Art of the Retrohale

Vision

In the past I was a little "scared" to retrohale. For about a month(ish) or so I have grown a little bit of sack and been doing it. Wow what a difference it makes. The taste and scents I never knew were there. I was looking for some current input (I read some older posts on it) on retrohale.

What is your experience with retrohale and any pointers for us newbies.

catfishbluezz

I never had an issue with it as I was a smoker previously. The main thing is controlling it. Some cigars, the amount I can retro is very minimal, and sometimes I just don't want to at all...depends on the smoke. Other like the El Triunfador lancero I could retro the entire thing. I've found some to have a fantastic Retro that compliments the smoke well. Examples for me: ISOM, Johnny O, El T lancero, Fonsca CXX, EPC's, padron natural.

Streater

I try to retro every 7-8 pulls. I like to get all the flavor I can taste on the tongue, then retrohale to take it to another level. I'm still a newb, so I'm still learning how to distinguish the different flavors and nuances of cigar smoke. I find that with the milder sticks, I tend to retrohale more often than I would the stronger, fuller-bodied ones.

jswaykos

I retrohale nearly every puff. Why 'skip' puffs of flavor? Granted, I'm not retrohaling the ENTIRE draw, just half or less.

jliu

I rarely retrohale. Most of the time I get an overwhelming spice that I don't enjoy. The only cigars I truly retrohale are anejos and very well aged ISOMs. That's worth it in mi book.

Gaetano7890

This is probally my favorite part of the cigar and if the retrohale does not make my eyes water I am kinda disappointed in the cigar. The one thing that I have learned is if you relax you throat and swallow a huge ammount of smoke will pour out of your nose. I have found three different ways to retrohale and the flavor is different with each one. First is pulling the smoke directly into my mouth and then pushing it out my nose this usually provides the most flavor and I can catch more of the cedary notes. The next is I pull the smoke back to the back of my throat and just before I would normally inhale I retrohale. I do not inhale cigars but I was a cig smoker so I know the feeling of pushing smoke into my lungs and I go to that feeling and right before I inhale it goes out the nose. The last is I swallow and lots of smoke just pours out with out a lot of effort and I have found this is not for the weak cause it can cause a little burning. I usually reserve this for the first couple of puffs and then when I can't get the tingle in my nose any longe from the other two ways.

musicman3

I retrohale fairly often. Definitely adds to the smoking experience.

stad

I retro-hale on every single draw from every cigar. Without doing so I feel like I'm missing out on the flavor. It brings cigar smoking to a higher level. It does take practice and doing so will cause some burning in the throat at first but after a while it becomes a habit and the no longer burns. After years of this even the most robust cigars can be enjoyed this way.

The3Stogies

Don't retro-hale on every hit, but when I do it's usually the at the end of the exhale, not the entire time. It seems easier because maybe I'm already blowing out and you don't have to "clutch" to open the nasal passage.

nickiam

Been smoking for about a year now and just figured out how to do this last night while smoking an Indian Tabac Cameroon Legend and the extra flavors made my mouth water. Im sold.

Lasabar

I do it as a I see fit... Sort of whenever it strikes me. I will say, though, I do it more often than not, but sometimes if there is no breeze I won't do it as much for the smoke tends to stay around me and I don't need to necessarily retrohale for I'm sitting in the smoke, if it's windy, it's a MUST to retrohale to get all the goodness!

WhoDeyGal

I keep trying to teach myself how to retrohale. Just can't seem to be able to figure out how to do it.

Lasabar

WhoDeyGal:

I keep trying to teach myself how to retrohale. Just can't seem to be able to figure out how to do it.

Best way I found out was two ways.
1. At first what I would do is take in some smoke, let some out, then force myself to close my mouth with smoke in it and SWALLOW my own spit and then it made me be able to mentally check myself to breath out my nose. Worked, but was cumbersome at best but the swallowing made me cut off my mouth breathing and focus on nose breathing.
2. The way I do it now without swallowing is to breath in smoke, breath out most of it and then press my tongue to the roof of my mouth. This automatically closes my mouth and makes me breath out my nose, thus forcing the smoke out. Think of it as you are breathing and something rancid like a garbage truck drives by. If you get that whiff you shut down your whole face and try to breath out your nose to get the smell out. If you can kind of master that then you can retrohale.
Hope it helps

WhoDeyGal

Lasabar:

WhoDeyGal:

I keep trying to teach myself how to retrohale. Just can't seem to be able to figure out how to do it.

Best way I found out was two ways.
1. At first what I would do is take in some smoke, let some out, then force myself to close my mouth with smoke in it and SWALLOW my own spit and then it made me be able to mentally check myself to breath out my nose. Worked, but was cumbersome at best but the swallowing made me cut off my mouth breathing and focus on nose breathing.
2. The way I do it now without swallowing is to breath in smoke, breath out most of it and then press my tongue to the roof of my mouth. This automatically closes my mouth and makes me breath out my nose, thus forcing the smoke out. Think of it as you are breathing and something rancid like a garbage truck drives by. If you get that whiff you shut down your whole face and try to breath out your nose to get the smell out. If you can kind of master that then you can retrohale.
Hope it helps

I'll have to read this again next time I go to smoke. Thanks, any info helps. It's been frustrating lol

0patience

WhoDeyGal:

I keep trying to teach myself how to retrohale. Just can't seem to be able to figure out how to do it.

If you have to work at smoking the cigar like that and it gets frustrating, forget about it for a while.
I don't retrohale. Only on rare occasion will I do it. Does it make my cigar smoking any less enjoyable? Absolutely not.
There are those occasions that I do, that it may or may not make a difference.

kingtim

I retrohale every few puffs. It allows me to pick up on more flavors. I will also blow smoke rings from time to time. I have found that the process of doing this allows me to pick up even more flavors. It obviously isn't the ring that does it but the holding of the smoke in the mouth. I am often surprised by the new nuances I can pick up by doing this.

Gaetano7890

WhoDeyGal:

I keep trying to teach myself how to retrohale. Just can't seem to be able to figure out how to do it.

Nikki the best advice I can give you is take a big puff off the cigar and in a quick motion using your tongue to push it out on an angle try to swallow all of the smoke. You can't swallow smoke so what it will happen is all of the smoke will tend to come out of your nose.

nickiam

WhoDeyGal:

I keep trying to teach myself how to retrohale. Just can't seem to be able to figure out how to do it.

http://youtu.be/Ba5rz_eTFPA

WhoDeyGal

0patience:

WhoDeyGal:

I keep trying to teach myself how to retrohale. Just can't seem to be able to figure out how to do it.

If you have to work at smoking the cigar like that and it gets frustrating, forget about it for a while.
I don't retrohale. Only on rare occasion will I do it. Does it make my cigar smoking any less enjoyable? Absolutely not.
There are those occasions that I do, that it may or may not make a difference.

I ruined my first experience with a 5 Vegas classic trying to retrohale. I accidentally inhaled a few times and it made me sick. After that, I've only tried a few times in fear of ruining a perfectly good cigar.

musicman3

I will say I can not retrohale a lot at a time. Being a ex cigarette smoker it is easy for me but the stronger the cigar, the less I can tolerate before my nose burns too much.

Ken Light

I can never get this right. Or if I do, I get very little from it. Are you supposed to have smoke still in your mouth so you taste and put it through your nose at the same time?

Gaetano7890

From my experience you can not exhale all the smoke threw your nose unless you inhale which I do not suggest. I wrote up the 3 dif ways I like to retrohale and I get different flavors and strengths in all of them. I personally love the burning the more the better I know Im weird. The one thing I learned that I have wrote a few times on this post is to try and swallow the smoke. It def works if you get it right must practice. I was a smoker so I got an edge but everyone can do it I think I retrohale on every puff def the best part of smoking for me and if you like MOW PA and you havnt retrohaled one yet you havent really smoke one lol. It's not for the weak though.

stad

This is weird. I have never given it much thought as to how to do this. I just do. Try it without the cigar. Take a breath and hold it a moment and exhale through your nose. That basically all that your doing.

Lasabar

Ken Light:

I can never get this right. Or if I do, I get very little from it. Are you supposed to have smoke still in your mouth so you taste and put it through your nose at the same time?

Let out most of the smoke in your mouth but keep a little and then just blow the rest out of your nose. Literally expunge the rest of the smoke out of your nose. The more smoke you have in your mouth the more intense it is. Most people can only tolerate a little smoke, and if you blow too much out your nose, your eyes will water or worse!

Vision

Ken Light:

I can never get this right. Or if I do, I get very little from it. Are you supposed to have smoke still in your mouth so you taste and put it through your nose at the same time?

At first I did... I think for me it was fear of swallowing smoke. Since this topic started I have had 4 sticks and retro after every 8-10 draws. What a difference. I had a Morrow Castle last night that actually made my eyes burn... first time for that but it was so mellow I was able to retro WAY more smoke then on the 5 Vegas High Primings (That had some spice thru the nose like h3ll).

WhoDeyGal

Thanks for the info guys. I don't think I've tried swallowing the smoke before. Looking forward to trying it again.

Vision

WhoDeyGal:

Thanks for the info guys. I don't think I've tried swallowing the smoke before. Looking forward to trying it again.

You made a comment in an other thread that inspired me to not only try retrohaling but to post this topic... So I thank you

WhoDeyGal

Vision:

WhoDeyGal:

Thanks for the info guys. I don't think I've tried swallowing the smoke before. Looking forward to trying it again.

You made a comment in an other thread that inspired me to not only try retrohaling but to post this topic... So I thank you

No problem and thanks for bringing up the topic

webmost

Read about this here yesterday. Tried it last night. All sorts of wonderful flavors up the nose. Woke up this morning all stuffed up. Anyone else affected this way?

Lee.mcglynn

I retro hale on every stick I smoke, you get more flavors and a better sence of what you are smoking. Take the searing pepper retro hale... This tells me it needs to rest longer and is still young. If you can't retro hale without inhaling you are doing it wrong! But doing it the right way will give you a better prospective on the stick your enjoying.

rzaman

Retrohale is the ultimate way to enjoy the full flavor and aroma of a cigar IMPO. Aged cigars with complexity and long finish are very enjoyable to retrohale. If the cigars are new and do not rest a certain amount of time, usually they are harsh and not for retrohale. Most of the cigars in the market do not go through long fermentation or aging process. As a result during smoking the ammonia, a byproduct of fermenting tobacco release harshness. Tobacco is fermented several times during the cigar manufacturing process. The term "Perfectly aged tobacco" is different to different blender or the cigar manufecturer. There are many factors about aging and fermentation.

In a nutshell, retrohale is an art and enjoyable when you have a well balanced, complex, aged cigar. Personally, I like to retrohale because I enjoy layers and layers of smooth and complex flavor and aroma of a aged cigar. I try to enjoy it with top, middle and the back of my tongue. We do not need to retrohale from the start to finish to enjoy a true complex vintage cigar. Again, it is a personal preference.