Infusing cigars with flavor
Nickerman
Posts: 37 ✭
I made some attempts to infuse some cigars with brandy and with others with vanilla. But it seems the natural cigar strength over-rides any flavoring. Maybe infusing only works with very mild cigars I dont know. I put them in an airtight container with a shot glass of either vanilla or brandy. I got 8 sticks of Acid Kubas and I dont think that I will try and Infuse them with anything.
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How long did you infuse then for? I had luck with Jack D. and Puros Indios (cheapy). I used an old large foam humidifier and an air tight pasta jar. If I remember correctly I left them for 3+ months and then removed the foam and let them sit for a month or so.... this was after trying to smoke one and it literally gurgled when I drew on it.
If you buy cigars that have great flavors (not infused) you dont have to experiment.
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
The actual infusing process that acid and Java and other brands like that use involves more than sticking them in an enclosed space with some liquid. Just buy some infused cigars if that's your deal. Gurkha has some cognac infused cigars for about 500 to 2,000 a stick...
Pro tip; If you infuse sticks with citronella it'll keep the mosquitos away while you smoke.
I tried infusing some cheap cigars with whiskey barrel chunks in a mason jar. The cigars still weren't worth a damn after, but you did get hints of whiskey.
The cigar just burns a little faster as well.
hmm, diesel! That's the ticket!
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
On my way to the station! Diesel cigars infused with actual diesel! Genius!!
@Vision has perfected the art of the Citronella Cigar. Next Diesel, and who knows one day gasoline, lol.
In all seriousness of infusing flavors. The only home made attempt that I have heard about as successful is a local B&M Owner took a whiskey Barrel and filled it 3/4 up with coffee Beans, then his cigars, and then topped it off with Coffee beans. Left it for many months. Tried one and said it was good, but decided to leave the rest in the barrel for longer time. I haven't got an update. I guess what I am saying it could be a very lengthy processes. Because of the time involved in aging a cigar before selling it we might not realize how long it takes to infuse flavor. However, I find it very enjoyable to smoke a non-infused cigar and try to find what flavors the tobacco itself has picked up in its' growing environment.
I've also--separately--infused coffee beans with whiskey barrel chunks. I did this to green (unroasted) coffee and found the results dramatic, that you could taste the whiskey notes even after roasting the coffee. I wasn't compelled to do this again, it was a novelty and a way to try something out without spending big $$$ on roasted coffee from a company doing the same thing. The thing that I learned is that green coffee and cigars both pick up flavors from aromatics in the atmosphere, good or bad.
I should probably think about sanding my cedar shelves in my winedor to take advantage of this fact.
Coffee! Stick a bag of grounds or whole beans (whatever you have) in a separate plastic weather tight bin and forget about it for as long as you can stand. It will make your humidor smell amazing and impart coffee essences. I don't do flavored cigars but have experimented with coffee many years ago with good results.
And here I thought I was the only one in the free world who liked infused cigars.
Java Maduro, Diesel Whiskey Row (original) and Gran Marnier are a few decent ones for when you're in the mood. Camacho makes two, one whiskey and one rum. Liked one, didn't care for the other, can't remember which.
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
Local distillery has one infused with their whiskey but for some reason believes they are worth $14 each. I just can’t bring myself to buy a no name cigar just because it’s infused with bourbon for that price.
The Camacho and diesel (and all Perdomos too, for that matter) are not infused, but simply aged in booze barrels. Big difference.
If you put Victor Sinclair Cigars in a sealed container with Gurkha Cigars for 3 years....
They still taste the same.
💩
Isn't that still infusing?
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
Nope, or not as I understand it. Infusing involve spraying an additive directly to the tobacco leaves before they're rolled up. Drew estate does something besides spraying leaves then I heard about once but have since forgotten about, but it's something like drying the leaves and then rehydrating them with flavored liquid before rolling them.
😶
Yeah, I am sure the only way to pack infused flavor in is to actually soak the tobacco before rolling.
As far as DIY,
I heard that for bourbon or whiskey infusion, instead of just using a shot glass or whatever, soak a cottonball with the whiskey and throw in with a cigar. (Maybe thats just so you dont spill it?)
Hell spill some cheap bourbon on a cigar, let it sit in a jar for 8 weeks, dry it out, and tell us what happens.
I wonder if any of the rollyourown guys have experimented with infusing @webmost ?
Search at BOTL.org under the RYO section for "mojo" or "petuining", or else fairtradetobacco.com under "cigar tobaccos", (e.g. https://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/oil-of-havana-1883-and-other-age-old-recipes.5525/page-2#post-151264).
Gar baccy is commonly petuned during fermentation. Petuning means that the guy who rotates the leaves every few days in these hot & damp fermenting piles called pilones sprinkles the pile with a concoction of citrus based fruit juice called mojo. Summa the home growers at fairtradetobacco.com do that as well. I don't have any first hand knowledge cause I vehemently abhor infused dog turds.
FX Smith sells flavored gars. I'm told they sprinkle the flakes with a mojo of their own making, then age it just a few days.
No gars that I have ever heard of get fused after rolling.
If your gar baccy ain't worth smokin on its own, vape, is my advice.
Bump
But, why?
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Went with another conversation @Amos_Umwhat
Relevant to a conversation on vHerf.
Ah, makes more sense.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Sometimes I like to dip mine in scotch. But you want to do it quickly. It’s not an Oreo after all. And don’t do it too much because it will eventually get soggy and that sucks.