How Master Blender Henderson Ventura Tastes Cigars

Strength, flavor, and body are the three most important yet confusing topics when it comes to cigars. Brandon and Henderson Ventura of ADVentura Cigars sit down for an in-depth discussion on how important retrohaling is to the experience of cigar smoking, and what each of them looks for when evaluating a cigar.

A truly excellent cigar should invigorate your entire pallet without overwhelming you with strength or any one particular flavor. But when it comes to a cigar’s spice level, that’s where confusion rears it head again. Plenty of cigar smokers enjoy a spicy cigar, and there are a number of specific tobacco producing regions whose hallmark is a certain level of spice. But too much spice is also a key indicator of “young” tobacco that hasn’t been allowed to aged properly. Of course, this doesn’t mean that tobacco should never be spicy—almost all tobacco has some spiciness. See where it can get a little tricky?

In the video below, Henderson discusses how he uses the retrohale of a cigar to determine the balance of strength, body, and flavor in a tobacco blend. If you still have questions on retrohaling or tasting your cigar, check out our blog here!