Are you guys kidding me or what. I don't want to insult anybody but:
Jabba - Thanks that was helpful, There are a lot of companys who use these terms to describe their cigars. How do you ignore them. I don't see many who use the terms you described.
G1 - Those links do not address my questions.
Tigger - Comparing fish to beef?
I asked a ligitimate question hoping to get some genuine feedback. I can take a ribbing as well as the next guy but the above answers were not that.
I was actually interested in at least some positive feedback and thought that is was a good question. I guess I was wrong. Maybe I actually do have have a burnt tounge and have been smoking to long.
BT,
What is your beef? Why the chip on your shoulder? I mean, really. Four guys took the time to try and answer what they interpreted your question was about and you give them attitude like this? This is poor form.
If four out of four guys gave you what you thought were crap answers, maybe that's a clue that your initial phrasing was unclear.
I reread your initial post and I am still struggling to make sense of it. Your post of 2:40 PM restates the questions from your opening post but does not attempt to clarify them based on the unacceptable responses you've gotten.
Let me take a crack at clarifying a few points for our members.
1.
What exactly does body refer to, is it flavor, or strength of smoke.
As far as I can tell, the industry uses the term "body" to denote a blended property combining nicotine kick, mouthfeel, and flavor with a bias toward the nic-kick component. Cigar smokers tend to use "body" more commonly in reference to the mouthfeel component and reserve the term "strength" to refer to the nic-kick. We also tend to break out "flavor" into its own category. This was the point tigger was trying to make to you and that you dismissed. IMO, the analogy he used was insightful and relevant.
2.
Does anyone else find these discrepancies on these ratings or am I nuts?
Discrepancy in what ratings? Do you mean the discrepancy between manufacturers' claims of the strength or body of a cigar and your perception of these same cigars? If so, here's one of the more recent examples of a discussion about this centered on the
Carlos Torano Exodus 1959. In fact, you even posted in that thread. The answer to the question phrased in this manner is "yeah, it happens and the range of variation for any given cigar can vary from near total agreement to something less."
3.
Additionally what does strength refer to flavor or difficulty of inhale? For those of you who don't inhale I am sure it happens occasionaly accidently.
A very small percentage of cigar smokers inhale. I've heard numbers down around 5% I'm not sure that either strength, flavor, or body has much to do with irritation reactions upon accidental inhalation. I think that harshness related to completeness of fermentation and tobacco quality is far more pertinent here. I think jabba provided a link about this but it looks like he might have edited it.
So to summarize:
A. The industry commonly collapses flavor, body, and strength into one term, "body" and the primary connotation is in regards to "strength" followed closely by "flavor." Some retailers/manufacturers use strength (Holts) and others use body (JR Cigars).
B. Smokers are more likely to separate the characteristics of flavor (intensity of taste or aroma), body (heaviness or lightness of mouthfeel), and strength (nicotine kick) although not all users use these terms in the same sense contributing to the confusion so often encountered.
Wilkey
