Connecticut

Connecticut on a band usually means Connecticut shade, the pale golden wrapper on so many mild cigars. It also covers Connecticut-seed leaf grown in Ecuador.

What it is

Before 1900, Connecticut farmers grew only broadleaf. Then growers brought in Sumatra seed, the sun burned the new plants, and farmers put up cheesecloth tents to copy Sumatra's cloud cover. The first tents went up in Windsor in 1900.

Today the netting is synthetic, the main seed strains are 8212 and 211, and the leaves are picked a few at a time from the bottom of the plant up. True Connecticut shade grows only in the Connecticut River Valley, from Hartford north into Massachusetts.

It's costly to farm, and it has lost ground: in 1992 it wrapped 53 percent of the cigars Cigar Aficionado rated, and by 2018 that was 3.2 percent. In Ecuador, around Quevedo, Connecticut seed grows under natural cloud cover with no tents, for a lot less money.

What it tastes like

Shade makes a thin, supple leaf with barely visible veins, golden blond to honey in color. It smokes mild and creamy, with notes of almonds, cashews and coffee with cream.

Cigars to know

Macanudo Café and Ashton Classic use Connecticut shade. Davidoff moved its signature wrapper from Connecticut shade to Ecuador Connecticut in 2001, and Oliva Connecticut Reserve uses Ecuadorian Connecticut too.