Cigar Wrapper Colors
Cigar wrappers can be classified into seven basic colors, although there are dozens of possible shades:
- Double Claro (Also called AMS, American Market Selection, or Candela)
- Greenish brown (for instance, as in Macanudo "jade"). The color is achieved by picking the leaf before it reaches maturity and then drying it rapidly. Very mild, almost bland, with very little oil. Cigars with this color have traditionally been popular in the United States, but are very much less so today.
- Claro
- Pale brown, like milky coffee. (For example, Havana brands like H. Upmann, or brands usind Connecticut Shade wrappers). The classic mild cigar color. The color is also called "natural," as is Colorado Claro.
- Colorado Claro
- Mid-brown, tawny. (for example, brands such as Dominican Partagas, using Cameroon wrappers).
- Colorado Maduro
- Dark brown, medium strength, rather more aromatic than Maduro. Usually gives a rich flavor, as found in many of the best Honduran cigars.
- Maduro
- Very dark brown, like black coffee. (For example, fullbodied Havana brands such as Bolivar; cigars made with Mexican wrappers). A color for seasoned smokers. Sometimes thought of as the traditional Cuban color.
- Oscuro
- More or less black. Very strong with little bouquet. Wrappers of this colo, though once popular, are rarely produced today. These wrappers tend to be from Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, or the connecticut Broadleaf (as opposed to Shade) type.
The darker the color, the sweeter and stronger the flavor is likely to be, and the greater the oil and sugar content of the wrapper. Darker wrappers will normally have spent longer on the tobacco plant or will come from higher altitudes: the extra exposure to sunlight produces both oil (as protection) and sugar (through photosynthesis). They will also have been fermented for longer.
The trem EMS or English Market Selection is a broad one, which refers to brown cigars--anything other than Double Claro (AMS) essentially.