LawOfMD wrote:You clearly are more versed in the subject (I'm not being sarcastic) however I think you are facilitating the confusion. This noob would break a cigar down like this (and wish everyone would)
BODY: The density of the Smoke. Is it oily and thick and chewy or dry and thin or somewhere in between.
FLAVOR: Is the flavor (or flavors, see complexity) strong or weak.
STRENGTH: Strictly 100% nicotine content.
Somewhere in there is SMOOTHNESS. Is the smoke acrid or smooth/creamy or somewhere in between.
Somewhere in there is TEMPERATURE which associates with construction. Is the smoke cool, warm or hot in temperature. Obviously that tends to ramp up as you near the nub. Physics.
Once youve established that then you would discuss...
COMPLEXITY: Do these attributes change and transition as you smoke through the stick and how.
but what do I know.
My #1 cigar would have good CONSTRUCTION. Copious amounts of buttery smooth, cool in temperature, oily, chewy smoke (BODY) with (or without) transitions in FLAVOR, yet 0% STRENGTH (nicotine). Doesn't exist, I know but that would be the goal for me.
I was clarifying (editing) the initial post when you quoted it, I think it makes a bit more sense now.
The issue is that for decades, there was no dependency on nicotine. Cigars were not blended with the sole intent of making your head spin. Strength and body were basically synonymous. Body was power. To get the body, you had to use stronger tobaccos.
Somewhere in the decade after the boom when cigars ceased to be the things of old men, Hollywood producers and mobsters things started to change. Between more demand, Nicaragua getting back to selling tobacco and cigars after years of war and the embargo against them being lifted, and the science of GMO tobacco improving , stronger cigars became the next fad.
At some point after that is when the separation started. When less than reputable manufacturers started pulling tricks like using underfermented tobacco to boost strength. That crap will make your head spin, but it's harsh and it burns your throat. But, people thought that was important.
That's when things broke and the definitions split.
I've had strong cigars that were harsh and did not have a body to them, I might have thought they were impressive at the time, but I didn't know any better. Now, I would consider all of them crap.
To your quest, unfortunately, I've never had a full bodied cigar that does not have some level of strength behind it. Some more than others, Larger RG Anjeos, T52, various limited Tatuaje's that I forget the names of & PAM64 maduro all big body, and at the lower end of the "strength" scale. Aganorsa, El Rico Habano, el Cobre, old Camacho blacks, LFD & JdN at the stronger end. They all packed a bit of a hit, and they were all great cigars.
Maybe someone else out there knows of what you would call a full bodied cigar with low strength, because I do not. The best advice I can give is to focus on flavor, ZRX had some great suggestions earlier. With time, you'll probably start to slide into more full bodied cigars, maybe you'll never get to the point of an LFD Chisel, but whatever, at least it will have tasted good getting there.