seed notes of spiciness balanced by sweet notes of woods and nut undertones. This is wrapper is very well balanced and when fermented properly provides a creamy yet thick smoke that coats the palate.
Sumatra Ecuador (seco, viso, ligero) - Sumatra seeds grown under Ecuadors famous cloud cover. The core elements of this leaf are leather tones and some sweetness balanced by just the right amount of spiciness. As a seco, it tends to be bitter but as an upper priming in harmoniously balances a complex bouquet of flavors displaying an impressive range. Some examples are Man O War Armada (ligero), La Herencia Cubana (visa), Ashton VSG and many more.
Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro - large leaves grown in Pennsylvania and cured over hickory fires. This leaf is as sweet as it is spicy with definable woody, hickory notes. Examples include Diesel Unholy Cocktail, Rocky Patel Winter Blend and 5 Vegas Gold Maduro.
Habano Copan Honduras (seco, visa, ligero) - also referred to as "La Entrada", this is a particularly unique wrapper that has become popular in the past 24 months. Grown by Oliva Tampa one of Honduras' oldest growing regions, this wrapper has all the elegance of Habano Ecuador yet teams with flavor and complexity as well as strength. Examples include Diesel Unlimited and Man O War Puro Authentico.
Jalapa Habano (seco, visa, ligero) - Nicaraguas northern most growing region, its red soils and shade growing produce a very sweet habano seed leaf that is thin for ideal combustion and shows notes of cedar and hints of red pepper. Also available in limited quantities of sun grown for an even richer experience. Examples include Padron natural, gran habano corojo, cuba libre one, cu avana intensus and many others. Nicaraguas most popular wrapper growing region.
Esteli Sun Grown Habano (seco, viso, ligero) - this wrapper has a very, very small yield. So small in fact that I can't name a single cigar on the market that uses it on account on how limited it is. Esteli is known for growing nicaraguas most robust fillers, every year, 1 to 2% of the crop is over wrapper grade and could be used as wrapper. A forum blend with this would be the first blend I know if in the industry actively using Esteli Sun Grown.
San Andres maduro - found on cigars like Padron Maduro, Nica Libre and Liga Privada Under Crown, this wrapper is very popular among maduro fans but its appearance is not the rich, espresso brown most maduros may present. Grown in Mexico from proprietary seeds planted in San Andres for nearly 150 years, this wrapper has excellent combustion with a pleasant sweetness and is ideal for medium bodied maduros which don't lake anything in flavor department.
Mexican Maroon- Steming from the same plant as the San Andres, these lower priming leaves take on more of a reddish hugh than its darker counterpart. The flavor is somewhat bitter yet carrys undertones of sweetness and spice. It is most noted for having a long and distinct, bitter finish.
Cameroon - Sumatra seeds planted in Africa and harvested by a network of small independent farmers, Cameroon wrapper can be found on a host of cigars including Cohiba Red Dot, Fuente and Partagas. Cameroon wrapper is toothy and oily yet very thin and delicate making if flavorful with ideal combustion. Most popular in the late 1990's, this wrapper today still remains a popular choice for master blenders, favored for its sweet cedary notes and long finish.
Dominican Criollo (seco, viso, ligero) - most coveted as a filler, there is a small wrapper yield of this tobacco making it somewhat limited. While it is not much to look at, it is a rich leaf with a distinct bitter spiciness that delivers in both flavor and body. Many cigars from Pinar del Rio as well as Vegas Relic use a wrapper such as this.
Habano Brazil (Seco, Viso, Ligero) - rare wrapper only grown by one company and only sold to about 2 or 3 factories world wide. Used on cigars like san lotano habano and many of the Jesus Fuego blends. This cigar is a classic habano but very elegant. Not in your face. Notes of cedar yet balanced with spicy and some leathery notes.
Arapiraca - Found on CAO Black VR and Cigar.com Brazilian Label. Sweet maduro grown in brazil. Sugary qualities and an oily wrapper. Sweet with notes of wood and and a light peat and maple.
Mata Fina - Found on cigars like CAO Brazilia for example. Brazilian wrapper with a nice light sweetness but a core of chewy, leathery flavors and light spiciness.
Indonesia - Thin and somewhat blotchy wrapper. It is slightly sweet yet bitter also with a sharp finish. Found mainly on cheap cigars. IE Flor de Oliva.
Connecticut Ecuador - Found on Man O War Virtue and Davidoff. Beautiful yellow or orangish wrapper. Grown with proprietary Connecticut seed under the cloud cover of ecuador. Floral and brady notes with some cedar sweetness. Best with mild or mild to medium bodied blend.
Habano Ecuador (seco, viso, ligero)- the industry's most popular wrapper found on a slew of blends including tatuaje, man o war, Oliva Serie V and a host of others. Excellent color and uniformity. Classic cuban seed notes of spiciness balanced by sweet notes of woods and nut undertones. This is wrapper is very well balanced and when fermented properly provides a creamy yet thick smoke that coats the palate.
Sumatra Ecuador (seco, viso, ligero) - Sumatra seeds grown under Ecuadors famous cloud cover. The core elements of this leaf are leather tones and some sweetness balanced by just the right amount of spiciness. As a seco, it tends to be bitter but as an upper priming in harmoniously balances a complex bouquet of flavors displaying an impressive range. Some examples are Man O War Armada (ligero), La Herencia Cubana (visa), Ashton VSG and many more.
Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro - large leaves grown in Pennsylvania and cured over hickory fires. This leaf is as sweet as it is spicy with definable woody, hickory notes. Examples include Diesel Unholy Cocktail, Rocky Patel Winter Blend and 5 Vegas Gold Maduro.
Habano Copan Honduras (seco, visa, ligero) - also referred to as "La Entrada", this is a particularly unique wrapper that has become popular in the past 24 months. Grown by Oliva Tampa one of Honduras' oldest growing regions, this wrapper has all the elegance of Habano Ecuador yet teams with flavor and complexity as well as strength. Examples include Diesel Unlimited and Man O War Puro Authentico.
Jalapa Habano (seco, visa, ligero) - Nicaraguas northern most growing region, its red soils and shade growing produce a very sweet habano seed leaf that is thin for ideal combustion and shows notes of cedar and hints of red pepper. Also available in limited quantities of sun grown for an even richer experience. Examples include Padron natural, gran habano corojo, cuba libre one, cu avana intensus and many others. Nicaraguas most popular wrapper growing region.
Esteli Sun Grown Habano (seco, viso, ligero) - this wrapper has a very, very small yield. So small in fact that I can't name a single cigar on the market that uses it on account on how limited it is. Esteli is known for growing nicaraguas most robust fillers, every year, 1 to 2% of the crop is over wrapper grade and could be used as wrapper. A forum blend with this would be the first blend I know if in the industry actively using Esteli Sun Grown.
San Andres maduro - found on cigars like Padron Maduro, Nica Libre and Liga Privada Under Crown, this wrapper is very popular among maduro fans but its appearance is not the rich, espresso brown most maduros may present. Grown in Mexico from proprietary seeds planted in San Andres for nearly 150 years, this wrapper has excellent combustion with a pleasant sweetness and is ideal for medium bodied maduros which don't lake anything in flavor department.
Mexican Maroon- Steming from the same plant as the San Andres, these lower priming leaves take on more of a reddish hugh than its darker counterpart. The flavor is somewhat bitter yet carrys undertones of sweetness and spice. It is most noted for having a long and distinct, bitter finish.
Cameroon - Sumatra seeds planted in Africa and harvested by a network of small independent farmers, Cameroon wrapper can be found on a host of cigars including Cohiba Red Dot, Fuente and Partagas. Cameroon wrapper is toothy and oily yet very thin and delicate making if flavorful with ideal combustion. Most popular in the late 1990's, this wrapper today still remains a popular choice for master blenders, favored for its sweet cedary notes and long finish.
Dominican Criollo (seco, viso, ligero) - most coveted as a filler, there is a small wrapper yield of this tobacco making it somewhat limited. While it is not much to look at, it is a rich leaf with a distinct bitter spiciness that delivers in both flavor and body. Many cigars from Pinar del Rio as well as Vegas Relic use a wrapper such as this.
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Comments
Though if we go maduro then San Andres hands down.
OK, you convinced me. Can I change my vote?
+10000! I'm thrilled to be a part of this, since it's my first time having a hand in helping decide the outcome of a stick of our beloved leaf.
and I think I'm inagreement with a few of you guys so far, habano Ecuador. It looks like it'd be neat to use a ligero wrapper for the above mentioned reasons.
I also like the idea of Esteli Sun Grown Habano, and maybe Dominican Criollo.
other vets can chime in but I personally recommend the Viso priming for the burn quality since some ligero wrappers don't burn as even, at least from what I understand. I also like the Habano Copan Honduras as I really enjoy the MOW PA. If there are two choices, I would go Habano and San Andres Maduro.
Esteli Sun Grown. If we're going to do our own thing, why not make it one of a kind?
And PM back to you Alex.