Wrapper was never fermented (only cured) before the early 2000's. That the wrapper was not being fermented is documented - the introduction of the Maduro5 proves that fermentation of wrapper was introduced at some point. I don't know if 2003 is the date, but that sounds reasonable.

All cigars go through a period where they don't smoke as well as they do before or after. The period starts a few weeks after rolling and lasts for up to a year after that. This is brought on by the wetting of the tobacco to make it more pliable for rolling. The additional moisture starts a reaction. This isn't the traditional definition of 'sick' period, but people use the term. You generally don't experience this as the time from rolling to release is controlled, e.g., Opus X one year after rolling; Hemingways six months.

The traditional 'sick' periods start well after a year. The first period is roughly between 3 and 5 years and the second is between 7 to 10 years, but there is a huge amount of variance in time, and the periods may not happen at all. When sick, the cigars do smoke flat and are annoyingly disappointing, but they gradually recover - at least in my experience with the first period. There are supposed to be a third and fourth period, but I haven't experienced those.