Tasting Cigars

[Newfie]

snip....the 35 from the weekend ....snip

You still haven't told us what you picked up at Duty Free and what ya spent on 'em!!

[nhcigarfan]

I had a break through the other day when I could recognize a black pepper taste in a specific cigar rather than general "spice" taste but that's about it. Other than that I know what I like and what I don't.

[Kenyth]

A lot of the "taste" is actually the smell or aroma of the smoke. I get more from the aroma than I do from the actual taste. I like to take a mouthful of smoke and let it slowly escape my mouth. I gently sniff the smoke during this. The flavors aren't actual flavors, but rather approximations of flavors that remind you of other things. Some popular perceived flavors are:

Wood or cedar. Considering it's a plant leaf aged in cedar, this analogy isn't too surprising.

Vanilla, sweet spice, or clove. Generally the sweet flavor found in good maduro, corojo, and sometimes cameroon tobaccos.

Pepper, heat, strong, harsh or bite. The tingly or burning sensation caused by nicotene, or other irritating substances found in tobacco smoke. Ligero is a good example of peppery tobacco.


It takes a little practice to start recognizing flavors. There are distinct flavor differences among cigars. Cameroon for example, has a very distinct flavor to me.

[hex1848]

Most of the time I simply sit back and smoke a cigar and don’t pay too much attention to the flavors associated with any given smoke. However If I’m sitting down to review a cigar I try to really pay attention to what flavors I’m tasting as I smoke. Most of the times it is very subtle in nature, but usually the idea pop’s into my head “hey that tasted kind of creamy or chocolaty”. I write it down, keep smoking and let my olfactory sense and taste buds make the comparisons for me.

It’s really more of a novelty to be honest with you. It’s fun to write "my cigar had subtle hints of cream and a fine leathery aroma". It makes for better reading too ;-)

[Lopaka]

Just smoke the darn thing and enjoy it!





If you are not enjoying the smoke...drink lots of Scotch!

[Monk]

Thanks for all the replies so far :)

Make no mistake I am enjoying my cigars immensely... but I am also keeping a journal... it is part of the fun for me... that said, any cigar I have when drunk just tends to get edited out of my inventory with no comments . BigPoppaPuff would be proud, the only Macanudo I had was taken out specifically on a night where I knew I would be drinking so much it didn't matter if I smoked it or an envelope . I'm still not sure which I ended up smoking!

-W.