Any avid cigar enthusiast will tell you that using the nose in cigar smoking is essential to tasting all the flavors a cigar has to offer. For a long time I had a really hard time doing this. I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to get the smoke to come out through my nose without inhaling. I read a blog by Alex Svenson which included notes on how to do this where he eluded to a half swallowing motion followed by an exhale. While I use a lot of methods that I've heard Alex recommend, and while this may work for many, it certainly didn't for me and I soon found myself gagging.

For any BOTL's out there who are new to this and trying to figure this out as well, perhaps struggling the same way I did, here is a rather simplified method that I use for breathing the smoke out of my nose and extracting those true flavors from my cigar.

1.) Take two large draws from your cigar releasing the smoke almost immediately. This is to heat up the oils.
2.) After the two large draws, take a smaller draw around half the size of the first two.
3.) Close your mouth and start breathing out your nose. The smoke will find its way there without any additional help and without going to your lunges.
4.) Blow as much out as you are comfortable with and then blow the rest out your mouth. The point is not quantity of smoke, but that you're actually allowing the smoke to reach your nose. I personally blow very little, just until I see or feel smoke coming out and then I release the rest from my mouth.

Step 4 is the part that takes practice. Only you know what you're comfortable with and you will soon be able to determine the precise amount for any cigar. This method has helped me immensely with differentiating flavors in a cigar and I'm sure it will help many of you as well.

Cheers,
Phil

I use the nose method and it does impart some different flavors and tastes.

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There is no blender but AJ, and The Beard is his merchant

MOW Special Forces Badge Recipient

Yes. Do this but, my recomendation is start small. Start w/ very little smoke and as suspect said, you will find what amount your comfortable with on a given smoke. But start small/very little smoke and work your way up. Otherwise it can be very unpleasant (IMHO).

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"EL Perfecto"

And if you're trying to learn how to do this, do it with a mild cigar...it will hurt less when you screw up. :)

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"Beliefs are neat. Cherish them, but don't share them like they're the truth" Bill Hicks

First time i tried this was on a NUb Maduro... bad idea.... ive got it figured out now... imparts much more enjoyment into the smoke

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For some reason I never really had any trouble in doing this...and I think it makes a big difference in my enjoyment of cigars. I really like spicy cigars (although there are some I don't do much more than 50 percent through the nose) and this really helps you pick that up.

I agree I recently started doing this. Usually the only thing I can pick up through the nose is spice. What flavors does everyone else get?

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vice president, department of redundancy department

kingjk729:

its my personal opinion that people are like cigars ..... they mostly get better with some aging.

...........choke......gag.........cough.........gag..........yeah works well.

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lilwing88: "Closed, huh? That blows. I guess I'll take my HTF Tats, Viajes, Fuentes and smoke them till I puke....."

firetruckguy:

...........choke......gag.........cough.........gag..........yeah works well.

As the saying goes, if you're gagging, you're doing it wrong.

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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Thanks Suspect. I tried the swallowing method suggested by Alex (easy Lassie & Urbino) and it didn't work for me either. Once I'm over this foolish bronchitis and can smoke again, I'll give it a try.

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“A good cigar is like a beautiful chick with a great body who also knows the American League box scores.” – M*A*S*H, Klinger

I have the opposite problem. I inhale so much smoke just seeps out of every orifice.

letsgowithbob:

I agree I recently started doing this. Usually the only thing I can pick up through the nose is spice. What flavors does everyone else get?

It depends on the cigar. What blowing smoke through your nose does is it enables you to use your sense of smell in conjunction with your taste buds, it allows you to more completely taste the cigar. Taste buds only report on a certain number of basic tastes, but when taken together with what your olfactory senses detect you are given a more complete picture of what a cigar tastes like.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say the reason you only detect "spice" is due to blowing too much smoke through the nose and overwhelming the senses. Try it with just a little smoke and see if you notice a difference.

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"Beliefs are neat. Cherish them, but don't share them like they're the truth" Bill Hicks

urbino:

firetruckguy:

...........choke......gag.........cough.........gag..........yeah works well.

As the saying goes, if you're gagging, you're doing it wrong.

Hey urbi, are we still talking about cigars ?

j0z3r:

letsgowithbob:

I agree I recently started doing this. Usually the only thing I can pick up through the nose is spice. What flavors does everyone else get?

It depends on the cigar. What blowing smoke through your nose does is it enables you to use your sense of smell in conjunction with your taste buds, it allows you to more completely taste the cigar. Taste buds only report on a certain number of basic tastes, but when taken together with what your olfactory senses detect you are given a more complete picture of what a cigar tastes like.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say the reason you only detect "spice" is due to blowing too much smoke through the nose and overwhelming the senses. Try it with just a little smoke and see if you notice a difference.

Yeah. What he said. I used to always comment that most of the cigars tasted the same to me, that I couldn't pick up on all the subtleties that the more experienced guys were tasting, that I couldn't really tell the difference between a cheap cigar and a premium cigar. Getting this down has really changed my entire perception of cigars.

Again, like j0z3r said, just a little bit of smoke is all that's needed, just enough to introduce the flavors in the smoke to the nose.

clearlysuspect:

Any avid cigar enthusiast will tell you that using the nose in cigar smoking is essential to tasting all the flavors a cigar has to offer. For a long time I had a really hard time doing this. I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to get the smoke to come out through my nose without inhaling. I read a blog by Alex Svenson which included notes on how to do this where he eluded to a half swallowing motion followed by an exhale. While I use a lot of methods that I've heard Alex recommend, and while this may work for many, it certainly didn't for me and I soon found myself gagging.

For any BOTL's out there who are new to this and trying to figure this out as well, perhaps struggling the same way I did, here is a rather simplified method that I use for breathing the smoke out of my nose and extracting those true flavors from my cigar.

1.) Take two large draws from your cigar releasing the smoke almost immediately. This is to heat up the oils.
2.) After the two large draws, take a smaller draw around half the size of the first two.
3.) Close your mouth and start breathing out your nose. The smoke will find its way there without any additional help and without going to your lunges.
4.) Blow as much out as you are comfortable with and then blow the rest out your mouth. The point is not quantity of smoke, but that you're actually allowing the smoke to reach your nose. I personally blow very little, just until I see or feel smoke coming out and then I release the rest from my mouth.

Step 4 is the part that takes practice. Only you know what you're comfortable with and you will soon be able to determine the precise amount for any cigar. This method has helped me immensely with differentiating flavors in a cigar and I'm sure it will help many of you as well.

Cheers,
Phil

this is very true.

the way i do it is a bit different. I get that puff in my mouth and let out about 1/4 of it and puff out my cheeks. then i stop letting it out my mouth and start to breathe out through my nose while collapsing my cheeks a bit. this forces the smoke out my nose a bit. when i feel that its getting too much i let the rest out my mouth again.

since smell and taste are so closely related, this is a great way to get the most out of any cigar.

great post CS.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate