When cigar smokers talk about the flavor of their favorite sticks, they’re talking about flavors created by the type of tobacco, the environment it grew in and the properties of the soil. They tend to have earthy tones, but there are two categories of cigars that take the flavor to the next level.

Purists tend to look down on flavored and infused cigars, but they’re growing in popularity among female and new cigar smokers. What is the difference between flavored cigars vs. infused cigars? You might hear the terms are interchangeable, but that isn’t true. 

Let’s look at these controversial cigars and see what makes them tick.

Flavored Cigars vs. Infused Cigars: What’s the Difference?

If you go to an online cigar shop like ours, you’ll see many flavored and infused cigars. Perhaps the most famous infused cigars are Acid Cigars by Drew Estate. While there are many ways to infuse a cigar, the process begins with tobacco.

For infused cigars, the tobacco leaves are left hanging for several hours in a room filled with aromatic herbs and other botanicals. The tobacco leaves absorb the aromas and create flavor. In the process, the original flavor of the tobacco is muted. 

The leaves are also sprayed with flavoring to help deepen the infusion. Infusion is a more natural process.

The cigar still has the overall taste of a traditional cigar, but you’ll also taste hints of the herbs and botanicals used in the infusion process. This helps decrease the earthiness of the tobacco and is less harsh to the pallet. 

Infused flavors include honey, chocolate, vanilla, and many more. They’re a little smoother than a standard cigar.

Flavored cigars are very different than infused. Flavored cigars are soaked or sprayed with potent artificial flavorings to deepen the new flavors. The taste of the original tobacco is almost completely covered up by the flavoring.

When you inhale a flavored cigar, you taste the flavoring and hardly anything of the original tobacco. For less expensive cigars, this helps disguise the taste of inferior tobacco.

A League of Their Own

Many infused and flavored cigars use fruity and sweet flavorings to help override the taste of the tobacco, but there is a type of infused cigars designed for pairing. Nub Café cigars are flavored with coffee, so they taste great with your morning coffee. 

There is another class of cigars infused with various liquors such as cognac and whiskey. Smoke this with your favorite alcoholic beverage for the best drinking experience available.

Are Flavored and Infused Cigars Inferior?

When it comes to the quality of infused and flavored cigars, it depends on the brand. Many less expensive brands have lots of flavors because they’re made of cheap tobacco. The original tobacco doesn’t have a pleasant taste, so they cover it up with flavoring.

The flavoring process is inexpensive and it’s an easy way to create cheap cigars. There are high-quality flavored cigars such as Tatiana Cigars. They used aged tobacco and spray the already made cigars with flavoring. 

The infusion process takes longer and doesn’t completely replace the original flavor. It adds a little something and there are many high-quality premium flavored cigars. 

You can think of cheap flavored cigars as the Kool-Aid of the cigar world. Infused are high-end infused spirits and traditional premium cigars as the single malt scotches of the cigar world.

Should Your Store Flavored and Infused Cigars with Premium Cigars?

Your humidor is filled with your favorite premium cigars that you like to break out every now and then. They’re special occasion cigars or for days when work was tough, and you need to relax. You also gave a few high-end infused and flavored cigars as well because you like how the flavoring smooths out the tobacco flavor.

You have three different kinds of cigars and one humidor. Should you store them all together? Definitely not.

If you sniff a flavored or infused cigar, you smell the flavoring. If you place them in with your premium cigars, they absorb the flavoring over time. You bought your premium cigars for their taste, and you don’t want to ruin that with flavoring.

It’s best to have different humidors for your flavored and traditional cigars. In fact, cigars of different flavoring and infusions absorb the flavors too. Storing several different flavored and infused cigars together creates a strange mish-mash of tastes that ruins them all.

Who Uses Infused and Flavored Cigars?

Many purists would never use a flavored or infused cigar, but as cigar-smoking becomes more popular, people find the smoothness of the flavored and infused cigars more pleasant. 

Women and new cigar smokers are usually the ones grabbing infused and flavored cigars because it’s less hard and creates a more pleasurable smoking experience for them. People new to cigar smoking likely can’t appreciate the flavor of a traditional high-end cigar.

Many people start with infused and flavored cigars and then move on to more traditional premium cigars. They’re training their pallet.

Infused cigars have a thicker and richer smoke than flavored cigars. In contrast, there are more varieties of flavored cigars than infused.

The reality is even the most experienced cigar smoker likes an infused or flavored cigar every now and then, especially the ones infused with liquors or coffee. They may not be caught dead with a cherry-flavored cigar, but they are a nice change of pace every now and then. 

Choose the Right Premium Cigar for You

Are you new to the cigar world and looking for your first stick? Are you an experienced cigar smoker, looking for something a little different? Try a flavored or infused cigar. 

When it comes to infused cigars vs. flavored cigars, it’s all about choice and what you like best. Don’t be afraid to try them out and see how you like them. We have a large number of flavored and infused cigars available, so contact us if you have any questions.