Are you the kind of person who chooses a vindaloo at your local curry house because it’s packed with eastern spices? Do you grow your own habanero chili peppers? Maybe you carry around a bottle of Tabasco and put fresh ground pepper on everything like it’s going out of style.
If so, you’re not alone!
While those who crave bold flavors with a hefty dose of spice may be in the minority, they’re not hard to find. The cigar industry is full of spicy, peppery cigars.
What Makes a Cigar Spicy?
The same things that make a cigar not spicy: The selection of different leaves, where they are grown, the amount of sunshine they are exposed to, and how they are cured, fermented, and aged all play a part. Let’s take a closer look.
How does the Tobacco Plant Impact the Spice?
Heavy spice is often associated with the highest primings on a tobacco plant: the ligero or medio tiempo leaves. These leaves are most exposed to the full rays of the sun and get the first chance to enjoy unfettered access to the minerals and nutrients the plant is able to absorb from the soil.
Certain seeds, soils, flavor profiles, brands, and wrapper colors can be classified as “spicier” than others. In the wonderful world of cigars, ask a straightforward question but don’t expect a straightforward answer! Everything is nuanced, and there is usually an exception to wreck your carefully considered arguments.
Let's try to set some broad parameters so you can begin working your way through a range of blends to find the spice profile you like.
Understanding Cigar Strength and Spice Profiles
While strong cigars are often peppery, a peppery cigar is not necessarily a strong one. Strength, or body, refers to nicotine content and how well you handle it. A strong cigar to you may be mild to someone else.
Heavy spiciness is often found in stronger cigars, those made with more ligero leaf, which is the highest priming and most flavorful (and contains the highest levels of nicotine). However, it is possible to have a milder cigar with plenty of spice. These cigars might have a sweeter, smoother kind of spice like nutmeg, cinnamon, or clove, rather than a fiery, nose-tingling pepper or chili burn associated with stronger tobaccos.
A cigar can seem spicier if you smoke it too fast because it is burning too hot, causing all those lovely, nuanced flavors to be lost. It’s like over-chilling your champagne. If you freeze your bubbles to within an inch of their lives, all you will taste is cold bubbles.
In general, the following can be said to be true:
- Nicaraguan cigars have a spicier, more peppery profile than most due to the soil
- Sungrown leaves are spicier than shade-grown
- Young tobacco is spicier than old tobacco, as younger tobacco will produce more fiery spices, while old tobacco is more floral
- Natural wrappers are spicier than Maduro
Our Recommendations for the Top 5 Spicy Cigars
With all that in mind, here are some spicy cigars for you to get your teeth into. Or rather, around…
1. Perdomo Habano Bourbon Barrel Aged Sun Grown Epicure
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Shape: Toro
Size: 6 x 54
Strength: Medium - Full
Grade: Hand Rolled / Long Filler
Color: Colorado
Binder/Filler: Nicaragua / Nicaragua
Wrapper Type: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
Nick Perdomo’s insatiable appetite for perfection leaves no stone unturned. Not only does he lie in bed at night thinking of ways to improve his already incredible cigar-making system, but he also loves a spicy cigar.
The Sun Grown Habano is a perfect example, thanks to the flavor-loaded leaves exposed to 12 hours of sunshine a day on his farms in Nicaragua. There is a host of powerful funkiness to this cigar, which gives a peppery tingle to the retrohale and similar nip on the tongue. But final aging in old bourbon barrels adds an element of woody spice and sweetness, balancing the flavors. Even better, it’s a superbly priced hand-rolled cigar.
2. Tatuaje Black Label Gran Toro
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Shape: Toro
Size: 6 1/2 x 52
Strength: Full
Grade: Hand Rolled / Long Filler
Color: Colorado
Binder/Filler: Nicaragua / Nicaragua
Wrapper Type: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo
If you smoke a Tatuaje, you’re likely to get some spice. Founder Pete Johnston is a disciple of old-style Cuban cigars: rich, powerful ones, beautifully blended with a ton of flavors that delight and dance across the palate. The Romeo y Julieta Cazadores is still produced in Cuba and is a powerful beast. Johnston’s version is no different.
It’s bold and deep, and packed with pepper. But, because he has become a master of blending tobaccos, this rough diamond transitions into a more sophisticated gem by its conclusion, with feisty spices melting into more playful ones like cinnamon and cardamom, with a pop of chewy fruitiness as a bonus.
3. My Father La Flor De Las Antillas Belicoso
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Shape: Belicoso
Size: 5 1/2 x 52
Strength: Full
Grade: Hand Rolled / Long Filler
Color: Colorado
Binder/Filler: Nicaragua / Nicaragua
Wrapper Type: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
This cigar has been around for ages, having won Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year award in 2012, but still does great business, and for a good reason. It’s a winner and should find a space in your humidor.
It’s strong, but you may not feel it; so well blended are its tobaccos, and so smooth are its flavors. You will pick up the heat of white pepper, the nuttier sting of black pepper, and as the cigar progresses, flavors mellow and shift into coffee and cocoa.
4. Foundation Cigars Olmec Claro Double Corona
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Shape: Churchill
Size: 7 x 52
Strength: Medium - Full
Grade: Hand Rolled / Long Filler
Color: Maduro
Binder/Filler: Nicaragua / Nicaragua
Wrapper Type: Mexican San Andres Claro
Nick Melillo is hot, hot, hot right now. Not only is the former Drew Estate master blender securing hit after hit with his foundation line of cigars, but his sticks are also a favorite of maverick podcaster and entertainer Joe Rogan. That exposure doesn’t hurt one bit.
The Olmec, with its intriguing ring art, is a worthy contender for pound-for-pound spice. That’s not all it has up its sleeve. This is a complex stick, but if you want a top-shelf cigar from the spice rack, this could be the one for you.
5. Oliva Serie V Double Robusto
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Shape: Robusto
Size: 5 x 54
Strength: Medium - Full
Grade: Hand Rolled / Long Filler
Color: ColoradoMaduro
Binder/Filler: Nicaragua / Nicaragua
Wrapper Type: Ecuadorian Sun Grown Habano
Every inch a Nicaraguan puro, meaning its leaves are all grown in the Central American country of its birth, the Serie V has been a smash hit ever since it was conceived.
It is full-bodied, powerful, and intensely rich, but once again, its strength and flavor are balanced by the smoothness of its blend. There’s a zing to a V, something like a peck of paprika and a ton of cracked black pepper to tickle your nose. These meld with a dense, dark, earthy flavor that evolves into woodiness and even a little chocolate spice to create a masterpiece of a cigar that satisfies every time.
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About the Author:
The Atlantic Cigar Staff is a team of seasoned cigar aficionados with over 25 years of experience. As part of the Atlantic Cigar family for decades, our experts know cigars inside out. We share our passion for premium, handmade cigars with enthusiasts worldwide. Our friendly and knowledgeable team guides both seasoned smokers and curious newcomers to the perfect smoke. We're always eager to share our love of cigars with you.