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The search function is a great friend.
Briefly, try breathing out (exhaling) through your nose, it will open up flavors you'd never believe.
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Try smoking something other than a Mac, CAO gold, or Acid. Although I've never smoked an Acid, I have had Mac and CAO Gold and I didn't taste anything either. Look in the review forums for some smokes to try. If I were you I would try something like a Sanch Panza Double Maduro. You will definately notice a difference. Ask your local shop owner for some suggestions on a good medium bodied/ full flavored cigar. If he offers you a Macanoodle or an Acid, turn around and walk out. If he carries CAO, the Gold maduro is much better then the regular gold line, give that a try.
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Echoing WOXOF's post, I would agree that it may have more to do with what you've smoked. A Sancho Panza, Padron 1000-series, El Rey Del Mundo, or Partagas Blacks should all have distinct tastes. Don't worry about being able to recognize the tastes other reviewers on this site mention, that will come as your palette becomes refined. I also know of other seasoned smokers on this site that still can't spot those tastes, but they know what taste they like out of a cigar.
The accompanying drink is personal preference as well. I enjoy something sweet, usually, like lemonade. Sometimes I squeeze my own, add some ginger, and some Campari. It works for me. I've also enjoyed cigars with water, dark beer, scotch, and port. While I'm sure an argument can be made for correctly pairing your cigar with your beverage, I don't get that technical.
Passing the smoke through your nostrils is a technique that works like this: after taking a puff, swallow just a bit of the smoke. Then breathe it out of your nostrils. I have done this several times, but certainly don't do it with every cigar. I see it more as a cool bar room trick.
Answers to all of your other questions can be found using your search function, but yes, you will want to keep your cigars humidified. There are bad ways and worse ways to light a cigar.
I guess my advice to the novice smokers is to enjoy it, and don't try to make so much of a science out of cigar smoking. If I had to think so much, I probably wouldn't be into this hobby.
Oh, and welcome to the forums from central Oregon.
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Browse for techniques on smoking a cigar and try some.
A good start is to properly light it. Any contaminates such as soot, lighter fluid or sulfer from a match will ruin even the best cigar.
Go an extra step and get some cedar spills (sticks) from a humidor or cut up some from a cigar box. Light the spill and toast your cigar by holding the foot just above the tip of the flame. With a spill or even a butane lighter do not let the yellow part of the flame soot up the foot of the cigar. Don't use sulfer matches,
Toasting is like reading the preface of a new book. It can give some insight into what to expect. You don't have to breathe the smoke directly when toasting, it will permeate the air around you. After the foot is aglow, blow on it to make sure it is evenly lit. Now you're ready for the first puff. Puffing is puffing, not sucking like a Hoover. Don't draw so hard that it causes a white hot forge effect. This only causes some chemical reactions that can change the flavors. Just puff, wait, puff, wait, puff.
Remember that tobacco is tobacco. If you don't like the tobacco taste then why are you smoking? Some consider it to be a spice or herb but it is just a plant with nicotine in the leaves. So it should taste like tobacco, not basil, poppy seeds, cumin, marijuana or anything else. The spicyness, leather, wood, earth, pepper, are simply terms to describe the variations of tobacco flavors. IMO the easiest to detect is pepper. A little tingle on the tongue similar to tasting pepper but not actually pepper.
Most importantly, it takes time. Get samplers, try different brands, vitolas, etc. The exact same tobacco rolled in a corona will most likely taste different than in a robusto. Why? A smaller cigar burns hotter than a larger cigar. Back to the puff, wait, puff, wait, puff. Don't rush it, just enjoy it.
I hope this helps. There are many members with a lot of knowledge. Maybe some others will chime in to help out a new friend.
