Maduro Cigars

[Orion21]

I'm a big fan of Robusto Joe's online cigar magazine and today I got a link to a facinating article he wrote about how Maduro cigars are produced and specifically goes into great detail about how NC cigar producers get those black black maduro wrappers.

If you ever wondered why that ABC Maduro cigar left black residue on your fingers or lips now you know why . . .

Here is the link Maduro Cigars

Text is below:

Questionable or acceptable?

“Cigar alchemy” (my own term), is the secret manipulation of the maduro wrapper. First let’s talk about the use of a catalyst. When extra fermentation alone doesn’t do the trick, a sugar solution can be used to “push” the fermentation to the next level. (A cigar maker inadvertently confirmed this to me.) To my palate, the use of sugar causes the wrapper to lose its subtle tobacco character. I sometimes find maduro cigars to be less flavorful than their “natural” counterpart. Yet some maduro cigars have tremendous flavor. To achieve this, many well-established cigar makers take the process even further. This is where the waters get a bit murky.

Ever smoke a maduro and find the flavors to be herbal, in a way that no natural cigar has ever been? If so, chances are the cigar has been treated with betume (or bethune). That’s when a solution is applied to the wrapper to add flavor as well as to darken its color. Each cigar maker has its own recipe for betume, the ingredients of which are a closely guarded secret. Many cigar makers do this, but will never admit it. (Again, this information was provided by an anonymous source.) Cigar making is like prestidigitation. Magicians will never reveal their tricks, and neither will the cigar industry. But if a cigar is black and extremely herbal, chances are slight-of-hand is at work. I, for one, have no problem with the use of betume. It adds a ton of flavor and character to a cigar. As long as the ingredients are natural, I have no objection.

"Evening the color" with tobacco juice is a common practice.

Is THIS cheating?

Lastly, we come to a real cigar no-no…coloring. During the cigar boom of the 1990s, some unscrupulous cigar makers had painted their cigars to simulate maduro. This not only resulted in cigars that tasted awful, but also left the smokers lips and fingers discolored. These days the practice is still in use, but not as a substitute for natural fermentation. For example, a coloring agent might be used to “even out” the color of a dark, but mottled wrapper. To my mind, as long as natural ingredients are used, i.e. tobacco juice, then, in theory, this is an acceptable cigar-making technique. But such coloring does have its drawback. If too much solution is used, stained fingers and lips will, indeed, result. This happened to me with a popular cigar brand. (To avoid controversy, the brand name will not be mentioned. But I’m sure other cigar smokers have had this experience.)

Rolling with treated wrappers is a messy job.

For what it’s worth…

I, for one, will stay away from black cigars. To me they look unnatural. But I have enjoyed many dark maduros that have delivered tremendous flavor. The use of betume can add a lot of character to a cigar, giving it a unique flavor profile. Variety is the spice of life, and having lots of cigar choices makes smoking that much better. I certainly understand the purist’s point of view. To them, the use of betume would be unacceptable. Certainly lovers of Cuban cigars would frown on such a practice. Of all the Cuban brands, there is only one maduro: the Cohiba Maduro 5. But the use of betume is actually a Cuban invention. Something practiced by Cuban cigar makers solely for their own personal gratification. But to those of us who appreciate the variety provided in the Non-Cuban cigar realm, maduro cigars offer a great alternative to the traditional Habano flavor.

As in magic, perhaps we should not look too closely at the trick. It is more fun to be awed by the outcome, rather than to question the process. And to look forward to what the great cigar makers of today will next pull out of their hats.

Thanks for listening,

Joe

[CaptainQuintero]

I'm pretty sure most NC maduros get their colour from team of people sitting in sheds with marker pens. Not good ones either like sharpie because the ink comes off.

Natural additive arguments are pretty broad, oil is a natural product but I don't want that on my cigar to give it extra flavour!

Had a gifted CAO brazilia a few days ago, within a few minutes I had brown stains all over my hands.

I'm happy with what Cuba has to offer. I can't enjoy a cigar that may have been painted or treated with flavourings or additives. May as well smoke cigarettes. It's a shame because there probably are a few NC cigars out there that I would enjoy but just as much as I won't eat a 'mystery meat' sarnie, I won't smoke a 'mystery ingredient' cigar.

A big issue is the whole *wink wink* 'we may add some things to some of our cigars and not others but we won't tell you what and which.' *wink wink* some some NC producers spout. People don't go off like that if they are adding something good to their product! I may miss out on a few good sticks but I'm genuinely more than happy with the selection that Cuba has to offer, and I don't have to run the risk that a few years down the line I find out that a NC cigar that I've been enjoying turns out to have been rolled in guano to give it a nice creamy finish. If that makes me a cigar snob then I'm a cigar snob but at least I know what I'm smoking!

[geneticdrifter]

Good post. Thanks.

[Squarehead]

I smoke a lot of Maduros but I never had one which was bleeding colour.

[ptrthgr8]

I've smoked a lot of maduro NCs in my time, too, and never experienced this problem. I've gravitated more towards CCs in the last year or so and gravitated away from maduros in general before that, but some of my favorite maduro NC smokes were any of the Chateau line by Fuente (Double Chateau was always a fave) and the La Gloria Cubana (the Miami folks - El Rico Habano facotry) Wavell or Corona Gorda. I generally prefer natural wrappers, but the maduros from those two factories always provide lots of cocoa and chocolate notes. Hmm... now I wonder if I have any buried in the back of my humidor. I'll have to check.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[Wil]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting!

[MIKA27]

I've been getting into a few NC's of late, mainly Camacho and they are magnificent.

I just ourchased a Triple Maduro sampler (8 x sticks in all) and these are BLACK. thus far, I have enjoyed 2 of these and have not found any staining on my fingers. Also, they taste great.

[markmurase]

Even the darkest of Cohiba Maduro 5 wrappers is no where near as black as some of the NC maduros. There must be something un-natural about those NC maduros, and any cigar that leaves dark stain on your fingers has got to be a worry.