I have to call out Craig.

[kurtdesign1]

I'm my own meme! I love this!

Your last casing analogy is closer in line to what I'm saying. The wrapper can greatly influence the cigar. The wrapper's flavor doesn't seem to be what does it though. Zedman's comment on how the wrapper impacts the overall blend is what Im' talking about. Think of it this way. Have you ever way over-salted something you've made? Have you ever glazed ribs or pork with a bad BBQ sauce? It doesn't matter how good the main dish is. If you finish it or cover it with something crappy, you're in for a wild ride. Salt, in and of itself, is not complex. It is a straight forward flavor. Salt added to protein, vegetables, sweets, even fruit(!) can drastically change the experience. Maybe you are correct in saying my blind use of the word "condiment" is incorrect. Perhaps salt is the perfect analogy. Not enough; bland. Too much; salty. Just the right amount; the dish sings. The same can be said for a cigar blend.

Here's a little experiment. Take the wrapper off of, let's say, 10 cigars. Wet the wrapper leaf and roll it into a little cigar. Smoke the wrapper leaf "cigar" when it has dried out a bit. I'll guess that no more than three of those actually have a unique, or even enjoyable, taste. The rest will taste like bland burning paper. I guarantee it.

4 years ago I was in Santiago, DR. I had five Behike 56s with cracked wrappers. I visited General Cigar, EPC, Fuente, & MATASA (Quesada). I had different wrappers put on 4 of those behikes. Do you want to know what the best of the bunch was? The connecticut wrapped Behike that came from General. The Corojo, the Rosado Habano, the mexican Maduro all clashed and didn't work. They weren't right. The blend needed the very minimal tart sensation of the Macanudo connecticut wrapper. It was the "goldylocks" salt that worked. The Corojo was too much. The maduro was too much. The Habano wasn't enough (oddly).

[IWinchester]

^^I think that sounds about right.

What an unbelievable wrapper on the HavVI!!

And this makes the point that a wrapper can affect the taste a lot. I've let a few havVIs almost go out, and the wrapper is what stops burning first. When that happens, it is no longer a tasty cigar. So I guess sometimes it's almost nothing (like the Behike example above) and sometimes it makes the blend, like the Tat HavVi


Kid Corona