Alex SvensonBlogAdministrator, Everyone, ForumsAdministrator, Moderator, Owners, Registered UsersPosts: 1,204
Maduro is a process not a color. For the process a leaf must come from a certain priming, seed and country to ensure it can undergo the rigerous fermentation without falling apart. Sumatra seed is a seed that can't naturally endure the process like other seed or tobacco varieties. That said Sumatra Ecuador is the thickest and the top priming is also which this is so it is best suited to ferment the longest of the sumatra seed family based on it's growing origin and priming. Is it a true maduro? That would be a matter of debate. It is certainly the most well fermented Sumatra seed leaf in the world. Perhaps one one hundreth of one percent. Very rare. Did it ferment long enough to bring out all the sugars? That is the debatable question. It is certainly as dark of a Sumatra Ecuador wrapper you will find and if there is such thing as a Sumatra Ecuador maduro this is it. For that reason I am comfortable calling it a maduro but I am certainly aware that there are opposing opinions and I am totally fine with that. It is the beauty if this hobby. In terms of having secrets, it is important. If people knew the blend of all cigars and freely wrote it, people would rip it off left and right. In fact, I'd bet 95% of the descriptions outguess from the manufacturers are false in an effort to protect themselves. They may be close but never exact. Even factories I visit will write the wrong blend on things in purpose because factories will sometimes try to pay workers from other factories. This is an honorable business but it happens, I have seen it. So many times the only guy in the factory that truly knows the blend is the master blender and they intentioannly false label things to protect themselves. Crazy I know. The armada description is spot on but we protect one ingredient but it is a crucial ingredient. Not only does it prevent someone stealing the blend, but this particular tobacco is grown Ina region that no one else is using. Armada us the only cigar for sale in the US that uses this particular variety and the factory does not want to draw attention to it as they have a monopoly on it. Hope all of this info helps shed some light on things. The cigar is rare and to me a true gem and the best cigar on the market. For over a year it was my own little treat but now something I can share with others. I just wish more than only about 10k sticks a year could be rolled. Perhaps if they can plant more in the coming years it will be a reality.
Alex SvensonBlogAdministrator, Everyone, ForumsAdministrator, Moderator, Owners, Registered UsersPosts: 1,204
Wow sounds like quite an experience. Did you know that Cuba considers their limitada cigars to be maduro. At least they used to. They refer to any wrapper from the top of the plant (ligero) as maduro because it ferments the longest. Literally in Spanish maduro just means "ripe". Man all this talk of maduro is making my mouth water. Think I'll have to smoke an LHC OF today. Now that my friends is unequivocally a true maduro lol.
Maduro is a process not a color. For the process a leaf must come from a certain priming, seed and country to ensure it can undergo the rigerous fermentation without falling apart. Sumatra seed is a seed that can't naturally endure the process like other seed or tobacco varieties. That said Sumatra Ecuador is the thickest and the top priming is also which this is so it is best suited to ferment the longest of the sumatra seed family based on it's growing origin and priming. Is it a true maduro? That would be a matter of debate. It is certainly the most well fermented Sumatra seed leaf in the world. Perhaps one one hundreth of one percent. Very rare. Did it ferment long enough to bring out all the sugars? That is the debatable question. It is certainly as dark of a Sumatra Ecuador wrapper you will find and if there is such thing as a Sumatra Ecuador maduro this is it. For that reason I am comfortable calling it a maduro but I am certainly aware that there are opposing opinions and I am totally fine with that. It is the beauty if this hobby. In terms of having secrets, it is important. If people knew the blend of all cigars and freely wrote it, people would rip it off left and right. In fact, I'd bet 95% of the descriptions outguess from the manufacturers are false in an effort to protect themselves. They may be close but never exact. Even factories I visit will write the wrong blend on things in purpose because factories will sometimes try to pay workers from other factories. This is an honorable business but it happens, I have seen it. So many times the only guy in the factory that truly knows the blend is the master blender and they intentioannly false label things to protect themselves. Crazy I know. The armada description is spot on but we protect one ingredient but it is a crucial ingredient. Not only does it prevent someone stealing the blend, but this particular tobacco is grown Ina region that no one else is using. Armada us the only cigar for sale in the US that uses this particular variety and the factory does not want to draw attention to it as they have a monopoly on it. Hope all of this info helps shed some light on things. The cigar is rare and to me a true gem and the best cigar on the market. For over a year it was my own little treat but now something I can share with others. I just wish more than only about 10k sticks a year could be rolled. Perhaps if they can plant more in the coming years it will be a reality.
Alex, have you ever thought about putting a book out? I mean your knowledge is fantastic.
Alex SvensonBlogAdministrator, Everyone, ForumsAdministrator, Moderator, Owners, Registered UsersPosts: 1,204
LOL been working on a book for the better part of three years but never have the time to sit down and finish it. I am about halfway at this point. It is called "cigars in 60 minutes" and the concept is to deliver the cigar basics and a foundation of knowledge in a 60 minute read such that the reader upon completion could feel comfortable going into a cigar shop or holding their own in most cigar discussions. More than that though, I am writing it out of pure frustration with the other books on the market on the topic. Too many over complicate the whole thing and I think it is a turn off. Like wine, I would love to get into wine, but every time I try to learn about it, I get overwhelmed, intimidated and just throw in the towel. Not only that, a lot of cigar books out there try to pass of very opinion or personal preference oriented material as fact. The beauty of the hobby is the individual experience and allowing the smoker to form his own opinions. I want the book to just deliver a foundation of the science of the hobby (those principles generally agreed upon) and encourage the reader to obtain the rest of their knowledge through experience and formulating their own opinions. People pick up a book because they want to learn and they should feel invited into this hobby, not intimidated by it.
Maduro is a process not a color. For the process a leaf must come from a certain priming, seed and country to ensure it can undergo the rigerous fermentation without falling apart. Sumatra seed is a seed that can't naturally endure the process like other seed or tobacco varieties. That said Sumatra Ecuador is the thickest and the top priming is also which this is so it is best suited to ferment the longest of the sumatra seed family based on it's growing origin and priming. Is it a true maduro? That would be a matter of debate. It is certainly the most well fermented Sumatra seed leaf in the world. Perhaps one one hundreth of one percent. Very rare. Did it ferment long enough to bring out all the sugars? That is the debatable question. It is certainly as dark of a Sumatra Ecuador wrapper you will find and if there is such thing as a Sumatra Ecuador maduro this is it. For that reason I am comfortable calling it a maduro but I am certainly aware that there are opposing opinions and I am totally fine with that. It is the beauty if this hobby. In terms of having secrets, it is important. If people knew the blend of all cigars and freely wrote it, people would rip it off left and right. In fact, I'd bet 95% of the descriptions outguess from the manufacturers are false in an effort to protect themselves. They may be close but never exact. Even factories I visit will write the wrong blend on things in purpose because factories will sometimes try to pay workers from other factories. This is an honorable business but it happens, I have seen it. So many times the only guy in the factory that truly knows the blend is the master blender and they intentioannly false label things to protect themselves. Crazy I know. The armada description is spot on but we protect one ingredient but it is a crucial ingredient. Not only does it prevent someone stealing the blend, but this particular tobacco is grown Ina region that no one else is using. Armada us the only cigar for sale in the US that uses this particular variety and the factory does not want to draw attention to it as they have a monopoly on it. Hope all of this info helps shed some light on things. The cigar is rare and to me a true gem and the best cigar on the market. For over a year it was my own little treat but now something I can share with others. I just wish more than only about 10k sticks a year could be rolled. Perhaps if they can plant more in the coming years it will be a reality.
I was just wondering if they grew that *** in a cave how could something so rare yet so good not be known I would think that other cigar manufactures would say x is the only person growing y in that particular region we need to grow y too so we can make some of those damn fine cigars!
Smoked my first Armada last night. Woah baby what an awesome smoke. Gotta hand it to Alex and AJ, I'm going to put it right up there with my favs from LFD, Tatuaje and Fuente.
I've got 6 at the moment, I've got one to have some time soon when the weathers good, and then one a year for christmas for the next 5 years, what do you think, too long to keep them?
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