Non-peppery Ligero / Maduro wrapper?

[micfil01]

Hi,

I've been smoking cigars and pipes for years, but I'm new to this DIY approach. I bought some wrappers and fillers (one type each of ligero, viso, and seco) and have rolled and smoked a few to get a feel for the different tastes (some single-leaf and some with mixed filler). So far I've been reasonably happy with the taste (about 6/10 for most samples). but the one thing that stands out to me is the Criollo 98 Ligero I bought is fairly peppery. I've never liked peppery cigars, but I do like full-bodied cigars, so I'm looking for a recommendation for a replacement Ligero that is not peppery but is fairly strong (hopefully the two attributes are uncorrelated). I'd be willing to buy some of the remaining stock from WLT, but since it's getting out of the cigar tobacco business, if someone can point me at an alternative elsewhere I'll be OK doing that as well.

A second perhaps-related question - I've always been a big fan of maduro cigars, so I'm also looking for a good maduro wrapper. I bought some of the short 2nds maduro wrappers still available at WLT, but they're quite small and about 1/3 of them have small holes in them (not complaining, I knew what I was getting when I bought 2nds), so I also need a recommendation for a good maduro wrapper alternative. I don't see any other wrappers at WLT or LO that are explicitly titled as a maduro, so what am I missing here? I know that maduro is just extended fermentation, but I don't know if any dark wrapper is considered a maduro, or if there is a certain point of fermentation that qualifies as maduro.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help me out here. I've always been a DIY kind of guy, so I'm excited about being able to roll my own cigars (and make my own pipe tobacco, eventually), but a little bummed that WLT is getting out of the business. Irrespective, I'll keep at this until I get to a flavor profile I'm happy with.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum, @micfil01. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. You may wish to scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, linked in the menu bar.

I'll answer one question. Maduro is the color of the leaf. Typically, primings from higher up the stalk are more likely to produce maduro leaf. It is not determined by fermentation duration.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Probably an unpopular opinion, but I firmly believe that the wrapper contributes almost nothing to the flavor of the cigar. It's just there to make the cigar look pretty and help seal the draw. It's paper thin, and maybe 5% of the total mass. The flavor comes from the fill and binder blend. Wrapper color is just an artificial color code the cigar industry created to guide their customers to different flavor profiles.

 

[micfil01]

Thanks for the info here, guys, this is helpful. I think this makes my job harder, since I now need to find binder/filler that is in line with the flavor I like, which I have (erroneously, apparently) been associating with the wrapper flavor/color. I know that there is a major flavor difference between a traditional "Connecticut wrapper" cigar and a traditional "Maduro" cigar, should I just be looking at wrappers/binders/fillers that are dark, or is there a better way to approach this? I'm OK buying some sampler packs of various flavors to get it dialed in, but need some help on the general direction.

 

[deluxestogie]

This may or may not be helpful. I have all sorts of leaf (from dozens of varieties and priming levels). When I roll a cigar, I just look for a half-leaf that is functionally intact for a wrapper. Ditto for a binder (usually matching a thin wrapper with a thicker binder, or the opposite). Then I grab some lighter colored leaf, some dark colored leaf, and some in between. Since I prefer cigars that won't reach "full-bodied", I typically use ratios like 50% light (seco), 30% darker (viso), and 20% very dark (ligero). Every one of my home-rolled cigars is different. I find that to be part of the joy.

Bob

 

[micfil01]

Thanks, that is helpful. I'll buy some samplers of various types of dark leaves at different priming levels and see what I think of them individually and together.

A related question - cigars with a Corojo wrapper seem to be in a different "category" (i.e. they're generally advertised as a category separate from "maduro"); is there anything special/different about them or should I just consider them part of the maduro/dark-leaf family?

 

[deluxestogie]

Ignore the marketeering. Corojo (various numbered generations) are tobacco varieties. Maduro is the color designation of any dark-colored, finished leaf.

Bob

 

[micfil01]

Thanks a lot with the help on this topic, Bob, I appreciate it.