Flavor, Body, Strength - What do they mean to you?

[montecristo#2]

I know this has been talked about before, but since we have a lot of new members joining lately, I thought I would ask the question:

In terms of cigars, what do the terms flavor, body and strength mean to you?

I have been thinking about this question a lot lately after speaking with a B&M owner while placing an order (for those of you who know him, I was talking to Al from PuffnStuff). We were talking about the four new sizes of Don Pepin Garcia Blue Labels.

He used the following classifications:

Flavor = flavor profile (this one is obvious)

Body = Amount of tar in a cigar

Strength = nicotine content

For me, strength has always been nicotine content, so this was not a problem for me. Of course, I think the strength of cigars is all relative. Some people have a higher nicotine tolerance and I think it depends on how much you have been smoking and whether or not you have eaten recently. I can see a difference if I drink sprite versus water while smoking.

It was the other terms that confused me. For me, when I refer to body, I am talking about the flavor or the taste I get while smoking (so body = flavor for me). A full-bodied cigar over-powers my taste buds (I prefer medium-bodied cigars in my terminology). I understand you can have different complexities when it comes to flavor, but for me they are usually very basic: bitter, grassy, woodsy, peppery, leather. . . I have never been able to define distinct flavors (besides the occasional coffee or chocolate sensations).

I really have no clue what he means by tar.

I thought this would be an interesting topic, hopefully other people can chime in to let us know what these terms mean to them.


Note: please don't quote me or Al on this, I might have misunderstood him.

[Augie754]

I found a good old posting on this on the alt.smokers.cigars newsgroup a couple years ago. I replicated it on my website. It's pretty much what I go by.

Augenstein1.com by Joel Augenstein

Original post on alt.smokers.cigars

[Phantom57]

Originally Posted by montecristo#2

I know this has been talked about before, but since we have a lot of new members joining lately, I thought I would ask the question:

In terms of cigars, what do the terms flavor, body and strength mean to you?

I have been thinking about this question a lot lately after speaking with a B&M owner while placing an order (for those of you who know him, I was talking to Al from PuffnStuff). We were talking about the four new sizes of Don Pepin Garcia Blue Labels.

He used the following classifications:

Flavor = flavor profile (this one is obvious)

Body = Amount of tar in a cigar

Strength = nicotine content

For me, strength has always been nicotine content, so this was not a problem for me. Of course, I think the strength of cigars is all relative. Some people have a higher nicotine tolerance and I think it depends on how much you have been smoking and whether or not you have eaten recently. I can see a difference if I drink sprite versus water while smoking.

It was the other terms that confused me. For me, when I refer to body, I am talking about the flavor or the taste I get while smoking (so body = flavor for me). A full-bodied cigar over-powers my taste buds (I prefer medium-bodied cigars in my terminology). I understand you can have different complexities when it comes to flavor, but for me they are usually very basic: bitter, grassy, woodsy, peppery, leather. . . I have never been able to define distinct flavors (besides the occasional coffee or chocolate sensations).

I really have no clue what he means by tar.

I thought this would be an interesting topic, hopefully other people can chime in to let us know what these terms mean to them.


Note: please don't quote me or Al on this, I might have misunderstood him.

The definitions I use are:

Flavor--taste

Body--heaviness or fullness of mouth feel from the smoke

Strength--nose burn, zing, or tingle felt from the smoke, caused by nicotine and other inherent properties of tobacco.

I have smoked some cigars that are strong, but are medium bodied, these I think rely almost completely on the wrapper for their appeal.

[JCK]

Body and Strength run hand in hand to me. The Body described as Tar is a bit confusing to me, because I don't know how to gauge the amount of tar I'm getting in the smoke. Does more Tar=heavier smoke?

I'll have to ask Al about this when he's back in town.

[madurolover]

I have thought about this before and I really do not have a direct answer. Strength to me is related directly to the power of the cigar (which I would assume is linked pretty much to nicotine content).

Body is a whole different animal. I have no way of describing the meaning of body. I will sometimes smoke a mild/medium cigar and will think to myself "this is a nice full-bodied smoke", then sometimes I will smoke a powerhouse and feel that the body is lacking.

So in short, what I am trying to say is that I have no idea what body actually means.

[montecristo#2]

Originally Posted by JCK

The Body described as Tar is a bit confusing to me, because I don't know how to gauge the amount of tar I'm getting in the smoke. Does more Tar=heavier smoke?

Hey Ji - I think I left that part out, thanks for reminding me. I believe in Al's terminology tar does indeed equal a heavier smoke.

Now the question is what does that mean? Is a heavier smoke thicker, take longer to diffuse away? I know the amount of smoke is going to depend on the size, shape and draw of the cigar.

[uvacom]

I've always used body to describe the perceived density of the smoke when it is inhaled. Some very strong cigars don't have a lot of body, and some very mild cigars do.

Nicotine content is a valid descriptor for strength, but I try to stay away from that because without measuring, it is so dependent on set and setting - what seems so strong in one instance might have no affect in another. To me, strength is the intensity of the flavors present, and flavor itself describes the quality of those flavors.

[bobarian]

Dang! I always thought body referred to the size of the smoker? I always smoke full-bodied cigars!

[llatsni]

I always was lead to believe that its like this:

Aroma - smell
Flavour - taste
Strength - intensity of both the above, combined with nicotene buzz

Body is a bit misleading, and in my estimation is interchangeable with strength.