Strength vs Flavour

[Cigar_Addict]

Hi, apologies if this has been covered before (I have tried a site search & Google (site specific) search, but not really found what I was looking for)

When you guys talk about strength (or as its listed in places some show a strength category) is this referring to the amount of nicotine in said cigar or the flavours you should be getting from it?

Personally I'd like lots of flavours with almost zero kick

[liles]

I think it depends, really. There's no single way to judge a cigar.

Some people talk about strength and body being different metrics, some people just use the word strength. A "full-bodied" cigar will be one with very strong flavours, punchy, and heavy on the palate. Strength will often just refer to the nicotine hit, but that will have a link to the body rating of a cigar. Stronger flavours usually come with more nicotine, but you can get milder cigars that make your mouth go a bit numb too.

You're not likely to find a mild strength full-bodied cigar (they could exist, I just couldn't give an example), you could say "oh this cigar is medium strength, but fuller body" or likewise "It's a strong cigar with a medium body". You could just generically say mild, medium, strong. It's really hard to say!

An example for me would be HdM Epicure no.2. They're often referred to as "light" or "mild", or even 1/5 strength. I think that's underselling it. For me, I would say the body is mild, the flavours can be fantastic, but the actual strength would be around a medium. Others would not doubt disagree

[Cigar_Addict]

Most helpful, thanks 👌🏼

[liles]

Most helpful, thanks 👌🏼

No problem, all just my own opinions obviously!

Would be interested to hear other people's take on the subject - it's definitely not a single answer kind of question!

[ShaazK]

Cigar strength and flavor are distinct characteristics. Strength refers to the intensity of the tobacco's nicotine content, affecting the smoking experience's impact on the body. Flavour, on the other hand, encompasses the taste profile, including notes like earthy, spicy, sweet, or woody. While strength is often categorized as mild, medium, or full-bodied, flavor is diverse and subjective, influenced by factors such as tobacco type, fermentation, and aging. Balancing both strength and flavor preferences is key to finding a cigar that suits your taste.

This is my personal opinion and knowledge. Really. Not GPT. Nope, no GPT here at all.. 😉


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[ha_banos]

And the best bit is sometimes you will smoke a cigar you've had before with no issues and get such a nic kick out of the blue!

Can you have a mild smooth tasting cigar with a big nic hit? I don't think I've had one. It is usually the stronger tasting sticks.

Cubans fall into the mild to medium strength. Variety of flavours though!

I'm a wimp. I prefer a light strength cigar. Builds up to medium ok. But no more!

/Drivel

[smokey joe]

Nicotine is powerful stuff. It’s difficult to gauge how much there is in a cigar until lit, the more flavour there is the more I like to enjoy the cigar, retrohaling, Irish waterfalls, varying the frequency of puffs, holding the smoke longer before exhaling, all increasing my nicotine absorption. It’s been a while since I got carried away smoking & got my ass kicked.

[Cigar_Addict]

From a 20 count of those Partagas Black Series I think only one hit me like that so probably down to some other factors like not having enough to eat/dehydration etc.

As far as taste goes, when I did my first order (back in 2004) I got a selection of different sticks to try out. This consisted of

Cohiba Corona
Montecristo No1
Partagas Maduro No 8
Romeo Y Julieta 1875 Churchill

The one that stood out the most (and ordered more boxes of) was the Partagas. Nothing particularly noticable as I had no experience in smoking cigars, but it just tasted smooth/creamy

And my fascination with cigars was born..

[ShaazK]

Nicotine is powerful stuff. It’s difficult to gauge how much there is in a cigar until lit, the more flavour there is the more I like to enjoy the cigar, retrohaling, Irish waterfalls, varying the frequency of puffs, holding the smoke longer before exhaling, all increasing my nicotine absorption. It’s been a while since I got carried away smoking & got my ass kicked.

Got my ass royally kicked by rushing a Cuaba Salomones not too long ago. Had a root beer and perked me up again but it wasn’t fun.


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[Cigar_Addict]

Got my ass royally kicked by rushing a Cuaba Salomones not too long ago. Had a root beer and perked me up again but it wasn’t fun.

Yea, not a nice experience. Another good point to cigar smoking you make is to not rush it. If you smoke it somewhat like a cigarette (without inhaling) it's gonna turn you green

[Simon Bolivar]

One of th emore interesting subjects to debate & as said above, no definetive answers. As mentioned, Hoyo's are supposed to be really & one reason I enjoy an Epi No2 in the morning or after luncheon but the flav's can be more than some medium strength smokes. ERDM are Light/Med but suitably aged, standout more than staples of Monte's & R&J IMHO.

As for nicotine hits, only been troubled a couple of times, the worst was a RA Superiors, with less than a yr old. I smoked it after a decent lunch (RA's are full bodied after all but the nictine was so strong, I had to follow advice on here & bought some chocolate & ate it, Coke would also have helped but couldn't bring myself to go that far!

Tar is something different & more annoying to me. Notice, your smoke getting bitter? Check & see if you have black dots or goo showing? If so recut & it'll improve for a while, may even need a third cut. This does seem to happen more with stronger & punched stix.

[Cigar_Addict]

One of th emore interesting subjects to debate & as said above, no definetive answers. As mentioned, Hoyo's are supposed to be really & one reason I enjoy an Epi No2 in the morning or after luncheon but the flav's can be more than some medium strength smokes. ERDM are Light/Med but suitably aged, standout more than staples of Monte's & R&J IMHO.

As for nicotine hits, only been troubled a couple of times, the worst was a RA Superiors, with less than a yr old. I smoked it after a decent lunch (RA's are full bodied after all but the nictine was so strong, I had to follow advice on here & bought some chocolate & ate it, Coke would also have helped but couldn't bring myself to go that far!

Tar is something different & more annoying to me. Notice, your smoke getting bitter? Check & see if you have black dots or goo showing? If so recut & it'll improve for a while, may even need a third cut. This does seem to happen more with stronger & punched stix.

Very helpful, thanks