i am a new cigar smoker and enjoy a medium bodied cigar and want to buy some cigars off of the internet but don't want the cigar to be too spicy. How do I figure out what the strength of the cigar will be before i buy it?

Welcome to the forum, it's a great place to learn. More often than not the distributor (JR, Famous Smoke etc.) will indicate mild, medium, or full bodied. But please be wary of asking other people what you will like, I compare it to asking a stranger "What's my favorite dinner?". How the hell should they know????
Everyone has their own taste, experiences and cigar budget.
I would recommend buying sampler packs from the internet.
For what is worth my current favorites are Rocky Patel Vintage 92 and Olivia V. And keep the bands of the sticks you enjoy to keep a record of you potential favorites.
Most importantly, enjoy the experience of learning cigars, lord knows I have, and will continue to do so (if I'm lucky).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rick_Fortune,

Rick has a great suggestion. I picked up the JR catelog at one of their stores last week, and they have "reviews" of every brand they carry. The online catelog is pretty much the same.

And, you can just hang around here for a while. Read the reviews, and check out the "today's smoke" thread that Doc starts each day. You'll get some great ideas.

Welcome!

ya, everyones tastes are different.
you should try a nice mild la flor dominicana double ligero chisel maduro! they're just real smooth, but a little mild for my taste. enjoy.

Cigars International has 5 pak samplers for reasonable prices. Check out thier web page or get a catalog mailed to you. They tell ya what each one is;medium, mild, full. Each person will taste or smell something different and you will, too. Welcome to the group.

Addison, you forgot to tell him to enjoy that fine medium body smoke on an empty stomach! LOL

quote:

Originally posted by addison:
ya, everyones tastes are different.
you should try a nice mild la flor dominicana double ligero chisel maduro! they're just real smooth, but a little mild for my taste. enjoy.

They are tasty though that is for sure. Try a Macanudo (sp) or Fonseca as some more mild cigars.

Big Ian,

Trying samplers is a good suggestion. And, although it sounds a little dorky, keep notes. Your tastes will change as you smoke. Trying cigars that are too strong or too mild for you is all part of the process.

There are cigar reviews all over the internet and in print magazines. You have only to search. It's fun to see what wildly different opinions folks can have about the same cigar as long as you don't take it too seriously.

One other thing to mention, body and strenth and spicy are different things. Sometimes body and strength are used interchangeably to refer to the nicotine punch (or lack thereof) of the cigar. Other times, body is used to describe the mouth feel of the the smoke itself -- is it thick, thin, "chewy" -- while strengh is about the nicotine punch. Spicy is more of a flavor description.

If I were going after mild-to-medium strength cigar that is not spicy, I would maybe go for AVO XO. Or maybe a Perdomo Reserve Champagne. Or maybe Cabaiguan. There are others.

Have fun.

Simple-

If you are able, go to your local B&M (Brick and Mortar smoke shop) and pick up a stick or two of the cigar you are eyeballing online. See if you like it before you commit to 25 of them.

Bear

haha yeah, i usualy smoke two lfddlcm's back to back before breakfast!!

A good B&M is the best place for a new smoker to start for sure.

And PS- smoke more than one of the cigar before committing to a box. Check how consistent the flavors and the draw are. Maybe circumstances when smoking one the first time were different than the 2nd- how did that affect your perception of the cigar?

Let us know how it goes!

Bear

Ian, I'm right there with ya. New as well.

I started an Excel spreadsheet that lists: Cigar, size, company's description, my description (what if felt/tasted like to me), draw (degrees of ease), smoke, burn (even or not), after taste, where I smoked it, aroma, etc.

I agree that no one can smoke them for you. I, too, was a mild until I found out that the CAO Brazillia Go! I smoked was a full bodied cigar. It has been the best so far for me, with two others close behind: Romeo Julieta - Medallas de Oro 1875 "Bully" and the Carlos Torano - CASA TORANO. Neither of which I'd turn down on any occasion.

I have a CAO Gold, not Go!, waiting to be smoked but my local store told me that it would be milder than the Go! and I am actually looking for something with more body than the Go! I have several that have been recommended, so now I just have to pick them up.

Enjoy!

I'm not as hi tech as Josey but I have a small (2 x 3) notebook. I tape the band, note the taste and price and where it came from. It makes a neat hobby. My friends often ask to see the notebook when I put a new band in or a new note.