Full ISOM

[kingbeefy]

I have had a few ISOM's. While my sampling so far has been small, it seems that what I have had has at best been medium bodied. Are there any real full bodied ISOM ass kickers out there? If so, what are they?

[badwhale]

Most of the ones I've had give me the medium body, but full flavor profile.

[ashauler]

For me, Partagas and Bolivar.

[kevin7]

There are no ialand equivelant to a JdN Antano out there. I always thought the Bolivar Gold Medals were pretty full but nothing compared to a good Nic stick

[kingbeefy]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[ggiese]

I personally think the flavor profiles of Cuban's are typically "unique", and amongst the most pleasant cigars I've smoked. Certainly there are more "fuller flavor" cigars (e.g. Bolivar, Trinidad, Vegas Robaina, Cohiba, etc), but I would also say there are not any "ass kickers" amongst the Cuban's. I'm not sure the growing conditions create the same "oomph" as tobacco grown in, say, Nicaragua. I'd more liken DR grown tobacco to what's grown in Cuba, than the other more potent tobacco's grown in other areas of that region.

The relatively new Cohiba Maduro's are awfully interesting, though.

[kingbeefy]

I'll try to get my hands on a Cohiba maduro and some Partagas and Bolivars. I did have a PSD4 a couple of weeks ago I had received in trade. It did seem to have a little more than the others cc's I've had, but still was not full bodied. I do understand that full body and full flavor are not the same and that most cc's I've had have had a very nice full flavor.

I know that cigars that age well do so because they mellow and the flavors become smoother, less bitter and harsh. I also have noticed there seems to be a greater emphasis on aging cc's than there is on aging nc's. With that being the case would it be safe to assume the fresh ones would have more body?

[ashauler]

There are many, many things that affect the "strength" of tobacco. Growing region, fermentation (1-2-3 rounds), fermentation temperature, age, time of harvest, position of the leaf on the plant, and on.....and on.......and on.

[craig]

A fresh RASS knocked me out a few years ago. Fresh Quintero's, especially the Panatella, can be strong (even though the Panatella has no ligero).

However, such full cigars are also generally quite tannic when young, so, while the body is stronger, I wouldn't recommend it.

In general, Cubans derive burn from volado (bottom leaves), taste from seco (middle leaves), and strength from ligero (top leaves). There aren't any that use different ligero's for all of the filler AFAIK - the base of the flavour is from seco.

Note that Nic strength is greatly affected by processing (fermentation removes nicotine, for
example).

The top (strongest) ligero leaves used to be thrown out, but now they find their way onto Cohiba Maduro 5 and the annual LE's. However, the leaves are used for wrapper, not filler, so are processed differently.

YMMV