Light / Medium/ Full Cuban ratings

[rbi]

Greetings all,
I'm a newbie not only to FOH but also to cigars in general.  I just started smoking cigars about 3 months ago and since that point, I have experimented with several non-Cuban cigars and determined that I generally tend to prefer light to medium- flavored cigars.  I've tried a few that are on the stronger side of medium and one full-flavored cigar and they tend to make my head spin by the time I get into the second third of the cigar.

 

So, I suppose my question is this:  other than going through each individual manufacturer and type of Cuban here and reading the reviews, is there a way to determine which ones would trend more towards the lighter to medium-flavored cigars here?

Thanks in advance for all the knowledge you guys have already shared on here.  Very enlightening for a newbie like myself.

Ron

 

[NSXCIGAR]

We could go through each marca but you can google light and strong CCs and get a basic idea. But keep in mind there's some discrepancies IMO. For example, I've seen SLR listed as very strong (it's not) and HU listed as very light (it's not) among some others. 

22 minutes ago, rbi said:

other than going through each individual manufacturer

There's only one manufacturer--the state-run enterprise Cubatabaco. They offer cigars under 27 different marcas. 

I would strongly recommend trying a cigar from every marca. Each marca has its own characteristics. That's how I got started. 27 marcas is a manageable number and is really the only way to get a handle on CCs properly. 

[nKostyan]

http://www.habanos.com/en/vitolario/

Each cigar has a characteristic "flavor”, focus on the official data. There are of course exceptions for the dark wrapper, but mostly it corresponds.

 

[Colt45]

Perhaps not exactly what you're looking for, these  discussions are still a good place to start:

Link1

Link2

 

[rbi]

Excellent responses and I thank each of you for taking the time to do so.  I learned some new information today!

@Colt45, that 2nd link was the perfect link for what I was looking for.  Thank you!

[El Presidente]

It is easy to confuse  "light to medium- flavored"  with "light to medium -bodied"

as an example, a good san cristobal Fuerza is light to medium bodied but full flavoured. 

 

[rbi]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

It is easy to confuse  "light to medium- flavored"  with "light to medium -bodied"

as an example, a good san cristobal Fuerza is light to medium bodied but full flavoured. 

 

I am such a newbie that I’m not sure I know the difference.  I just know that some of the “stronger” tasting Cigars that I had smoked made my head spin. I ordered a box of Montecristo number twos because a friend of mine with similar cigar tastes raves about them.  Figured they would make a good start to my cc collection.  

[BTWheezy]

Also, do the Samplers, and take notes.  Great way to efficiently, and economically, see what you like (and what you don’t).  Nothing worse than spending two, three, four hundred a box, only to find out you don’t lie that cigar.

Welcome abroad, and don’t fret too much about 24:24.  It’s addicting at the start, then you realize that there’s more for sale everyday. As @Elpresidente says...“they’re just cigars people.”

[Cigar Surgeon]

17 hours ago, rbi said:

I am such a newbie that I’m not sure I know the difference.  I just know that some of the “stronger” tasting Cigars that I had smoked made my head spin. I ordered a box of Montecristo number twos because a friend of mine with similar cigar tastes raves about them.  Figured they would make a good start to my cc collection.  

I always put it in the context of alcohol because it's easier to clarify.

Body is the intensity of flavor. Strength is the intensity of nicotine. The parallel here is alcohol where you could have a 43% ABV whisky that is full bodied but at 43% that's not full strength. Conversely you could have a 63% ABV whisky that's light, delicate and quite light bodied, but at 63% that is definitely full strength.

As a beginner you're quite often going to be smoking too fast, which will often times lead to the 'spins'. In the event of the spins you should immediately eat something high in sugar, or drink a beverage high in sugar to counteract the effects (and obviously stop smoking that cigar).

All of that to say: Full bodied doesn't necessarily have to be full strength. And I've smoked quite a number of full strength cigars that were very light bodied.

[nKostyan]

It is better when the cigar has approximately the same strenght/body balance without skew. It is not so essential for the high body, but high strenght can suppress a weak body

[Colt45]

18 hours ago, rbi said:

I am such a newbie that I’m not sure I know the difference.

For me, body is the weight of the smoke on the palate, strength the feeling in the stomach / head, and flavor being, well, how flavorful it is. To borrow a wine reference, good red Burgundy has structure, is very flavorful, yet has a feeling of lightness (body) on the palate.

[rbi]

You guys are magnificent!  Thanks for taking the time to help a newcomer like myself understand cigars better.  Really enjoying this site!

[Tstew75]

There's a chart floating around that loosely categorizes Cuban marcas by power/strength...I'll look for it.

I think the OG is simply looking for broad generalizations here. Such as QDO being uber light & Bolivar being very powerful (to use some obvious examples).