Welcome! We're really not that much of a flaming board - even though it may appear so. Sometimes we just gotta poke at one another - it's a brotherhood kind of thing. Some people take it more seriously than others - just let it roll off your back like water on a duck...

As far as taste buds shutting down - that could be a lot of things. If you're smoking 2 cigars a day, your taste buds may be acting weird when you smoke two cigars - or it could be you smoke a very flavorful cigar, and then a not so flavorful cigar which would almost seem bland to you. I know there are certain cigars I've had that are very subtle in their flavors, and if I were to smoke a strong cigar ahead of smoking the milder on, the milder one has no taste to me (i.e. the Partagas green labels). Those types of cigars really require you to smoke it with nothing at all on the palate (no food, no drinks, no nothing). I usually have the cigar with only a glass of water if I think or hear it's going to be that way...

I have also noticed my tastes change depending on my moods. I think I've gotten to the point when I really only smoke cigars when I feel like smoking cigars - not because I have some kind of nicotine urge to do so. Also, certain weather conditions seem to me to change the flavor of the cigar (hotter vs. colder, more humid vs. less humid, rainy vs. dry, etc.).

Anyways, enjoy your stay....