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I’m starting this thread to share tasting notes as I developed my palate and ability to identify flavor profiles and how they contribute to a blend. I feel like this will give me a greater appreciation for the leaf and the art that is cigars. So feel free to post your tasting notes or input on what flavors you pick up from each leaf you’ve smoked as well.
 
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Nicaraguan Ligero Esteli- very similar to the seco but with a hell of a lot more spice coming through the retro hale also coats and tingles the back of the mouth with cayenne and black pepper. Still an anise flavor, but a bit more in depth and earthy (very subtle woodyness) there’s also a very very subtle hint of what I want to identify as cocoa, but it’s almost non existent. This leaf is a little more nuanced that the seco. I want to say it’s because of the higher priming being exposed to the sun, so the oils and terpenes tend to concentrate toward the top thicker leaves.


In retrospect - thinking about the tip of the leaf the middle and end/base. The flavor was spicy and anise, then subtly transitioned into peaty earthy slight cacao, then more more earthy herbal peatyness. (Note that all flavors ran consistently throughout, but more or less of each of those flavors revealed themselves with more prevalence than the other throughout the stick). The smoke also left my tongue coated with a subtle peaty and cacao flavor on the finish (which was enjoyable) that lasted about 20 minutes after smoking.
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Cameroon wrapper - very mild slightly sweet smelling. Very mild flavor and aroma very little to no spice on the retro Hale just a nice creamy and subtly sweet flavor. wrapper tastes like it smells (sweet, earthy and fairly mild) bout half way into the smoke there’s a pleasant leathery/nutty coat over my tongue. All in all I think that this would add a pleasant sweet, nutty earthy ness to any good tobacco. I look forward to using this as a quality binder and wrapper!!EAC20147-7ECF-43E9-9504-EF6A1AF396D4.jpeg1F9A6E63-B0A0-47BA-B299-4E6732E1834F.jpegB2DD8576-F4BB-4AA2-ACFF-5FAAE76E47F6.jpegE915B6AD-AB71-4D19-94A7-7D2228DEADBA.jpeg898CB840-E5C8-4B8A-85AE-D76CAB423880.jpeg
 
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Perhaps you can propose a "standard" method of preparing the leaf to sample? I have " heard" that in the growing country the blenders will roll a cheroot. Your pictures suggest you're rolling a real stick, binder no wrapper. A couple questions: Are you using a standard binder or hunting through the filler for a suitable leaf? Are you pressing? drying? how long? What size are you rolling?

I seek only to start a balanced discussion on the taste of the leaf components available to us. I can see these issues affecting the final impression on the pallet. I think this is a awesome thread as a companion to the blending thread, and is long overdue. :happy:
 
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Perhaps you can propose a "standard" method of preparing the leaf to sample? I have " heard" that in the growing country the blenders will roll a cheroot. Your pictures suggest you're rolling a real stick, binder no wrapper. A couple questions: Are you using a standard binder or hunting through the filler for a suitable leaf? Are you pressing? drying? how long? What size are you rolling?

I seek only to start a balanced discussion on the taste of the leaf components available to us. I can see these issues affecting the final impression on the pallet. I think this is a awesome thread as a companion to the blending thread, and is long overdue. :happy:
Sooo basically I’m finding a quality leaf from the tobacco to use as binder and smoking all Ligero filler in the case of the Nicaraguan tobacco. In the case of the Cameroon, I’m finding the lower quality leaf to use as filler. They’re definitely all one type of leaf though. I didn’t press the Cameroon, but I did wrap it in parchment paper. I didnt press the Nicaraguan tobacco at all. I wish would have though; it probably would have given me a tighter and more firm stick (it still smoked very well, it just got a lot softer 2/3 of the way through. That’s also because I’m still learning how to bunch a bit tighter and it definitely gets a bit harder to do so toward the head and foot when rolling). I let the Cameroon wrapper puro sit for about two days before smoking because it came a bit more moist than the Nicaraguan leaf. I smoked the Nicaraguan leaf the next day because it was dry enough to burn properly (Ligero leaf was burn tested to see if it would burn well enough to smoke) also had no ammonia fragrance which was a good thing because it allowed me to interpret flavor and fragrance while smoking. I get that ammonia fragrance and flavor from many B&M sticks when I smoke them right away and I hate it, so I try to let a lot of my cigars rest for a few months which really pretty much eliminates that for me, but I haven’t had that with these leaves thus far. Very thankful for that.
 
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@ras_oscar i don’t know if I can propose a standard of preparing a leaf to sample because I’m soooo green to this. However, I certainly will continue to study the leaf and the other experienced rollers and tobacco professionals and enthusiasts. I will also continue to document my personal discoveries. Thanks for the love though!!
 
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Cuban Romeo y Julieta desde 1875 short Churchill
Aroma: light sweet aroma with a hint of spice.
Flavor and body: Medium bodied cigar. Very toasty and creamy on the tongue. On the first third there is sweetness with a flavor that’s between raisin and cinnamon, (but it’s neither). Has a hint of cedar, and spice on the retro hale. Smoke is still very smooth on the second third. The spice kicks up a bit, but more on the white pepper side as opposed to black pepper and cayenne like the Nicaraguan tobacco. The sweetness transitioned more toward the raisin side and the cedar is more pronounced teaming with a bit of earthy ness coming onto the palate. Side note ( even though the wrapper looked round; it felt a bit squared in my hand). In the final third the earthyness, cedar, spice, and sweetness married very well into what was an all around pleasurable smoking experience. Maybe it sat in La Casa Del Habano’s cabinets aging for a while because it was aged pretty well in my opinion. Never really got any ammonia or harshness in the foot smoke. Wasn’t the best cigar I’ve ever had because i tend to like stronger cigars with the cayenne and black pepper spice, but it was really enjoyable and paired well with my Lakewood Temptress beer (has a robust coffee flavor). I would say this would be a nice morning or mid day smoke. (Band was glued to tight, which made it hard to take off, but I didn’t destroy my wrapper) smoke smell like burning cedar at the end.
 

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12/25/18


Merry (belated) Christmas!! I got to enjoy a blend that was created as has been aging for exactly 6 months and these are my tasting notes. It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I’m certainly glad to be back!!


6 month cured blend


Semi sweet spicy smelling on the pre light.

Blend:

Filler-

1/2 Jalapa Ligero

1 Jalapa Viso

1 Esteli Seco


Binder-

Cameroon


Wrapper-

Ecuadorian Habano (H2k) Seco


1st third:

At first light and initial draw there’s a nutty smoked almond flavor that hits. As I got a few puffs into this blend it became a nuanced nutty smoked almond flavor with slight hints of floral notes and white pepper on the retro hale.


2nd third:

mellows out to a Leather and cinnamon nuttiness with almost no spice on the retro hale. Sometimes the floral and white pepper spice creeps back into the foreground;

Almost like the floral spice that comes through on the tabernacle cigars.

Nutty White pepper spice on a medium finish. It also burned with a nice white ash. The smoke coming from the foot of the cigar had a pleasant sweet nutty almond smell to match the flavor (the smell could be because of the flavor on my palate, but that was my perception of the fragrance). As I got deep into the 2nd third, the flavor transitioned into a leathery sweet almond taste. So far this is a Full flavored medium bodied cigar with medium strength (in my opinion). It’s not too light, but it also didn’t give me that full strength cigar buzz.


Final third:

Settled into a sweet (almost cinnamon) leathery nuttiness

That had hints of pepper on the retro hale. Those floral notes also crept in every now and again, but stayed consistently sweet and nutty for the most part.


Summary:


This cigar had a bit of unevenness in the first third that corrected itself by the second third Cigar burned with white ash throughout and had a nice, sweet, nutty/almond smell with no amonia. Draw was a bit tight though. I have to work on finding that balance between rolling too tight and just right. However; I was still able to get a decent draw out of the cigar with just a little extra effort. I was also able to get at least an inch of ash before it fell off, even when continual movement do to typing this into my notes and sipping whiskey.

All in all the cigar stayed consistently balanced with nutty and leathery notes that teetered between sweet nuttiness and floral spiciness with hints of cocoa every now and again. I found this to have a well balance flavor with just enough interchangeable notes that kept this cigar interesting!!
 

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12/25/18


Merry (belated) Christmas!! I got to enjoy a blend that was created as has been aging for exactly 6 months and these are my tasting notes. It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I’m certainly glad to be back!!


6 month cured blend


Semi sweet spicy smelling on the pre light.

Blend:

Filler-

1/2 Jalapa Ligero

1 Jalapa Viso

1 Esteli Seco


Binder-

Cameroon


Wrapper-

Ecuadorian Habano (H2k) Seco


1st third:

At first light and initial draw there’s a nutty smoked almond flavor that hits. As I got a few puffs into this blend it became a nuanced nutty smoked almond flavor with slight hints of floral notes and white pepper on the retro hale.


2nd third:

mellows out to a Leather and cinnamon nuttiness with almost no spice on the retro hale. Sometimes the floral and white pepper spice creeps back into the foreground;

Almost like the floral spice that comes through on the tabernacle cigars.

Nutty White pepper spice on a medium finish. It also burned with a nice white ash. The smoke coming from the foot of the cigar had a pleasant sweet nutty almond smell to match the flavor (the smell could be because of the flavor on my palate, but that was my perception of the fragrance). As I got deep into the 2nd third, the flavor transitioned into a leathery sweet almond taste. So far this is a Full flavored medium bodied cigar with medium strength (in my opinion). It’s not too light, but it also didn’t give me that full strength cigar buzz.


Final third:

Settled into a sweet (almost cinnamon) leathery nuttiness

That had hints of pepper on the retro hale. Those floral notes also crept in every now and again, but stayed consistently sweet and nutty for the most part.


Summary:


This cigar had a bit of unevenness in the first third that corrected itself by the second third Cigar burned with white ash throughout and had a nice, sweet, nutty/almond smell with no amonia. Draw was a bit tight though. I have to work on finding that balance between rolling too tight and just right. However; I was still able to get a decent draw out of the cigar with just a little extra effort. I was also able to get at least an inch of ash before it fell off, even when continual movement do to typing this into my notes and sipping whiskey.

All in all the cigar stayed consistently balanced with nutty and leathery notes that teetered between sweet nuttiness and floral spiciness with hints of cocoa every now and again. I found this to have a well balance flavor with just enough interchangeable notes that kept this cigar interesting!!
Did you like it? If so, how much? Nice write-up, thanks for it.
 
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Did you like it? If so, how much? Nice write-up, thanks for it.
Thank you sir. I really enjoyed it a lot. The different tobaccos worked very well together in tandem. I just wish I didn’t roll it so tight. I’ll say it was an 7 1/2 out of 10 in terms of flavor as compared to some of the others I’ve smoke that were more one dimensional or just had aspects of what I liked. I really look for the nutty, Smokey, peppery cigars with hints of sweetness and it pretty much delivered just that. Just have to learn to roll better sticks that draw properly; because I’m sure I missed out on some flavors due to the fact that the smoke couldn’t pass through the cigar as freely. IDK (I’m just assuming though) it’s just a theory until I can get the proper draw from it.
 
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Thank you sir. I really enjoyed it a lot. The different tobaccos worked very well together in tandem. I just wish I didn’t roll it so tight. I’ll say it was an 7 1/2 out of 10 in terms of flavor as compared to some of the others I’ve smoke that were more one dimensional or just had aspects of what I liked. I really look for the nutty, Smokey, peppery cigars with hints of sweetness and it pretty much delivered just that. Just have to learn to roll better sticks that draw properly; because I’m sure I missed out on some flavors due to the fact that the smoke couldn’t pass through the cigar as freely. IDK (I’m just assuming though) it’s just a theory until I can get the proper draw from it.
Cool, thanks. I guess it'd be hard for you to recommend that blend or those leaves one way or the other until you try one with a better draw.
 
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Cool, thanks. I guess it'd be hard for you to recommend that blend or those leaves one way or the other until you try one with a better draw.
Not at the moment for the blend but i would recommend working with every one of those leaf varieties. I have tasted each leaf individually and they tasted and burned correctly. And even burned correctly when blended.
 
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