A Connecticut wrapper is a pale, mild cigar wrapper grown under shade cloth to slow the leaf’s development and produce a thin, fine-textured leaf. The original variety was developed in the Connecticut River Valley of the United States, where the climate is well suited to shade-grown tobacco, but Connecticut-seed leaf is now also grown in Ecuador, where the natural cloud cover provides a similar effect at lower cost.
The Connecticut shade wrapper produces a gentle, smooth, slightly creamy smoke with notes of cedar, cream, and toasted grain. It is the entry point for most new cigar smokers because it lacks the strength of habano or maduro wrappers, and it pairs well with morning coffee in a way that fuller-bodied cigars do not.
The trade-off for that mildness is that Connecticut wrappers are more delicate. They dry out faster than maduros and need slightly higher humidity to keep the wrapper supple. They also age less interestingly than fuller-bodied wrappers; a Connecticut shade cigar is generally at its best within the first year or two of release.
Notable Connecticut-wrapped cigars: the Macanudo Café, the Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Sun Grown, the Ashton Classic. For more on cigar construction, see The Anatomy of a Cigar.