Maduro is a Spanish term that means ripe or mature. We purposely create maduro wrappers by carefully fermenting the leaves to give it a richer, sweeter profile.

How Do We Make Maduro Tobacco?

Firstly, we select thicker leaves that can undergo the maduro process.  Since we’ll be curing and fermenting the tobacco longer, we can’t use just any tobacco leaves. And if the leaves are picked in primings instead of being stalk cut, it’s usually the higher primings that are selected for maduro fermentation because they’re thicker from being afforded more time in the sun. 

After curing, cigars are placed into pilons to ferment. The weight of the leaves and their internal moisture create a tremendous amount of heat inside the pilon. Fermenting maduro cigars is much like conducting controlled fires, and care is taken to record the temperature and humidity readings every day to ensure perfection. 

The leaves in the center of the pilon will ferment faster due to more heat, moisture, and bacteria.  Pilons are therefore deconstructed and rotated often to facilitate a more universal fermentation. 

Are All Dark Cigars Maduro?

Strictly speaking, maduro refers to the fermentation process and the not the color of the leaf.  Wrapper leaf could be dark by natural or unnatural methods without being a true maduro. 

But it’s becoming commonplace to call a dark cigar maduro even if it isn’t.  While this is technically wrong, it’s as right as saying ain’t – which is now in the dictionary.  

Why Are Maduros More Expensive?

The fermentation described above takes a long time to complete! While the exact length of time to fully develop maduro tobacco depends on the type of leaf, factory, and placement, it’s generally a much longer period than required for other tobacco.

Remember that only certain leaves are selected to produce maduro tobacco?  One of the most common plants to use in this process is Connecticut Broadleaf, a leaf that’s becoming increasingly expensive in recent years and is the world’s most expensive tobacco.  

Lastly, we have to think about yield and how it affects brands such as Black Label Trading Company.  BLTC imports all of their tobacco since they don’t own a farm, and dark cigars are their staple (it’s in the name!)

When they purchase wrapper leaf – the most expensive leaf to buy – they know that less than half of what they bought will be usable to wrap their cigars.  The rest will be downgraded in the factory to binder or filler tobacco.  This is because not all leaves will have the same texture, color, or aesthetic qualities that BLTC needs to produce the cigars that you’ve come to expect.