Mexico and the San Andrés valley
The wrapper that turned up on half the maduros released in the last decade.
San Andrés negro is the wrapper behind a large share of modern maduros. Grown in Veracruz, it is thick, dark, takes fermentation well, and has become the default answer when a maker wants a sweet dark leaf.
Why it took over
Availability, price and suitability. The leaf is robust enough to ferment hard without falling apart, dark enough to satisfy the market's appetite for black wrappers, and produced in enough volume to supply large lines consistently.
What it brings
Cocoa, dark bread, an earthy sweetness and a slightly rustic edge. Compared with Connecticut Broadleaf — the other big maduro wrapper — San Andrés is earthier and less sugary, with more of a savoury note underneath.
Do this: if two maduros taste different in a way you cannot name, check whether one is Broadleaf and the other San Andrés. It is the most common unlabelled difference in the category.
Not only a wrapper
Mexican tobacco also appears as binder and filler, where it adds body and a dry earthiness. Mexican puros are rare but exist, and they are a good demonstration of how much of the "maduro character" people attribute to fermentation is actually the varietal.
In the humidor
Thick, oily and slow-burning. San Andrés-wrapped cigars usually want a slightly lower humidity than average to draw well, and they age comfortably: the sugars survive time better than volatile top notes do.
Two maduros, two entries, one difference
Because the wrapper is filled in automatically from the band, comparing two maduros in your journal shows the leaf next to your own score. That is usually enough to explain a difference you noticed but could not place.
Read next
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The darkest wrappers on the market, and the least reliable guide to what is inside.
Formats & vitolasBox-pressed or round: what actually changes
A square cigar burns slightly differently and sits better in your hand. The rest is preference.