Darkness and light. For us cigar smokers, it’s more than just about a fistful of Oreo cookies, yin-yang symbols, and cliche Star Wars lines. In the world of boutique cigars, top-tier tobacco is, and always will be, the primary ingredient, and due to this fact, cigars are categorized as either having a “natural” or a “maduro” outer wrapper.

However, options within these broadly drawn labels abound, as a quick stroll into a walk-in humidor will surely illustrate. Shapes, sizes, and construction methods may be fun, but color, yes, color is where the eye finds what it seeks. 

Ruddy reds, freshly pressed khakis, burly browns, lush light greens, and carbon black ochres all entice. And guess what? Every shade you see falls into either a maduro or a natural category, with a massive amount of the brown and auburn-colored blends being the latter of the two. Yep. Even that reddish-brown sun-grown stogie staring up at you qualifies, so unless you see the word "maduro" on that shelf talker somewhere, it's a natural.

Here at Klaro, we believe that experiencing a cigar for the first time will always lead to discovering another, and that understanding what makes premium cigar blends a reality is vital to becoming a more informed consumer. This is precisely why today we will be elaborating upon the determining factors that make a natural cigar possible. Let's get to it, shall we?

Understanding the Many Shades of the Natural Cigar Wrapper

Being that the wrapper is the outermost layer of a cigar, it is arguably the most crucial component. Appearance, texture, taste, aroma, elasticity, consistency, and more must all be considered if a cigar wrapper is to make the cut.

For natural cigar wrapper options, these leaves undergo the same level of scrutiny as their darker maduro brethren, with quality control being the name of the game. Every natural tobacco leaf is carefully screened during cultivation, aging, fermentation, and the production prep process. Since natural wrappers tend to be lighter in color, a keen eye for blemishes and excessive color variations from leaf to leaf must be implemented, as these will all be far more notable.

While a natural wrapper does impart much of the flavor and aroma encountered within a premium cigar, the type of taste detected does vary greatly depending upon the seed-strain, as well as the shade or hue of the wrapper itself. Remember, natural cigars can range anywhere from a Claro to a greenish Double Claro Candela, all the way to the robust, mahogany-like Colorado Rosado. 

And while color does not always constitute strength or flavor potency, it can create a specific style of cigar flavor profile. For instance, the aforementioned Colorado Rosado wrapper is known for having a nice little spice kick, which is often reinforced by subtle layers of earthy undertones, leather, and, in certain instances, herb tea-like tastes.

On the other end, lighter natural cigar wrappers tend to be creamy, hay-like, grassy, doughy, or graham cracker forward, with browner variants often offering nuttier, maltier, tannin-rich undertones. All of these flavors are further enhanced (or mellowed) by the strength of the filler and binder used within the cigar. So don't expect that lighter-looking cigar to be the mildest smoke on the shelf, because internal ingredients matter a whole hell of a lot when it comes to cigar flavor, body, and strength.

Klaro's Best-Selling Natural Cigars

Plasencia "Reserva Original"

La Aurora "1903 Cameroon"

AVO "Classic No. 2"

Diesel Cigars "Whiskey Row"

Oscar Valladares "Island Jim Connecticut No. 2"

Heritage Happens

Tobacco is no different than any other form of profitable cash crop with a lengthy lineage. Once discovered all those centuries back, the seed from the tobacco plant has been sown, harvested, hoarded, bred, cross-bred, and even genetically modified to produce a particular product.

Like most other lifeforms on this planet, tobacco is genetically predisposed to grow a particular way and pack a certain number of attributes. Although there is no getting around its nicotine content (the same can be said for caffeine in coffee beans), there are some notable variations in the types of tobacco leaves produced by a particular seed strain. 

Certain strains of tobacco are destined to be of a lighter shade based purely upon the genetics that were passed down to them from the previous plant. Consistency, quality, and resiliency are all paramount factors to consider when choosing which tobacco seed to plant, and natural wrappers are no different.

Tobacco Commonly Used to Create Natural Cigar Wrappers 

Over the decades, master blenders have relied upon the seed from the list of tobacco below to produce one natural cigar type after another. This has, in turn, caused many of the world’s top natural cigar wrappers to be named after the areas in which they are cultivated, with Connecticut Shade being the most notable. Due to the popularity of this tobacco’s pristine appearance and diverse cigar flavor profile options, Connecticut Shade has become synonymous with natural cigars. 

However, this light khaki-colored wrapper leaf varietal isn't the only option, with the following five strains being some of the most common natural cigar wrappers.

• Connecticut Shade- A hybrid strain resulting from combining Connecticut Broadleaf and Sumatran seed strains with Cuban tobacco. Lightest in color and mildest tasting of all cigar wrappers, Connecticut Shade is the gold standard for natural wrappers.
• Corojo- Typically reddish-brown in color and notably thicker in texture, this strain is known for its spicier attributes, zesty citrus notes, and balanced tea tastes. While it can either be sun-grown or shade-grown, and is occasionally reserved for darker maduro corojo cigar blends, Corojo tends to be fermented for shorter periods in order to be used as a natural wrapper.
• Criollo- A brown-looking wrapper that focuses more upon light-to-medium soil attributes, brown sugars, loamy soil, medium spice, and a neutral nuttiness.  Typically a tad on the oily side, this Cuban-seed strain is often sun-grown and fermented for lengthier periods for a smoother smoke.
• Habano- Cuban seed that has made its way to other countries. Peppery, earthy, and rich, this robust wrapper packs potency in spades no matter where it is grown.
• Cameroon- A delicate shade-grown leaf that is native to the West African country that gives the leaf its name. This distinctly nutty-tasting and smelling wrapper often contains wood tannin notes and subtle baking spices. Appearances tend to be a bit darker than Connecticut Shade, but are typically lighter than habano, criollo, and corojo. 

Tobacco Nerd Note: Due to all of the additional care that must be taken during the production of delicate shade-grown tobacco, this form of cigar tends to be more expensive than many sun-grown alternatives. All of those canopy shades cost money, as does the labor that goes into setting them up and maintaining them throughout the tobacco growing season.

Growing Environment & Natural Cigar Wrapper Tobacco

Now, we must mention that all too often, people get fooled by the word "Connecticut" and presume that the wrapper was grown in the United States. Today, more than half of all of the world’s Connecticut Shade is grown outside of the United States, and there’s a really good reason for that.

Where tobacco is grown in the world plays a hefty hand in what kind of cigar wrapper is produced, and in a place like Connecticut, where the growing season is much shorter, limitations are in abundant supply. 

This is why many cigar manufacturers have taken this northern United States seed varietal and given it a new purpose in Central and South America, as well as in the surrounding islands. Longer growing seasons, higher humidity, the addition of volcanic ash and soil, and close proximity to the aging, fermentation, and rolling factories where the tobacco leaves are transformed into cigars all make for a superior natural Connecticut cigar wrapper.

The same can be said for other, non-Connecticut seed strains. Like any plant, tobacco tends to grow extremely well in environments where it is happiest, and reducing the amount of direct sun that the plant receives results in a silkier, stretchier wrapper. This explains why shade-grown versions of even stronger, spicier seed strains have become so commonplace.

Tobacco tends to toughen up and darken when left to grow directly in the sun, much like the epidermis of the human body. Direct sun exposure is where all of those full-flavored, darkly hued cigars are formed, while their lighter claro cousins sit comfortably in the shade. Just remember that both can still be labeled as a natural cigar leaf; it's just that one is going to look, smell, taste, and feel a lot more robust than the other.

But billowing sheets of nylon and cheesecloth are not the only deciding factor in the quality of a natural cigar wrapper. Way up in the Andes mountains, in the tobacco-growing regions of Ecuador, Mother Nature provides her own organic canopy. 

Here, sunlight is routinely obstructed by wispy volcanic ash, rolling blankets of fog and mist, and heavy cloud coverage. It is here that some of the world’s best "cloud-grown" tobacco is sewn, most of which rarely requires a canopied tent.

Tobacco Nerd Note: Speaking of sunlight, let’s not forget the fact that the top sections of the tobacco plant always get the most rays. Even though the upper ligero leaves can still make for a really good natural wrapper leaf, the shaded foliage toward the center of the plant (viso and seco) is where the lightest natural cigar wrapper tobacco is formed. 

Factoring in Fermentation 

Temperature and time can also greatly influence how a natural cigar develops its coloration, or lack thereof. As with any form of foliage, the aging of tobacco leaves causes the chlorophyll within the vegetation to turn brown as it decays. Lighter, shade-grown variants become tan or khaki in color, whereas sun-grown natural wrappers often end up either a brown or reddish color.

However, the drying of the tobacco, or "curing" as it is commonly called, is just the first of many production stages following harvesting. This drying process only imparts a certain amount of color and flavor intensity to the cigar wrapper itself. It is the act of fermentation that really removes a lot of the impurities and naturally occurring chemicals from the leaf, and kicks the sugars and oils within tobacco leaves into overdrive.

For natural cigar wrappers, though, there’s a fine line between not enough and entirely too much. As opposed to oily, ultra-dark maduro cigar tobacco, which can see allotments of fermentation time spanning a few years to a decade or more, natural cigar wrapper leaves are exposed to limited fermenting times.

Fermentation is what allows all of the oils, resins, and sugars to break down and form a far more complex and smoother cigar-smoking sensation, and rounder, more balanced tasting notes. It also removes unpleasant toxins and impurities, mellows the nicotine, and provides a softer texture to the leaf itself. 

In order to produce natural cigars, one must take care to make sure that the tobacco leaves do not darken too much during the curing and fermentation processes. This explains the need for shorter fermentation time frames, more frequent bale rotations, and fewer layers of leaves per bale, or “pilón” as they are commonly called in the tobacco biz.

Less pressure and fewer leaves per pilón typically translate to milder fermentation, a less intense smoking experience, and a much lower chance of leaf damage. The latter of these considerations is a pretty big deal for natural cigar wrapper production, as this type of tobacco tends to be far more fragile than maduro tobacco, especially when it is a shade-grown varietal.

Tobacco Nerd Note: Although a lighter natural cigar wrapper can be associated with a mild cigar smoking experience, looks can be deceiving. Cigar strength is often derived from what is underneath the wrapper leaf, as the potency of the blend determines the intensity of the smoking experience. This is why familiarity with which kinds of tobacco leaves produce a particular taste, level of strength, or combustion quality is so important to a master blender. 

Parting Puffs

No matter what part of the world it hails from, natural wrappers bring a multitude of options to the average cigar novice and seasoned smoker alike. From a light tan Claro to a greenish, chlorophyll-rich Double Claro, all the way to the robust, reddish-brown Rosado (aka Colorado Claro), the natural cigar has it all.

Everything from the super mild Sobremesa Brûlée from Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, to the medium-bodied Tres Compadres by Kristoff Cigars, and onward to the full-force Alec Bradley Prensado, natural cigar wrappers offer an expansive amount of smoking experiences.

Looking to learn a bit more about natural cigars or natural cigar wrapper tobacco? We suggest that you cut and torch as wide a variety of natural cigars as you can to determine what suits you best. Klaro's monthly curated cigar subscription is here to help you explore, as we continue to provide amateur cigar puffers and veteran stogie smokers alike with the world’s best premium cigar blends, all delivered to your doorstep.