Help understanding review terminology

[ggiese]

Lol, I've been smoking cigars for over 10 years, 5-6 a day and I still fail to get most of the flavor descriptions some people use.

For example - leathery. Who in their right mind has ever tasted leather?!? I have no idea how leather is supposed to taste. Or "grassy" - when was the last time you went outside to browse on some grass? I think people refer to the bitter-sweet taste of come cigars as "grassy", but how can I be sure? I've mowed grass, but that's as far as I've taken that relationship...To add to the confusion, some people seem to use cocoa (bitter) and chocolate (sweet) interchangeably or use "nutty" with disregard of the difference between hazelnut and walnut...

Thus the advice to smoke more cigars is the correct one. The more you smoke, the less you will care about reviews :)

Who in their right mind has ever tasted leather?!?

...the last time I got punched in the face with a boxing glove! And for some odd reason - I can never seem to get that flavor out of my head!!!

No - I understand and appreciate why some would say not to get "hung up" on looking for the flavors, but I also understand and appreciate why folks would use "flavors" as a descriptor.

Personally, I have found smoking cigars for me is often a thought filled process. Perhaps because I use cigar smoking as a legal means of "escape". Not that I'm necessarily looking to pick out flavors, but few things are more pleasurable for me than to smoke a cigar and think about how that cigar "tastes".

I do appreciate reviews where the person writing shares their "impressions" of the flavors they're tasting. And - I try to imagine I taste the same thing. Certainly - if someone is telling me they taste "grassy", "citrus", "floral tones" - and I taste "leather", "dark chocolate", "plum" flavors - I have to question where the discrepancy may be. I also appreciate someone giving me a frame of reference. If I'm under the impression and anticipating I should be smoking a "spicy" cigar, and it's not - I truly am disappointed.

To those that are uninitiated - stick with just smoking the cigars and forget for the time about developing your "palate". Trust me - eventually - once in a while and in some strange ways you might just start tasting "flavors".