I have to call out Craig.

[Kip]

So you guys think the wrapper carries the same as any other leaf in the cigar? That the ONLY thing that makes a wrapper special is aesthetic? Its appearance?

Why do blenders put so much emphasis on it? Why use any different primings/varietals than any other part of the cigar? It seems like they specifically aim for the most flavorful/potent/aromatic leaf as possible. Is it all marketing fluff? Should they just throw volado on 'em and protect the more expensive leaves inside?

Just a hillbilly, Tappin and a-Talkin

[IWinchester]

No, not ONLY aesthetics. Some great tasting wrappers are ugly as sin! I do think they're special, just not THAT special. I think it's a case-by-case thing. Some wrappers "make" the blend, others are chosen so as not to overpower the filler flavors. Marketing does play a big roll, too. As does the people making the cigars. I trust a lot if the boutiques that when they throw a different wrapper on a brand, it's gonna have a big impact. Specifically because those leaves are more flavorful. I guess my position is yeah, it's special, but not as special as marketing would have us believe in most cases.


Kid Corona

[Zedman05]

No, not ONLY aesthetics. Some great tasting wrappers are ugly as sin! I do think they're special, just not THAT special. I think it's a case-by-case thing. Some wrappers "make" the blend, others are chosen so as not to overpower the filler flavors. Marketing does play a big roll, too. As does the people making the cigars. I trust a lot if the boutiques that when they throw a different wrapper on a brand, it's gonna have a big impact. Specifically because those leaves are more flavorful. I guess my position is yeah, it's special, but not as special as marketing would have us believe in most cases.


Kid Corona

I pretty much agree. Look at Broadleaf for example. Ugly wrapper. I bet you though that Skip doesn't put his Camaroon on the outside because it is either too brittle, not of good enough quality to be wrapper, or it just makes for a tougher cigar as a wrapper. You can tell me the wrapper adds a bunch of flavor, and in some cases I will agree, but overall I don't think it adds as much as the filler.
Doing my own home rolling has actually helped me with my thoughts on this too as the wrapper leaf is never actually a whole half-leaf, because you have to cut it to produce a nice outside line. But you can get many whole leaves in a filler blend...then there is the strength factor....

Cigar F^iend

[Kip]

Even so, I still assert a heavier portion of a blend's characteristic flavor comes from the wrapper....simply because it is one leaf's input that makes the difference. That single leaf has the ability to steer a blend's character. One leaf of filler? Probably not. There might be some occasions where a single change within the filler matters - but I don't think it's the norm. The wrapper varietal must be chosen wisely, and of sufficient breeding to color the blend. There are precious few of the aforementioned volado leaves that would make a wrapper - even if they're beautiful. They don't have much to bring in terms of flavor. They're "filler." They stretch the blend. Kinda like TVP in the prison diet. It'll make 5lb of meat feed 75 guys. They still get a healthy dose of protein, but it ain't meat. It's just mild enough that the meat flavor can still show up within all that filler.

[Kip]

....you guys do realize I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here, right? I'm not particularly committed to either side of the fence...

[IWinchester]

All I know is I've been to jail, and that stuff is not meat...


Kid Corona

[Kip]

All I know is I've been to jail, and that stuff is not meat...

It's TVP, or Textured Vegetable Protein. It's an ugly gray goop that isn't very appetizing - but quite nutritious. And cheap. The State of Florida feeds inmates 3 meals per day for $1.93. Per day. You read that correctly. One dollar and ninety-three cents for THREE MEALS....

.

[Kenhorne21]

My point is the wrapper is the casing of the hot dog not a condiment. If you have a crappy casing the hot dog sucks. But if the casing is mint it's a great hot dog. I said that the wrapper is not a condiment. It completes the cigar.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stewmuse]

All right, boys, stop fussing, because you're all in agreement, really. Now, if you want to give yourself a definitive answer, on this or most any "truthful opinion" you may have about cigars or any other vocation or avocation, set up, as much as is possible, an objective case study or experiment.

For this instance, take 6 identical cigars. Give 5 to a friend who will remove a portion the wrapper from SOME number of them (not telling you how many, but at least one). Smoke about a third of the one cigar you kept and then smoke a portion of each of the remaining five blindfolded. By not knowing which do or don't have a wrapper, you should get an idea of how much influence the wrapper gives the cigar. If you can't get, let's say four out of five correct when you guess which cigars do or don't have the wrapper, then for THAT kind of cigar the wrapper probably doesn't add much. You could further this by trying the different sections of cigars the same way, but that's a serious time commitment!

As an aside, perhaps Craig's use of "condiment" is actually just a poor choice, since the AMOUNT of condiment also makes a big difference in the taste of a food. With wasabe, I've found that even a smallish amount (compared to, let's say, a thin stripe of mustard on a hot dog) can make my sushi go from outstanding to hellish in a flash. As 'Mater says in "Cars 2" when they are in Japan: "Don't eat the pistachio ice cream. It has turned!"

[Kip]

We did something similar at the Dogwatch herf in 2012. Blindfolded gents pretty well nailed when they were or weren't smoking the wrapper.

Just a hillbilly, Tappin and a-Talkin