Cigars 101

Why Cigar Aroma Matters

Why cigar aroma plays an important role in the enjoyment of your cigar.

Ooh-ooh that smell. Yes, that smell that surrounds you. The smell of your cigar, that is. Why does it seem like more attention is paid to a cigar’s flavor than the aroma? I love cigars with a great aroma, and I presume many of you would agree. If you get a great aroma AND flavor, more power to you. Yet, no matter how good a cigar smells, if you’re around people who don’t care for cigars in the first place, they all smell rotten to them; even the best smelling cigar won’t change their minds.

What about when you’re smoking around your fellow cigar smokers? If one of them says to you, “What the hell are you smoking? It smells like ass,” it can take some of the wind out of your sails and you may not enjoy it as much…unless you don’t give a rat’s ass. But if they say, “Wow, what are you smoking? That cigar smells great!” you’re going to enjoy that cigar even more.

Like flavor, aroma is objective. What matters is that YOU enjoy it. Plus, I’ve never seen a cigar smoker put down their cigar due to criticism of its aroma unless it was REALLY god-awful. If a cigar smells funky but tastes great, odds are, it ain’t goin’ out, pal.

To their credit, most of the better manufacturers, both majors or boutique labels, insist that their cigars smell as good as they taste. Take wrapper leaves for example: high grade U.S. Connecticut Shade is normally sweet, while Brazilian Oscuro may smell a little heavier. A lot of it has to do with the quality of the wrapper and how well it was cured and aged. That’s why a cigar made with poor quality tobaccos will clear a room faster than tear gas.

Great aroma doesn’t just come from the wrapper, but ALL of the tobaccos in the blend. It may come from the binder or filler leaves, because what you smell also plays a big part of what you taste. The best blenders will seek the ideal mix of all the tobaccos they use in their blends to produce a great flavor and a redolent aroma.

If you want to really get down to aroma, take ACID cigars. They’re designed to have a robust fragrance. They use herbals and botanicals to achieve this, but that’s part of their allure, and an educated nose knows who in the room is smoking the ACID.

The next time you light up a cigar, pay particular attention to the aroma. If it smells great, your experience will be all that much richer.