Although it
is true that there is no agreement among experts on the effect of the wrapper
on the flavor and aroma of a cigar, everyone is aware that it defines its
external appearance, which is why it has great weight in the buyer's decision.
Manufacturers
know that the wrapper is key to show the quality of their product and, for
this, it is required that the leaves that will be used for that purpose
perfectly wrap the cigar, a condition that can only be fulfilled by large,
thick leaves free of the slightest deterioration.
There are
dozens of leaves that are used as a wrapper, but only four of them that are
considered the main or basic types: Corojo, Connecticut, Habano and Maduro.
Corojo is a
tobacco originally from Cuba that has a thin but flexible leaf with a delicious
flavor. For 50 years it became the best cigar wrapper in the world but, despite
its remarkable attributes, its use declined markedly at the end of the last
century because its yield (number of leaves per cultivated area) was significantly
reduced as a result of the vulnerability of the plant to blue mold and other
pests, and the difficulties for Corojo tobacco to reach the United States as a
result of the economic embargo on Cuba.
Producing
Corojo tobacco is quite complicated and it is no longer grown in Cuba, where it
was replaced by other hybrid tobacco varieties that are more resistant to
diseases and have higher levels of productivity. Today it is produced almost
exclusively in Honduras, in the fertile Jamastran Valley, an area whose climate
resembles the famous Cuban region called Vuelta Abajo, where the Corojo seed
originates.
That Valley
is the place where the Camacho Corojo cigars are grown, one of the strongest on
the market and perhaps the only absolutely genuine Corojo cigar in the world.
Camacho Cigars, the tobacco company that produces them, is a company founded in
1961 by Simón Camacho, which in 1995 was acquired by the Eiroa family and is
currently owned by the Swiss Oettinger Davidoff group.
The factory
is located in Danli, Honduras, and specializes in those delicious artisanal
tobaccos with a characteristic spicy and hot flavor, with dark and dry notes, a
little more acrid than most cigars.
A few last
words to finish: remember that a cigar is not only its appearance; what's on
the inside also counts.
