Mild, Medium, Full or the Buzz???

[DownUnder LLG]

Thought I'd open up this topic for discussion after I read a review posted by LT Rich (HERE) which he did on the KH 3X LIG. First let me just say that I'm not dropping you in it here Mate cause a similar thing has happened to me more often than not so I hope you are not offended at me using your example.

Obviously the terms Mild, Medium and Full bodied are used to decribe cigars everyday by those that smoke them. But is there a grey area? I can sympathise with LT Rich in what he is describing in his review, recently I had a Puros Indios Especial Nat wrapper and after doing a little research on various vendor sites I was surprised to see the cigar described as Full bodied. Also true when I smoked a JdN Antano Consul last weekend (tks DSL). Now what was the difference with these 2 cigars to me, well the PI I did not find full bodied and had no buzz factor either, on the other hand the JdN Antano I also DID NOT find to be full bodied but certainly had LOTS of buzz factor (yes I had my butt spanked )
To me Full bodied is like describing the difference between Instant Coffee and Espresso, obviously the espresso has a fuller taste, finish etc (just trying to make a comparison, however weak it may be), so when I transcribe this to cigars I expect there to be a fuller flavour. I can't comment on the X3 as I have not had one yet (1 in the humi begging to be ashed) but if I put the PI, JdN and a PSD4 side by side I would say that the PSD4 had a fuller taste and average buzz (obviously when I'm talking buzz I mean nicotine buzz), the JdN was say bordering on Med taste and had LOTS of buzz and the PI was mild to say the least and had NO buzz and was bitter too but thats another story.

So what I'm putting up for discussion is, is there sometimes a mix up between what is full and what is buzz? What is full to you in terms of flavour/experience? Are they the same thing to you? (cause they aren't to me) My expectations of what are full or not are as described above, like the difference between instant coffee and espresso or milk choclate and dark and obviously the buzz is whether it's gonna put me on my butt or not.

Granted there are allowances for different palettes as people have different tastes, but are some confusing Flavour and Buzz??

Thought it might make an intersting topic, like to see you POV.

[jgros001]

Here's is my newbie take for what its worth.

1. Vendors are very generous in their labeling of full bodied cigars because full generally sells better than mild (I think). Otherwise, there would be no reason to attempt to deceive. Most of the "full" bodied cigars as labelled by websites and catalogs are probably closer to medium or even mild for that matter.

2. When I look at this issue it comes down to this: flavor and body. I use the term "body" to describe the nicotine buzz that you speak of - and of the cigars you mention, I would put the Antano and PSD4 right up there as full bodied. I use the term "flavor" to describe just that, flavor. Some cigars are just bland and they would get mild. I think the PSD4 has tons of flavor so it gets a full from me. I wouldn't put the Antano in that same category - it has a more medium flavor to me.

You are correct though...these are two vastly different terms and a mild bodied cigar can be bursting with flavor while at the same time a full bodied cigar could be bland as hell.

[jgros001]

For more reading:

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthr...ight=full+body

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14469

http://www.cigardiary.com/index.php?..._position=24:2 - (Credit for link to RM" in an earlier thread)

J.

I have to float along with your thinking. I have smoked several sticks with full flavor, and only mild buzz. Also full flavors with butt kicking buzz (yes, I've been spanked also i.e. CAO extreme). On the other hand, I have smokes several ISOMs that I would consider no more than medium bodied, and gotten a nice buzz.

I do notice what jgros says to be true. Seems like few retailers lable their sticks as mild. Most go for the meduim to full tagline, regardless of actual body.

[Jeff]

I agree that there is a distinct difference between taste and nicotine strength. For me mild, medium, or full body should refer to the richness of flavor. I'd like to see a seperate descriptor for nicotine content.

I've had some sticks that didn't have much taste to them, but gave me a major buzz, and of course I've had sticks that coated my pallate with a deep level of taste, but were mild in the nicotine department.