Do you taste all the flavors in the cigar?

[oneaday]

Rex has the most refined pallate in this board.

Damn I'd hate to have that title bestowed upon me. Just imagine the awesome responsibility not to mention smoking a cigar that smells like steamed oysters or Hobo's ass.

Actually I think we are talking more nose than palate

 

[mgiddeons]

I suppose some of my review information found on this site would, as indirectly broadbrushed by the skeptical in this thread, fall under that category of "BS."

I would like to assure any who may suspect as much, that if I write an aroma exhibits the character of pepper-laced leather or even something as subtle as wet rosewood or steamed clams - as opposed to grilled ones - then indeed I did smell exactly what I wrote. Just as some have a higher uncorrected visual accuity than others; or just as the blind can generally sense a much more subtle variance on surfaces than the sighted, due to a higher degree of touch sensitivity; some noses (AND olfactory memories) are more sensitive than that of other people. Nothing right or wrong, good or bad (a very sensitive nose is much more easily offended by certain ... uh ... personal odors) it's simply a fact. And to dismiss aroma accuracy, in each and every case, is perhaps ... well ... BS!

While normally smoking a cigar for pleasure, I rarely categorize subtle aromas, usually just enjoying an overall experience of combined fragrances. However when reviewing a cigar with pen and notebook, I am constantly dissecting and extracting nuances. It really is not all that easy to constantly be searching my olfactory memory bank for matching aromas to which others may relate. Nor would I take the considerable time to record notes, write a finished piece, proof, rewrite, then prepare for pasting in a thread here or elsewhere as a piece with my name on it, if in the first place I just wanted to make crap up.

Twenty years ago I was a cigarette addict, during which time I did not understand the fascination some had with cigars. That is because, due to the olfactory deadening quality of cigarette smoking, I couldn't freaking smell anything! Food was simply a variety of textured nutrition, necessary for life. Over the past 20 years my nose has come back to life! I have developed a real love for the complexiites of tasting - during which activity accute olfactory discrimination is key.

I understand that few cigar smokers (for any number of reasons) very well might not smell all the aromas I describe in a review. But writing about a cigar, to me, is a poetic love affair. Would a poet describe a soulmate with a pedestrian, "She's nice," so as to not be labeled "pretentious" or overstating the relationship, by the reader? I enjoy writing of aroma subtleties. Since in many cigars they are NOT there, when those subtle variances of fragrances are available in a particularly fine cigar, the better cigar manufacturer should recieve acknowledgement for producing something great, intrinsically interesting, in the product's comments. In my reviews of Brazilain puros (which I plan to soon continue,) if I find that a cigar does not have subtleties, I will not put it in just to sound "cool." I want to share with my brothers in total honesty. But I also find reviews that merely give the dimensions of the 'gar, how the ash looked and the final statement, "I liked it." offer few insights to pique interest. And isn't that what a review should do?

If there were any BS in my reviews ..... I would smell it ..... and tell you so.

Hey Rex just chill, when I started this thread I was talking about CA's reviews...although I like CA (sorry guys) I just think that some descriptions are a stretch...besides I dont like oyster ass in my cigars...:glassesgr

 

[Craig Mac]

I can usually pick up the general flavors, but the most important thing to me is whether or not I like it.....

 

[indyrob]

I can hit the top profiles (earthy,sweet, veggy, peppery & salty) but it's usually something more familiar that makes a person identify with a more localized flavor (lemongrass, saffron, sweaty virgin thighs). I think a lot of it's bull, but I've pulled some 'flavors' out of a cigar that boarder on pretentious too.

 

[Clinton]

This is a seriously delicious cigar that succeeds by packing a lot of flavor and complexity onto a medium-bodied platform. Aromas of lychee contrasted with sauerkraut, capsicum and a hint of cherry reveal that this is a cigar to capture the imagination. A well-balanced acidity accentuates the fine tannins which carry through to the long finish.

Aromas and flavors are typically Mediterranean, suggesting ripe, almost baked dark fruits, earthiness and herbal nuances. Rich muscat, soybean and coltsfoot flavors persist through the finish, highlighting the dense and complex character of this vintage. This cigar shows impressively deep color and flavor and the ripe flavors are true to the place but also sufficiently reserved.

This is a solid, even gutsy vintage with a dense, chewy core, excellent structure, depth and persistence. Very nicely balanced and very broadly useful, this cigar shows interesting notes suggesting both musk and cardamom. Tasty and stylish, this is a winner at a great price.

 

[rabbgp]

This is a seriously delicious cigar that succeeds by packing a lot of flavor and complexity onto a medium-bodied platform. Aromas of lychee contrasted with sauerkraut, capsicum and a hint of cherry reveal that this is a cigar to capture the imagination. A well-balanced acidity accentuates the fine tannins which carry through to the long finish.

Aromas and flavors are typically Mediterranean, suggesting ripe, almost baked dark fruits, earthiness and herbal nuances. Rich muscat, soybean and coltsfoot flavors persist through the finish, highlighting the dense and complex character of this vintage. This cigar shows impressively deep color and flavor and the ripe flavors are true to the place but also sufficiently reserved.

This is a solid, even gutsy vintage with a dense, chewy core, excellent structure, depth and persistence. Very nicely balanced and very broadly useful, this cigar shows interesting notes suggesting both musk and cardamom. Tasty and stylish, this is a winner at a great price.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :headroll:

 

[Proud Bear]

I don't feel, except in rare instances, that any "tastes" that a cigar imparts really align to flavors you would recognize in foods. The effect on the palate that the tobacco creates, however, can be related to similar sensations of specific tastes. The tastes thread goes over this a lot, and into a ton of depth.

The best thing I have ever done is eating something before smoking and finding the relation. Carmel, butterscotch or toffee are good examples. I detect black cherry in some smokes, so I have done chocolate covered cherries paired with cigars. Semi-sweet or dark chocolate is another good one to get an idea of what you are looking for when you are trying to detect cocoa.

Everything I have read and understood says that sensory memory is critical to develop these relationships. This makes sense to me logically- understand the sensations and your own perceptions of what you taste and you should be able to identify those sensations in other mediums that impart taste- coffee, teas, scotch, or cigars.

Hope this helps.

Bear

PS- I have the most difficulty detecting tastes of wines and am constantly going to wine tastings (partly for the free alcohol) to understand better how the tastes in wines are perceived by others. Biggest thing I have learned is that you cannot EXPECT yourself to detect flavors; NEVER be shy to state that you simply don't detect something or even that you taste something else.

 

[Moro]

...Actually I think we are talking more nose than palate

Ye're right, Ken. Pallate only distiguishes salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umami. It's the nose which notices the taste of pepper, or coffee.

 

[Soundwave13]

I must not be as sophisticated as some...

But try walking into a B&M and asking for something with hints of "lychee, capsicum, muscat or coltsfoot"...

What defines a 'gutsy vintage'?

How are colors & flavors "true to a place"? What place?

Clint = that was too funny..
:hysterica

 

[WhiteLightning]

Ye're right, Ken. Pallate only distiguishes salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umami. It's the nose which notices the taste of pepper, or coffee.

Sorry Moro, I disagree I can taste pepper or coffee notes while smoking certain cigars.

I am a firm believer that if you eat or drink prior to smoking or during it will affect the flavors of the cigar you are smoking. I always try to have my first cigar on a clean palate so that I can try to find any nuances on flavor. I also believe that some flavors come through while exhaling out the nose.

 

[architeuthis]

Squid® probably doesn't taste all the different flavors... But then again I know what I like...

 

[somarc]

For me it's mainly taste! Do I like the taste or not. Usually I don't like overpowering wood and earth. I can taste sweetness, chocolate, wood, cedar, cream, salt, coffee, spice and pepper to name a few. I'm weak on nuts, caramel, cocoa, citrus, and leather. If I can taste these flavors who’s to say a reviewer is not getting the nuance flavors.

Funny thing is that I really enjoy a good sun grown which often time’s people say they taste leather. From a sun grown I actually taste a sweet grassy type flavor. Maybe it's leather to some lol...

All in all I know is that I like what I like and don't like. A cigar that's too earthy feels like I have rocks in my mouth and a cigar that's too woody taste like I just liked a pine tree.

Forgot to mention...

I love strong cigars in general but still enjoy a good medium Connecticut. For me to really enjoy something mild it has to be one great tasting cigar. lol...

 

[Moro]

Sorry Moro, I disagree I can taste pepper or coffee notes while smoking certain cigars.

I am a firm believer that if you eat or drink prior to smoking or during it will affect the flavors of the cigar you are smoking. I always try to have my first cigar on a clean palate so that I can try to find any nuances on flavor. I also believe that some flavors come through while exhaling out the nose.

I NEVER said that ye couldn't taste pepper or coffee notes when smoking a cigar. They are possibly amongst the most common! I said that the actual taste buds taste only the basic outlines of flavours (the whole list being):
Bitterness, saltiness, sourness, sweetness, umami, fattiness, dryness, metallicness, hotness, coolness, numbness, kokumi as well as temperature. That is what the actuall taste buds "taste". It is through smell (even without retrohaling ye'll smell a tad of the cigar) that we notice those precise profiles; be it toffee, earth, cinamon,...
Ever noticed how when ye ate with a cold ye got a "weakened" flavour? Or how retrohaling brings up the subtle notes of a cigar? The smell, mate, is the secret here (and after several cigars a day, that one gets messed up as well).