How to Retrohale and why the Hell…

[emoshun]

They have to stack them 2 high when dealing with Paul.

 

[Tall Paul]

 

 


 

Great post and thanks for the info! My nose has been structurally crushed since my early teens but should be fixed mid March... :laugh: <br /> <br />On a really good day with no allergies or sniffles I can get some slight smoke to go into my nose but its hell. I will try your methods tomorrow thanks brother.<br /> <br />Paul

<br /><br />You're a mess!
 

 
Growing up in the city you take a couple shots to the nose every once and awhile...
 


Exactly how many people can reach your nose to punch it when you're 7'2" ?
 


 
7'2" Is a bit of a stretch... lol I'm 6'8" and this was way before my growth spurt. To answer your question it was two but one was a cheater who blind sided me with a piece of wood... Sadly both times it was the left side of my nose that took the most force so there lies the big problems now.
 
Today I had a Upmann 46 and was able to get a couple good retrohales but have yet to perfect it and more trials are in order to see how the hell I actually got it to work.
 
Paul

 

[Devil Doc]

That'll teach you not to insult hookers in the Combat Zone. Oh wait, you're not old enough to know where and what that is.
 
Doc

 

[bfreebern]

That'll teach you not to insult hookers in the Combat Zone. Oh wait, you're not old enough to know where and what that is.
 
Doc

 
 
Too beaucoup:
 

 

[CigSid]

 
Today I had a Upmann 46 and was able to get a couple good retrohales but have yet to perfect it and more trials are in order to see how the hell I actually got it to work.
 
Paul
 

Very nice Paul! Half the fun is smoking the good one's to try this...

 

[Tall Paul]

That'll teach you not to insult hookers in the Combat Zone. Oh wait, you're not old enough to know where and what that is.
 
Doc

You're right I'm not old enough to remember it and I wasn't around when it happened but I remember stories of the combat zone as a kid. I believe it was somewhere around Boylston Street correct? Those hookers sure know how to swing some wood!

 

[Devil Doc]

Washington St., Just outside of China town. Some of the best pizza I ever had was across the street from the Naked I, a strip joint. If it wasn't for those idiot kids from Harvard, it would still be there.
 
Doc

 

[personal User]

I just started doing this 3 or 4 months ago.
 
Makes a world of difference in enjoyment.
 
Once I have a cigar going well, I retrohale most puffs. 
 
Also, I experience the cigars differently. Former favorites, maybe not so favorite now. Former dislikes, might be something I like now.
 
It helped me when learning, to consciously block off the back of my throat so as not to inhale. Haven't smoked cigarettes for over 30 years, but I guess the tendency to inhale is there.
 
I urge anyone who is not doing so currently, to stick with it till you learn the technique. It's well worth the effort.
 
It is so much more satisfying and enjoyable. Somewhat more of a deeper experience.

 

[ironpeddler]

When I took a few cooking classes and a well known culinary school, I had two chefs discuss this at length...one of which insisted that 75% or more of taste was through the sense of smell. The other chef held to the notion that it was at least a 50/50 balance between taste & smell for the brain to decide if you liked something you ate. Here are a few articles that explains a bit of the relationship between the two.
 
LINK
 
LINK
 
When I was just starting out smoking cigars in my late teens, I noticed one of my Uncle Nick's friends doing something that I do to this day with almost every cigar I smoke. He did the standard charring of the cigar and then took a series of small, quick puffs to get it going. At that point he took the cigar out of his mouth and held it about a foot or so away from his nose, chest high, and waved the smoke from the burning cigar towards his nose and inhaled. He did about 4 or 5 waves of the hand over the smoke before I asked why he did this. He said, "I'm setting the table for my pallet so I can get the full enjoyment of the cigar." Pretty cool I thought, but still thought he was a nut...UNTIL I did it myself and found he was completely correct. I find I get a good handle on what the cigar will taste like before I start smoking it...and when I do retrohale, it's the back end of my exhale and I don't do it on every pull on the cigar. I find with the stronger Nicaraguan puro cigars, they can burn the receptors in my nose to the point I don't pick up much flavor. Haven't you ever walking into a room where one person is smoking a cigar, not a room full of smokers, and you took one smell and said to yourself, 'Wow, what a nice, fragrant stick that is.' Or conversely, 'What a nasty smelling cigar that guy is smoking.' To that point alone, you realize how important the sense of smell is with enjoying a cigar. Try it and see what you think.
 
To take this further, I have always found that during a multiple cigar smoking day, the retrohale has to be used sparingly because of the taste left behind from doing so. When we discussed on a previous thread the times we smoke multiple cigars within a day, when you consistently retrohale, you can't smoke a heavier cigar before a milder cigar...to me, if I do so, I find the second cigar's taste is changed by the residual amounts of flavor left behind from the stronger cigar.
 
On a single cigar day or evening, this is not an issue. 

 

[CigSid]

When I took a few cooking classes and a well known culinary school, I had two chefs discuss this at length...one of which insisted that 75% or more of taste was through the sense of smell. The other chef held to the notion that it was at least a 50/50 balance between taste & smell for the brain to decide if you liked something you ate. Here are a few articles that explains a bit of the relationship between the two.
 
LINK
 
LINK
 
When I was just starting out smoking cigars in my late teens, I noticed one of my Uncle Nick's friends doing something that I do to this day with almost every cigar I smoke. He did the standard charring of the cigar and then took a series of small, quick puffs to get it going. At that point he took the cigar out of his mouth and held it about a foot or so away from his nose, chest high, and waved the smoke from the burning cigar towards his nose and inhaled. He did about 4 or 5 waves of the hand over the smoke before I asked why he did this. He said, "I'm setting the table for my pallet so I can get the full enjoyment of the cigar." Pretty cool I thought, but still thought he was a nut...UNTIL I did it myself and found he was completely correct. I find I get a good handle on what the cigar will taste like before I start smoking it...and when I do retrohale, it's the back end of my exhale and I don't do it on every pull on the cigar. I find with the stronger Nicaraguan puro cigars, they can burn the receptors in my nose to the point I don't pick up much flavor. Haven't you ever walking into a room where one person is smoking a cigar, not a room full of smokers, and you took one smell and said to yourself, 'Wow, what a nice, fragrant stick that is.' Or conversely, 'What a nasty smelling cigar that guy is smoking.' To that point alone, you realize how important the sense of smell is with enjoying a cigar. Try it and see what you think.
 
To take this further, I have always found that during a multiple cigar smoking day, the retrohale has to be used sparingly because of the taste left behind from doing so. When we discussed on a previous thread the times we smoke multiple cigars within a day, when you consistently retrohale, you can't smoke a heavier cigar before a milder cigar...to me, if I do so, I find the second cigar's taste is changed by the residual amounts of flavor left behind from the stronger cigar.
 
On a single cigar day or evening, this is not an issue. 

 
Gary, great post, I can't get enough of this information... Cigar smoking is an art that can be greatly enhanced with the right knowledge...

 

[rob300c]

Pretty simple to do for me.
If I had to explain it I do a fake inhale or like a 1/16 of a breath and then exhale through the nose.
Very strong peppery cigars are the best to start with!      
 
-Rob

 

[MadMonk]

Excellent post. Yea, I've retrohaled since beginning smoking. I never had a learning process, and wonder if I could even explain how to do it. I think you did a pretty good job at that too. No question that it results in a much more profound sense of the flavors.