Expert: James Yee - 10/8/2008

Question
I have two questions. I would like to gain a better understanding of what makes a cigar full-bodied or strong.  Is it the high levels of nicotine or the flavor of the tobacco?  Also, are all Maduros stronger than Connecticut or lighter wrapper leafed cigars? I'm more of a mild to medium cigar smoker and the few full-bodied sticks that I've tried have been quite harsh on my palate.   Thanks

Answer
Hi Charles,

The strength of a cigar depends entirely on the type of filler tobacco used, the age of the filler tobacco (ie: length of fermentation and aging times) and how it is used in a cigar (the distinct filler recipe).  Much of the strength in a cigar is based on the filler tobacco.  Filler tobacco is sun-grown and on a tobacco plant, leaves near the top of the tobacco plant (ligero) are usually full-flavoured and picked last during cultivation.  Leaves in the middle of the plant (seco) are generally more medium-bodied and leaves near the bottom of the plant (volado) are the youngest and more mild in strength.  (Volado leaves are also picked first while the other leaves grow for a longer amount of time.)  Ligero leaves are also fermented longer than seco and volado tobacco and this produces a stronger flavour.  Ligero leaves are fermented for 120 days while seco (85 days) and volado (70 days) have shorter fermentation periods.  Ligero tobacco are also aged for a minimum of 2 years while volado and seco tobacco age for 9-18 months.  This helps retain a strong full-bodied characteristic in ligero leaves.

Maduro cigar are usually milder than other cigars.  Wrapper leaves are shade grown and maduro leaves are shade-grown for the longest amount of time.  This causes much of the cigar's natural oils and nicotine to be extrude from the leaves.  As a result, maduro leaves have a dark, almost black colour which produces a milder taste.  While maduro cigars do look intimidating with their dark wrapper leaves, they are in actuality pretty mild.

Hopes this answers your question. If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James