Every cigar enthusiast has their own criteria for choosing new cigars. Wrapper choice is often a significant factor, with many claiming a preference for specific types. But does the wrapper truly define a cigar’s flavor? The answer might surprise you.
From a tasting perspective, the wrapper plays a crucial role. The sight and touch, along with the smell, contribute to the anticipation of the experience.
However, the wrapper of a Caribbean cigar, while enhancing the prelude to the lit cigar, is not a reliable predictor of whether we will like the cigar or not from a flavor perspective, as the experience is also due to the binder and the fillers and to the synergy that only that blend can create.
While each component plays a role, it’s the unique combination and interaction between the wrapper, binder, and filler that ultimately determines the cigar’s flavor profile.
A blend is much more than the sum of the flavors that each leaf delivers.
We may attend seminars and learn to distinguish between different wrappers, but every master blender has their own unique approach to creating a harmonious blend, often prioritizing the balance of all components over the dominance of the wrapper.

The example of Mexican San Andrés wrapped cigars
There are a variety of aromas associated with Mexican San Andrés wrapped cigars, but the collective opinion is that these particular wrappers lend a sweetness to cigars.
To understand this better, let’s look at some data from our panel’s blind tests of Mexican San Andrés wrapped cigars.
We’ve looked at a significant number of cigars with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper that our panel tested over the last 5-6 years. Because sweetness is a mouth sensation, more precisely a taste, in the chart below, we focused on the key mouth sensations of these cigars. The bars indicate in how many cigars each sensation was found.
Out of 115 cigars, tested multiple times, spicy (109) and savory (108) are the most frequently found mouth descriptors. The sweet taste was found in 88 cigars, followed by dry (80), bitter (74), and creamy (67).
For each sensation to be part of a sensory profile, most of our panel needs to have agreed to the descriptor during their blind tests, which are submitted individually to reduce potential bias.
This data suggests that most cigars with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper are more likely to exhibit savory notes rather than sweetness.
Are You still looking for a Sweet Mexican San Andrés Wrapped Cigar?
Or do you want to make sure the Mexican San Andrés cigars you buy are sweet?
Would you like to try other cigars that have flavors similar to those that you like in Mexican San Andrés wrapped cigars?
Join our community of open-minded cigar lovers who hate to waste time or money on the wrong cigars and always smoke what they know they like!
Also, if you wish to find out what is meant by savory in a cigar, you can enroll in A Cigar Tasting Course.
References:
Of Cigar Tasting – The Raw Cigar
Cigar Sense database
Cigar Sense similar cigars search