Mild, Medium or Full: What Cigar Strength Really Means

Ask ten smokers what makes a cigar strong and you will hear ten answers, most of them about the color of the wrapper. Strength is simpler than that, and more interesting: it starts in the field, on one part of the plant, long before the cigar is rolled.

Strength, body and flavor are three different things

• Strength is the nicotine, what you feel: the warmth and the weight that build as you smoke.
• Body is how full the smoke feels in the mouth: thin and light, or thick and creamy.
• Flavor is what you taste: cedar, cocoa, pepper, coffee, leather, sweetness.

They often travel together, but not always. A cigar can be full-bodied and mild, or light-bodied with a real kick, and almost any strength can carry rich flavor.

Where strength comes from

The part of the plant. Tobacco leaves are named by how high they grow. Volado, from the bottom, burns well and is mild. Seco, from the middle, brings aroma and flavor. Ligero, from the top, gets the most sun, grows thick and oily and carries the most strength; it is the leaf behind full cigars, and it needs the longest fermentation and aging of all.

The land. Soil and climate shape the leaf. Nicaraguan tobacco, grown around Estelí and on the volcanic island of Ometepe, is known for its bold, peppery character, while other regions tend toward smoother, rounder leaf. The same seed grown in two valleys gives two different tobaccos.

The blend. A blender sets the strength mostly through the share of ligero in the filler and the regions it comes from, then tunes it with the binder and the wrapper.

Time. Fermentation and aging round off the edges. A blend can feel stronger young than after a year in the box.

A dark wrapper does not mean a strong cigar

A maduro wrapper is dark because it was fermented longer, not because it is stronger, and many maduros taste sweet and smooth. A pale Connecticut wrapper usually signals a mild cigar, but the same wrapper over a filler heavy in ligero can still be full. Judge by the blend, not by the color.

Reading the five-step meter

Every cigar at Cigar Smiths carries a strength meter with five steps:

1. Mild: smooth and easy, a good first cigar or a morning one.
2. Mild to medium: still smooth, with more of the tobacco's character.
3. Medium: noticeable strength, balanced from start to finish.
4. Medium to full: bolder leaf, more pepper and weight.
5. Full: driven by ligero, rich and powerful, for experienced smokers.

Strength is personal. Treat the meter as a starting point, and trust your own palate after a few cigars.

How strength changes as you smoke

Most cigars grow stronger as they burn. Oils and tars collect in the tobacco that is left, so the final third is often the boldest. Smoking slowly keeps the cigar cooler and smoother; puffing fast makes any cigar hotter and harsher.

Where to start

• Begin with mild or mild to medium, and move up one step at a time.
• Smoke after a meal, not on an empty stomach.
• Keep water or coffee at hand, and take your time: a puff every minute or so is plenty.
• Cigar smoke is for tasting, not for inhaling.
• If you feel light-headed or flushed, set the cigar down, drink some water and eat something sweet.

Find the strength that suits you, and the rest of the journey is flavor: regions, wrappers and sizes. That is where it gets good.