Full Bodied Cigars | Strengths, Hints, & Flavors

This is Neil and Gerard with Mardo Cigars. Have you ever smoked a cigar so good you didn't want to put it down, but by the time you finished it absolutely put you on your butt? Between us we've been in this industry for a couple of decades, and today we're sharing our experience with full bodied cigars: where the flavor comes from, how full bodied is different from full strength, and how to handle the ones that really kick.

Full Bodied vs. Full Strength: What's the Difference?

This is the most important thing to understand, and it tripped us up for the longest time. Full bodied cigars and full strength cigars are vastly different. Full body is about flavor, how much taste fills your palate. Full strength is about nicotine, how much it's going to kick your butt. The two do not always go together.

You can have a full flavor, full bodied cigar that is only medium in strength. For the longest time that felt like an oxymoron to us. But certain blenders, like Hendrik Kelner Junior, have the ability to put together very unique blends that will knock you off your socks on flavor without being full body or full strength. Once that clicked, it changed how we read every cigar.

Where Do Cigar Flavors Come From?

A cigar has three parts: the wrapper, the binder, and the filler. The size of the cigar matters too. As we covered in our ring gauge experiment, a bigger ring gauge gives you more of the filler. The wrapper, though, tells you a heck of a lot about the style and flavors you're going to get.

Here's a trick Gerard uses: Google the blend. When you smoke something, like a Hemingway with its Cameroon wrapper, and another cigar tastes similar, that rings a bell. Search the cigar, read reviews on sites like halfwheel and Cigar Coop, and look at the blend. If it has a Cameroon binder, that explains the flavor you like. Over time you learn which wrappers and binders match your palate.

Getting to Know Blenders

Neil likes to use a movie analogy. There are tons of movie critics out there, but you learn to follow the ones who share your taste, and then you can take their reviews to the bank. Cigars work the same way. Get to know a blender, like talking with Ian Reath about his Dapper blends and flavor profiles, and you start to understand his thinking and the specific notes in his sticks. When a blender you trust releases something new, you want to be first in line, the same way you would for a new album or movie.

Even a Medium Cigar Can Get You

Years ago we were heavily into Cubans. Gerard remembers his first Cohiba Cuban Esplendido, a big stick about seven inches long, smooth as you could imagine and right up his alley. Taking really big drags and retrohaling through the nose, he thought it was full of flavor. Five minutes later he felt green, almost on the floor, like he might be sick, all from how full of flavor it was. And that was only a medium to medium-full body stick, far from a real Maduro or something really peppery. To this day it's still one of his favorite cigars in the world.

Why does that happen? Your mouth only detects four things: sour, bitter, sweet, and spicy. Your nose can smell a thousand different scents. That's why we retrohale, to really get the flavor of the cigar, and it's also why a flavor bomb can sneak up and kick you. The Opus X is a great example, with that raisin, almost licorice-raisin sweetness that's hard to put into words but a lot of fun to chase.

How to Handle a Full Strength Cigar

We picked up a few tricks of the trade. Gerard recently watched a documentary called Hand Rolled, featuring industry leaders like Nick Perdomo, Jose Padron, and the Robaina family, including the legacy of Alejandro Robaina. A common thread was that the first time many of these guys smoked a cigar, they nearly puked.

That was Gerard's story too. His first cigar was in the backyard at 19 years old, and he could not stand it. His dad came out with a tray of cut watermelon and said, for every nasty drag, take a bite of the watermelon. It toned everything down, and he was able to tolerate the cigar and start to see what it was all about. Today, when he knows a cigar is going to be full strength because it has a lot of ligero or a Maduro wrapper, he brings a Coca-Cola along and takes sips, replacing the kick with a little sugar.

Full Bodied & Full Strength Cigars to Try

Here are a few full bodied cigars that also bring serious strength, all available at Mardo Cigars:

• Last Cowboy Limited Edition 2018: a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro with a bunch of different ligeros in the blend. It's a big cigar, full body and full strength, with pepper and spice. Expect an hour to an hour and a half of smoking.
• Foundation Wiseman Maduro: a number three cigar of the year, with a Maduro wrapper, full strength and full body. It sits at the top of the list for us.
• Dapper El Borracho: offered in both natural and Maduro, full body and full strength.
• My Father: a lot of My Father product is full strength and full body.

Full Flavor, Medium Strength Picks

If you love big flavor but a gentler kick, these are the buttery, creamy, full flavor cigars we lean on:

• Daughters of the Wind: full body, full flavor, medium strength, and very complex. They never skimp on quality.
• Dapper Cubo Claro: unbelievable flavor, not over the top, full flavor but a medium stick.
• Jake Wyatt Herbert Spencer Maduro: a San Andres wrapper whose blend keeps a creaminess, with a hint of that Cohiba Maduro Five vibe. Full body, full flavor, and about medium-full in strength.
• Paul Garmarian (PG): blended by Henrik Kelner, a medium-full stick with full flavor throughout. A reliable go-to to always keep in your humidor.

Many of these use Maduro wrappers, so if you enjoy that darker, sweeter style, our guide to maduro cigars is a great next read.

Watch: Full Bodied Cigars

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Final Thoughts

The big lesson with full bodied cigars is to separate body from strength. Full body is flavor, full strength is nicotine, and the best smokes know exactly where they sit. Keep an open mind, get to know your favorite blenders, and when something is going to kick, keep a little sugar nearby. Most of these picks are available right now at Mardo Cigars, so use your Mardo Money rewards and find your next favorite.

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