A Habano wrapper is a darker, fuller-bodied wrapper grown from Cuban-seed tobacco. The name refers to the seed origin rather than the country of growth; while the original Habano leaf was Cuban, the seed has travelled, and Habano-seed wrappers are now grown extensively in Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Honduras, each producing a distinct variation on the original profile.
What unites them is the character of the smoke. Habano wrappers tend toward earth, leather, dark cocoa, and a peppery spice on the retrohale, with more body and complexity than the milder Connecticut shade. They are typically darker in colour, ranging from rich colorado to nearly maduro depending on fermentation, and they hold up to longer aging more gracefully.
The geographic variations matter. Cuban Habano (the original) is unavailable in the US for legal reasons but smokes with a unique sweetness and twang. Ecuadorian Habano is silky and slightly milder. Nicaraguan Habano (especially from Estelí and Jalapa) tends toward fuller body and more pepper. Honduran Habano sits somewhere in between.
Notable Habano-wrapped cigars: the Padrón 1964 Natural, the My Father Le Bijou 1922 Habano, the Tatuaje Black, the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real. For more on construction, see The Anatomy of a Cigar.