Body and Strength Confusion... Are they different?

[BKKALLDAY]

So I'm a sort of new smoker and after watching a few videos on youtube i've been checking out to further increase my afficionado street cred, I came across something talking about the difference between body and strength and I wanted to make sure this guy wasn't blowing smoke up my ass, pun intended.

So As an amateur smoker, I've always pursued cigars that people or online reviews tell me are Mild-Medium body cigars. Now i've smoked some cigars classified medium body that have a great flavor and have me feeling great and i've smoked others with medium body that have absolutely made me sick to no end... A Perdomo Exhibicon Toro Maduro was my most recent mistake, though a great smoke i literally thought I was dying at one point.

My question is, Is there medum-full bodied cigars that are mild-medium in strength that won't have be on such a nicotine rush that i feel like I can't breathe? and if so, what are your favorites?

 

[Craig Mac]

Body generally means amount of flavor. Strength generally means amount of nicotine. In my experience I haven't had a mild strength cigar that is full bodied. If you are looking for a mild/medium strength cigar with a fair amount of body some that I would suggest are the E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut, Tatuaje Red Labels, Fuente Hemingway, Four Kicks/Headley Grange, Rocky Patel Edge Corojo and RyJ Habana Reserve to name a few. Then there are a vast majority of CC's that fall in to that category as well.

You will get several different opinions here on what cigars fall in the category you are looking for, but what it comes down to is trying to find a flavorful cigar that isn't a nicotine bomb.

 

[Goalee1]

Adding a little to Craig's description, I describe body as mouth-feel, which includes texture of the smoke physically and how it "feels" in your mouth. Some will feel really thin ie Sauv Blanc. And others much thicker ie calif Chardonnay.

Good list of examples above, definitely second the four kicks/ hg,would add Fuente Don Carlos, Cabaiguan, La Riqueza, Emilio AFs as a few of my favorites.

It's all about finding what you like and best way to do so is talk to as many people as you can and read reviews here and at Halfwheel for newer releases. Remember to always have at least some food in your system and drink something when you smoke. G1

 

[njstone]

Strength is the amount of nicotine, pure and simple.

Body is harder to define. To me, body is the "mouth feel" of the smoke, i.e. how the smoke impacts the palate (not how the flavor impacts the palate). Is the smoke light or heavy? Is it thin or chewy? Some components of body are the peppery-ness or spiciness that many cigars have. A really peppery cigar is likely fuller in body, simply because it impacts the palate so much more.

It's possible for a cigar to have a lot of body, not a ton of flavor. Many of the modern, cheaper power-house cigars fall into this category for me, with the exception of the AJ Fernandez stuff which manages to be quite flavorful.

 

[BKKALLDAY]

All great advice, I've always loved AF's but was always told Rocky Patel is only for hardcore smokers but i definitely need to look things up before i listen to someone else's judgement.

 

[javajunkie]

just to add that i have seen (and have used) body applied to density of flavor, usually in conjunction with mouthfeel. some smokes just don't have a really vibrant flavor profile, and some smokes scream it from the hills. i would put the fuente magR, specifically the 44, as full in body in this case, while medium in power.

keep in mind, we are trying to put sensory information into words here. by nature, that is a slippery proposition.

 

[aherzing]

All great advice, I've always loved AF's but was always told Rocky Patel is only for hardcore smokers but i definitely need to look things up before i listen to someone else's judgement.

This is in no way true

 

[Dave]

All great advice, I've always loved AF's but was always told Rocky Patel is only for hardcore smokers but i definitely need to look things up before i listen to someone else's judgement.

This is in no way true

I'd guess that originated with the 'warning' on boxes of 'Edge'. The old 100 count boxes used to say they were for 'Professional Smokers Only' or something like that.

http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php/50283-The-confusion-between-body-and-strength

 

[JoshF]

Im sure that just like flavor, strength is subjective. Something that is strong to a 130 pound guy may not be strong to someone who is 230. What you eat before you smoke also matters.

 

[javajunkie]

Im sure that just like flavor, strength is subjective. Something that is strong to a 130 pound guy may not be strong to someone who is 230. What you eat before you smoke also matters.

dude, why you gotta hate on the skinny kids? they have so "little" going for them anyway. o)

 

[Tobacco Giant]

http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php/50283-The-confusion-between-body-and-strength

I read this thread and I have to say I agree with Le Buzz.

 

[aherzing]

All great advice, I've always loved AF's but was always told Rocky Patel is only for hardcore smokers but i definitely need to look things up before i listen to someone else's judgement.

This is in no way true

I'd guess that originated with the 'warning' on boxes of 'Edge'. The old 100 count boxes used to say they were for 'Professional Smokers Only' or something like that.

I do my best to take these of the "Trays" when they come into the shop, it confuses too many customers

 

[BKKALLDAY]

Haha that definitely was one thing that made me put down the RP Edge when I picked it up, beautiful looking stick but it jus sounds like I'm gonna be out for 2-3 days with a nic fit.

I'm a 300 pound guy and I don't smoke anything other than the occasional cigar so as much as I may look like I can smoke a whole box of OpusX's in a sitting, that's just not the case haha.

A lot I the Stogey's you guys are mentioning are being added to my wish list so keep em coming, any suggestions am advice are helping me acclimate with my newish lifestyle

 

[PPD1345]

Interesting read here. I find the EPC NW to be pretty mellow in strength and bland in the flavor/body. Very 1 dimensional to me.

 

[BKKALLDAY]

Anyone ever youtubed the cigar obsession guy? I know he was discussing the difference between body and strength and was talking about full flavor cigars with mild-medium strength an he raised my whole debate. Everytime I've stepped into a B&M they point me to their Mild-mediums and call it a day an this guy raised a lot of questions.

If you wanna check the video it's cigar obsession: how to smoke a cigar

 

[Cigarizard]

Interesting read here. I find the EPC NW to be pretty mellow in strength and bland in the flavor/body. Very 1 dimensional to me.

I'd agree, had one on the weekend, not much of a change during the most, was still ok though.
BTW, great discussion here, I've learnt heaps, thanks!