There are several popular terms which’re used to describe the flavor of the various herbs and spices. The four most popular types of herbs and spices which can be regularly found within any given cigar, either by themselves or in some combination are cinnamon, clove, pepper, licorice. So the obvious question arises – why have these three spices becomes so popular?
One of the primary reasons for this is for the obvious familiarity to the palette that all of these spices and herbs possess. It should here be noted that when one refers to a cinnamon or peppery note in any given cigar, one isn’t really referring to actual cinnamon or pepper but rather to the similarity that the leaf’s flavor bears in relation to these popular additives. For instance, the majority of pepper flavored cigars derive their particular flavor from their use of the corojo wrapper leaf which has the sharp, bold woody and spice notes of the pepper plant. In much the same way, when one speaks of a cinnamon flavored stogie, one is really speaking about the flavor which the lijero wrapper leaf has imbued the stogie with rather than any of the curly, aromatic bark so common to lattes at high end cafes.
Sticks which’re generally considered to have a licorice taste to them are somewhat of a exception to this rule. Of course, not that they actually do use any licorice (unless you are speaking of some kind of low end flavored cigarillo) but rather because the special flavor is achieved very temporarily when it reaches its “sweet spot” rather than from the wrapper itself. Clove has also been a extremely popular flavor, especially for cigarillos, such as Djarum’s highly popular black label line.
The primary thing one should draw from all of this is to always consider the specific type of wrapper you are purchasing (except in the case of an artificially flavored cigar or cigarillo, such as the Drew Estate ACID line). The wrapper should always be your go-to guideline for determining the overall flavor.