Nicotine Content Cigars vs Pipes

[Effortlessdepths]

Quick question. In general, which contains more nicotine by weight, cigar tobacco or pipe tobacco? Is it a question of alkalinity and absorption rate? I've heard VA and Burley both have the same amount but va is absorbed by the lungs better and Burley by mouth and nose. But by weight, is there more nicotine in cigar tobacco or va or burley

 

[stevecourtright]

I am not sure of the reason(s) but I find cigars to give me much more nicotine than pipe tobacco. I am not comparing the two by weight or any other measure, but the end result is dramatically different for me... My belief is that pipe tobacco, considered as a group, has less nicotine content.

 

[cshubhra]

I don’t know ?‍
1 Cigar is much heavier than 1 bowl of pipe tobacco, so another metric you can look at is - Amount of nicotine per serving

 

[cshubhra]

I cigar would generally have more nicotine per serving than 1 bowl of tobacco but if you are comparing a Gawith rope with a Monte Christo Classic, then the pipe has more nicotine than the cigar

 

[kg.legat0]

Funny you should ask, I am not an expert but just smoked a cigar that was given to me by a friend...that thing packed a punch compared to what I am used to (mostly smoke Va. flakes and VaPers), and I don't think it was particularly strong, (spelling may be off) it was a Dominico Turano

...nicely made, interesting flavors...but, also, reminds me why I smoke pipes.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Don’t know on a weight basis, but generally cigars have more noticeable nicotine than a bowlful of most pipe blends, with exceptions here and there. There are very few pipe blends that will give me a buzz with one bowl, unless I am very dehydrated. Of course there is cigar size and bowl size to consider, I am just generalizing.

 

[cigrmaster]

It all depends on the cigar. A mild Ashton Cabinet will not have much nicotine. A Fuente Opus X can knock you on your ass. In general I believe cigars on average have more nicotine.

 

[seanv]

To me most cigars are higher in N content but there are exceptions

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

@cshubhra is on to something.. a pipe full of tobacco is a small amount compared to other forms of smoking, when you consider that the little pile of tobacco you put in your pipe may last an hour.. or more.

 

[aguineapig]

As others have said, serving size matters. I like the 4x32 cigarillos for this reason.

I do think there is more diversity in nicotine content amongst pipe blends. Even mild cigars have a noticeable amount to me. Black Cavendish? Don't notice a thing.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Black Cavendish? Don't notice a thing.

Most blends I don’t even notice any nicotine. Not consciously anyway. It usually takes a strong dose of Burley, Perique, or dark fired Kentucky to give me any noticeable dose.

 

[saltedplug]

Cigars. But as cigrmaster said, it depends on the tobacco type in each. My cigar nemesis was La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero. Each draw was very potent, and I usually smoked the more potent over the less. Truth be told I came to prefer medium-full over the full-bodied. But then I'd go for the fire breathers all over again.

 

[mikestanley]

The only cigar I've ever had a problem with nicotine were some Cuban machine made Upmanns. Too much for me. Several of the Gawith Flakes and all of the ropes pretty much beat me up. Oh, and Royal Yacht.

Mike S

 

[BROBS]

With a cigar you’re also basically dipping unless you use a holder. So way more nic coming in. Also size matters as @cshubhra said. A cigar is usually going to be at least 3x the amount of tobacco in a pipe (obviously depending on cigar or pipe, but I’d guess even a cigarillo to be 2x the amount on average). And the pipe tobacco isn’t contacting your lips and tongue etc.

when I was first starting with pipes after a while I picked up some cigars to see what I thought. Too much nic and I did not think much of them. Would rather get any nic from the smoke, not chawing a cigar.

 

[NomadOrb]

I've only ever actually got sick off of cigars. Those last 1/3rds always sneak up on ya, especially on the larger sizes. I've almost exclusively given up on large cigars for that reason.

 

[olkofri]

I have to say cigars. I hardly ever finish one—not even the ones rated as 'very mild'. The only ones I could finish without feeling any nicotine effects were these:



Too bad I only bought one tin and I can't get them here.

Yep, they're not technically cigars, but puritos. Still.

Hardly ever felt nicotine from pipes, even from the s'posedly strong Nightcap. The only blends I can recall getting a nicotine effect from are Ennerdale, War Horse Bar, and, suprisingly, Blockade Runner ?.

Well, I have to say I did get a nasty hit from Sillem's Blau, but that was my fault, kinda, as I incidentally inhaled. ?

 

[canucklehead]

As someone who regularly smokes chopped up cigars in pipes, by weight cigar tobacco is generally fairly high in nicotine and it is easily absorbed orally. It is usually comparable to strong burleys (which it pretty much is). As mentioned, one cigar is also a lot more tobacco than one pipe, and you absorb a good bit from cigar to mouth contact.

 

[F4RM3R]

Because of the fermentation cigars are more alkaline and the nicotine is more readily absorbed. They are also most always a Burley variety which puts them higher than many pipe tobaccos.

But there are some strong pipe tobacco and mild cigars, so gram per gram depends, with cigars usually being higher. But cigars being much more weight than the average bowl and cigars pretty much win in the nic department.

 

[mso489]

I think the formula would involve how high a dose over what period of time. With pipes you tend to stop and start and stretch out the dose. With cigars, you have a greater quantity of tobacco in most cases, and you tend to smoke it more continuously in most cases. I smoke a lot of burley pipe tobacco, or burley based blends, and an average size cigar still gives me more of a nicotine buzz, though this varies from one brand cigar to another. On the other hand, cigar leaf smoked in a pipe is quite mild; which leads me to believe it is the burley filler rather than the wrapper that carries most of the nicotine.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I had a DE Java Mint petite corona the other day and it made me woozy but had 5 bowls of Newminster 400 back to back last week with little uncomfortable effects.