Green Tobacco for Sunny Days: The History and Flavor of Candela Wrappers

What are candelas?

A candela is a green cigar. Technically, a candela is a cigar with a green wrapper. Often, candela cigars have more “traditional” (natural, maduro) tobaccos inside as binders and fillers. In addition, many modern Candelas are barber poles — that is, they have candela tobacco in addition to another tobacco to form a dual wrapper. 

Candela tobacco is specially treated to cure it without losing the leaves’ signature green appearance. 

What do candelas taste like? 

Of course, no two Candelas will taste exactly the same. However, tasting notes that are typically common to Candelas are grass, herbs, and green tea. They are also often creamy and smooth. You can almost think of them as an extreme version of a “claro” cigar. In fact, candelas are sometimes referred to as “claro claro” or “double claro.”

Are candelas popular?

Short answer: not particularly. However, that was not always the case. Believe it or not, candelas were once so popular in America in the 1960s and 70s that they became known as “American Market Select” cigars. In fact, President Kennedy was a fan of candelas! 

Now, candelas are more of a rarity, but there are a few noteworthy brands that still produce excellent candela tobacco.