Cigar Flavor

[cigarsarge]

This post is partially inspired by what brother Moki did to that wonderful cigar. He got me to thinking about how the way a cigar is constructed would cause it to taste. We all know wrapper and filler affect the profile of a cigar. My question is does the binder have any major part to play in this. Does it provide anything outside of holding the filler together?

 

[Robbmt]

Marginal flavor at best, I think

I believe that "binder" is a very good term. I believe that this portion of the cigar is the largest determining factor in how the cigar will burn down. Those experts that we pay to blend these tobaccos ,however, probably understand better than I how these leaves will contribute to the entire flavor profile.

 

[waliguy]

Yes, it does. Not only is the binder responsible for a portion of the cigar's flavor, but also it is used for the structural integrity of the smoke.

A lot of binder is taken from the top portion of the tobacco leaf. This is the ligero portion...it is exposed the most to the sun, has a lot of oils...and as I say....ligero is um...um...good!

 

[wk-mang]

I recall that someone on A.S.C. did an experiment but it involved wrappers. They took 3 different cigars and peeled off the wrappers then smoked them in a pipe to see what impact only the wrapper leaf had on flavor. I believe that they said that each wrapper had a disticnt difference in flavor but that the flavor wasn't very strong at all. I think that 3 wrappers tested were cameroon, conn broadleaf maduro, and conn shade natural. I recall that the cameroon had the stongest flavor. Too bad they didn't try the Oliva Ecuadoran Sungrown Wrappers.... that would've been interesting!

I think a test like this would work well for binders. I'd be interested to read the results of someone decides to do this. And... don't look at me to do this as I'd rather smoke and enjoy a cigar than disect it in the name of science! LOL!

Aloha,

Wade

 

[dixieland_conjunction]

I'm curious (I don't know the answer), but are "makes" of cigars like a La Perla Toro Maduro and a Toro Natural identical in all aspects other than the wrapper?

If they are, then I would tend to agree that the wrapper has a VERY significant impact on flavor.


The best illustration could be the difference b/w the Astral candela and maddies (same size, same factory) I put head-to-head on night a few month ago. The were both downright horrible, but in completely different ways.

Cheers,
Dixie