"Maduro", when it's really "Oscuro"?

[Herf N Turf]

This may come under the "I really don't care" heading, but I am curious about something.

Technically speaking, "Maduro" means "ripe" and is characterized by a brown, to dark brown color, resulting from extensive fermentation.

"Oscuro", meaning "dark", a.k.a. "Double Maduro", black, often oily in appearance; mainly grown in Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, and Connecticut, USA.

So here I am, smoking an The Edge Maduro toro, and the damn thing as nearly jet black, with no tell-tale signs of dying. This is just one example, but there are dozens of others out there, which are nearly jet black, yet called, "Maduro".

I know many manufacturers dye wrappers and lie about it. Some I can detect from burn. Some I can detect from flavor. So, okay, they may be maduros, only dyed darker. But, it seems to me that if a wrapper is naturally black, it ought to be refered to as "Oscuro". Nez pas?

[zeavran1]

Smoking a dyed cigar doesn't sound very good. Not a big maduro guy (yet) but I do enjoy some like AF 858. I hope I never buy a dyed one.

[bdw1984]

i agree... LFD makes the distinction... always wondered how partagas black's got that color, its not natural

[Cigary]

I'ts a pretty standard opinion about how some dye their wrappers,,even if they try and say they don't. I still smoke the Edge Maduro because I like the flavor ( I don't like or agree with the dyeing ) but it doesn't impair the flavor of it to me anyway. The issue is what they are trying to pull off to the cigar public and using cosmetics to enhance the marketing of tobacco,,,,just like the meat processors pump in carbon dioxide in beef to keep that "natural" red color. Who is going to buy that washed out brown looking lump of beef, right? Carbon Monoxide Use in Meat. Is it Safe? « Glenn Gohr’s Weblog

I love my cigars the way they are,,natural is not a bad thing but I know why they die tobacco wrappers.

[Phantom57]

Maduro is generally very dark brown, and oscuro is black, or close to it. RP is known to dye his wrapper. You will know a good maduro/oscuro when you taste one. Oliva does not dye theirs from what I have read.

[Frinkiac7]

The jet-black wrappers are a turn-off to me.

A "real" maduro wrapper is more like what the Padron line maduros use...dark brown but definitely not black. Sometimes it's even hard to tell their natural line from the maduro line. Or the Cohiba Maduro 5 line, is a nice dark chocolate brown color.

None of this night-black wrapper stuff where I could write on the wall with the cigar. I love many maduros, but the whole dye controversy kind of turned me off to many.

[Hermit]

My favorite Maduros (and Oscuros) have always come from the Villazon factory.
(and LGCs, too)

[Anthony]

Agreed on the Partagas blacks. NOT a natural color. And I didn't particularly enjoy the flavor all that much either...

[la aurora]

Oscuro and maduro are two different things, you can have a wrapper with a light color and it could be maduro, and have a dark wrapper and be oscuro,some people see dark wrappers and say this is maduro, maduro is just the fermenation process that you do to the tabacco, oscuro most of the time are from a high priming, they get dark from age, the fermenation process on both wrappers are not the same, hope this helps.

[bilingue23]

Originally Posted by Cigary

I'ts a pretty standard opinion about how some dye their wrappers,,even if they try and say they don't. I still smoke the Edge Maduro because I like the flavor ( I don't like or agree with the dyeing ) but it doesn't impair the flavor of it to me anyway. The issue is what they are trying to pull off to the cigar public and using cosmetics to enhance the marketing of tobacco,,,,just like the meat processors pump in carbon dioxide in beef to keep that "natural" red color. Who is going to buy that washed out brown looking lump of beef, right? Carbon Monoxide Use in Meat. Is it Safe? « Glenn Gohr’s Weblog

I love my cigars the way they are,,natural is not a bad thing but I know why they die tobacco wrappers.

Carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide? Big difference.

On topic, RP edge's are dyed?

[Snomoskier]

Kinda off topic but the blackest wrapper I have ever seen is on the new Padilla '32 Oscuro Solomon. It does not look natural at all and is deffinitely a bit of a tunroff for me.

[tx_tuff]

Originally Posted by la aurora

Oscuro and maduro are two different things, you can have a wrapper with a light color and it could be maduro, and have a dark wrapper and be oscuro,some people see dark wrappers and say this is maduro, maduro is just the fermenation process that you do to the tabacco, oscuro most of the time are from a high priming, they get dark from age, the fermenation process on both wrappers are not the same, hope this helps.

Thanks for the input. The first two cigars that came to mind for me where the 601 Blue (Maduro) and 601 Green (Oscuro).
The blue is a very dark brown maduro, and the Green just slightly darker then the reg Habano. The Green is a Habano Oscuro which makes a lot of difference.

[Cigary]

Originally Posted by bilingue23

Carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide? Big difference.

On topic, RP edge's are dyed?

My bad,,,my keyboard got tongue tied.

[Doom]

Originally Posted by Cigary

My bad,,,my keyboard got tongue tied.

Holding it down Gary!

[kuzi16]

Maduro has more to do with the fermentation where as Oscuro wrapper leaves have more to do with when they are picked. They are taken from the top priming or medio tiempo (literally “half time,” meaning they’ve been left on the plant 50% longer). Since these leaves have been exposed to a maximum amount of sunlight, they begin to cure on the plant. You end up with a darker, thicker, richer and more flavorful leaf than that of a pure maduro.