Seems to be a lot of crossover and confustion between FLAVOR, BODY and STRENGTH. I really like it when reviews specifically break the three apart and comment on nicotine strength as a separate metric to body and flavor.

LawOfMD wrote:

This is true. I hate when I go to a shop and ask for a med-full flavored cigar with mild-medium strength and they look at me like I'm crazy.

In fairness, they do go hand-in-hand to a degree. Ligero provides body and flavor but also a good dose of N.

strikeanywhere wrote:

Body and strength are supposed to be synonymous. Over the years, people have often misinterpreted "strength" to mean how much nicotine there is. A cigar need not be a nicotine bomb to have a full body. Flavor and complexity are separate entities. You can have a cigar with great flavor, a singular flavor, or a combination of say two flavors, and they don't change. That cigar would be lacking in complexity, note, this does not make it bad. As my friend BeatDragon always said, "If that one flavor is yummy end to end, who gives a shit if has no complexity". Complexity is a changing of flavors and/or nuanced flavors. Being complex in and of itself, does not make it good.

Thunder.Gerbil wrote:

There's a pill you can take for your problem, its called "Growaset".

elRopo wrote:

Cuban Macanudo should be right in your wheelhouse. Try searching on cigarsforpuzzies.md

Did you participate in the women's march before the inauguration? If so I hope you didn't wear one of those silly hats.:-({|=

elRopo wrote:

Had one. No flavor. Maybe try expanding your mind past a high school mentality. At 80+ years you'd think you'd learnt this by now. Go to www.helpforloserswhostillworkatmcdonalds.com

Niedermeyer wrote:

You clearly are more versed in the subject (I'm not being sarcastic) however I think you are facilitating the confusion. This noob would break a cigar down like this (and wish everyone would)

BODY: The density of the Smoke. Is it oily and thick and chewy or dry and thin or somewhere in between.
FLAVOR: Is the flavor (or flavors, see complexity) strong or weak.
STRENGTH: Strictly 100% nicotine content.

Somewhere in there is SMOOTHNESS. Is the smoke acrid or smooth/creamy or somewhere in between.

Somewhere in there is TEMPERATURE which associates with construction. Is the smoke cool, warm or hot in temperature. Obviously that tends to ramp up as you near the nub. Physics.

Once youve established that then you would discuss...

COMPLEXITY: Do these attributes change and transition as you smoke through the stick and how.

but what do I know.

My #1 cigar would have good CONSTRUCTION. Copious amounts of buttery smooth, cool in temperature, oily, chewy smoke (BODY) with (or without) transitions in FLAVOR, yet 0% STRENGTH (nicotine). Doesn't exist, I know but that would be the goal for me.

LawOfMD wrote:

I was clarifying (editing) the initial post when you quoted it, I think it makes a bit more sense now.

The issue is that for decades, there was no dependency on nicotine. Cigars were not blended with the sole intent of making your head spin. Strength and body were basically synonymous. Body was power. To get the body, you had to use stronger tobaccos.

Somewhere in the decade after the boom when cigars ceased to be the things of old men, Hollywood producers and mobsters things started to change. Between more demand, Nicaragua getting back to selling tobacco and cigars after years of war and the embargo against them being lifted, and the science of GMO tobacco improving , stronger cigars became the next fad.

At some point after that is when the separation started. When less than reputable manufacturers started pulling tricks like using underfermented tobacco to boost strength. That crap will make your head spin, but it's harsh and it burns your throat. But, people thought that was important.

That's when things broke and the definitions split.

I've had strong cigars that were harsh and did not have a body to them, I might have thought they were impressive at the time, but I didn't know any better. Now, I would consider all of them crap.

To your quest, unfortunately, I've never had a full bodied cigar that does not have some level of strength behind it. Some more than others, Larger RG Anjeos, T52, various limited Tatuaje's that I forget the names of & PAM64 maduro all big body, and at the lower end of the "strength" scale. Aganorsa, El Rico Habano, el Cobre, old Camacho blacks, LFD & JdN at the stronger end. They all packed a bit of a hit, and they were all great cigars.

Maybe someone else out there knows of what you would call a full bodied cigar with low strength, because I do not.

Thunder.Gerbil wrote:

#-o

99cobra2881 wrote:

Are you inhaling?
I'm assuming not.....but if you are......stop it.

Next, cut back on retrohaling if you are doing that.
Start spitting more while smoking.....a problem in certain situations obviously, but when your alone in the back yard, no problem.

The above measures will help reduce the amount of nicotine you're getting when smoking a cigar.
Oh, and grow a pair...............had to say it......you know that.

KingoftheCove wrote:

Had one. No flavor. Maybe try expanding your mind past a high school mentality. At 80+ years you'd think you'd learnt this by now. Go to www.helpforloserswhostillworkatmcdonalds.com

LawOfMD wrote:

Nice avatar BTW, do you like smelly guys?

elRopo wrote:

Ive been enjoying cigars since 2008 but in limited moderation. Maybe 60 sticks a year so about 5 a month but now that I am fully retired (I'm 46) I plan to ramp that up. Put plainly, I am a total lightweight when it comes to nicotine but I love full flavor and body cigars (just not full strength) - I just hate the muscle aches, head aches, dizzyness and nausea even the lightest, non-ligero sticks cause me (yes I smoke slow. Yes I eat beforehand. Yes I take in sugary drinks during and after as an antidote and yes I am healthy). I want the nicotine effects to go away so I can enjoy the tastes and experience better and maybe get out of this US Connecticut Shade rut. I wanna go full nicaraguan!

I'm sure I just need to smoke more and build a tolerance and I'm sure some of the lower brows on here will chime in that this indicates a lack of manliness or gayness or that my name is probably nancy - but I can assure you, my bench press is well above average, I am told often I 'coulda been a contenda', I chop wood (and lay pipe...with females) on a regular basis, sport an epic beard and kill and eat bears while they are still twitching (mostly of the gummy variety, mostly) - so it's not the level of man-ness that causes nicotine intolerance. And my name isnt Nancy.

I'm asking folks to post about your cigar/nicotine journey. How did you get to where you can smoke a full strength cigar and not feel the least bit nauseous. When and how many of what kind did you start on, what kind and how many do you smoke today. Where you a cigarette smoker before? (Ive never had one). Are there some here that never seem to build a tolerance but like me you do it anyway because the baby is better than the bathwater?

Thanks in advance to any that take the time to answer this. Smartass quips...whatevs.

LawOfMD wrote:

Don't take it so hard (personal) law dog. Once you build up a little post cred the hazing will stop.

elRopo wrote: