Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled. You will not be able to properly use this site until you enable JavaScript
It’s difficult to fathom now that as recently as 25 years ago, full-bodied cigars weren’t all that common. During the cigar boom era of the 1990s, mellow smokes were all the rage, and stronger cigars essentially didn’t begin to occupy significant shelf space until the tail end of this modern cigar renaissance. The world’s premium cigar selection is now much larger as a whole, and full-strength smokes make up a considerable portion of it; a fact that is regularly celebrated by those of especially voracious taste.
Made using the strongest of fine tobaccos and designed to satisfy the most experienced cigar fans, the best full-bodied cigars pull out all the stops to deliver a striking smoke that fills your senses to the brim. Here we’ve compiled a list of five full-bodied cigars that anyone who likes ‘em bold should be checking out in 2022. These are the kind of cigars that even “old pros” should smoke slowly, on a full stomach, and with a fresh palate to soak up all those juicy flavors.
The incredible depth and complexity of Plasencia Alma Fuerte cigars is perhaps best aesthetically represented by its distinguished Generacion V Salomon vitola. It’s not often that a cigar’s looks match its bold flavors so aptly, and the 93-rated Generacion V Salomon’s dark and regal exterior conveys the blend’s refined power perfectly. Comprised mainly of Nicaraguan Criollo ‘98 tobaccos spanning the country’s top growing regions of Estelí, Condega, Jalapa, and Ometepe, this masterfully-crafted figurado cigar delivers dense and layered flavors of sweet coffee, cocoa powder, creamy Nutella, marshmallow, and more to go with its formidable full body.
The My Father La Opulencia cigar doesn’t water down its compelling presence with any sentiments of feigned humility. Instead, it touts its elegant aura of abundance right in its name. Resurrecting a classic Cuban label, the La Opulencia is rolled using a Mexican Rosado Oscuro wrapper over Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo double binders and lush Cuban-seed fillers from the Garcia family farms to introduce a strong smoke with copious rich character. The box-pressed Toro version offers a straight burn and ample draw to complement the blend’s flavorful flow of chocolate, black pepper, leather, and nutty-sweet tasting tones. Its heavy body essentially forces you to take in its exuberant pleasures slowly for a particularly rewarding and memorable smoke.
Loaded with Ligero tobaccos grown in Nicaragua’s most potent soils, Cain Maduro cigars pull no punches in terms of heavy-hitting flavor. These dark smokes are surprisingly-smooth in delivery of their dense and deeply earthy tasting tones, and with the beefy 6 x 60 size, its resulting slow and cool burn performance magnifies this experience mightily.
A masterwork of deep and dark tobacco enchantment, the bold refinement of the Espinosa Laranja Azulejo Robusto Extra is as rich in nuanced flavor as it is rigorously robust. Pulling together select tobaccos from Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Brazil, the Laranja Azulejo erupts with booming tones of earth, dark wood, almond, and peppery spice. Despite its heft, the clever blending of the La Zona crew makes this lush profile come across as balanced and smooth, especially when accompanied by an appropriate beverage.
A complex and commanding expression from the masters at Davidoff, the Winston Churchill Late Hour delivers decadence on all fronts – flavor, aroma, and a forceful full body. Wrapped in oily Ecuadorian Habano and filled with cask-aged Nicaraguan and Dominican long-leaves, the Late Hour invokes a layered succession of zesty black pepper, dark earth, coffee, sweetness, cocoa bean, wood, and spices. Pumped through the stately 7 x 50 Churchill vitola, this gratifying exchange plays out over the course of a 2 hours+ burn time.