Your Taste for Cigars.

[Colt45]

If I may add - I also feel that it's possible that different people can be predisposed to taste / sense things a certain way, and that this can change. For example, I've gone through phases where cigars (and wines as well) tended to fall on the sweetish side of the spectrum - not that they were truly sweet or lacking other characteristics, but that during that period, I sensed them as more sweet than savory, etc.

I also think that we can be more sensitive to some elements than others. With wine, I am very sensitive to VA (volatile acid - vinegar) in both aroma and taste. I can smell and taste it in very small amounts, when others sharing the same wine don't sense it at all.

[brazoseagle]

I think a lot of my taste sensitivity comes from a lifetime of cooking. It really trains you to pick out subtle flavors.

^ Agree 100%

[kjellfrick]

Since I'm pushing 60 I expect my sense of taste is on the decline. Guess I could use some chemical boosting... http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10738-taste-test-could-tailor-antidepressants.html

Actually, I've stopped worrying about my ability or inability to put a name on every taste and flavor. Sometimes there's an association with an old taste memory and it's fun when you can put that special flavor down as 1960's detergent (yes, it has happened to me). Mostly I just enjoy the cigar and the moment of peace it brings.

[canadianbeaver]

The weirdest thing just happened this minute! I have this pesky cough. Over the holidays I had "the bug", you know the flu thing with the cold/cough/fever. The cough will not go away! My cousin told me to forget about cough medicines and just eat a spoon full of honey. She said the properties in honey will work so much better.

OK fine but wait. The taste of the honey, just regular stuff you get in the store, tastes like so many flavors I get from my cigars sometimes. But I have never seen this in a list of descriptors or reviews.

Give it a try?

[La Suerte]

The weirdest thing just happened this minute! I have this pesky cough. Over the holidays I had "the bug", you know the flu thing with the cold/cough/fever. The cough will not go away! My cousin told me to forget about cough medicines and just eat a spoon full of honey. She said the properties in honey will work so much better.

OK fine but wait. The taste of the honey, just regular stuff you get in the store, tastes like so many flavors I get from my cigars sometimes. But I have never seen this in a list of descriptors or reviews.

Give it a try?

??? Give what a try....honey!

Sorry! seriously! did you mean Manuka or something?.....honey as a descriptor I've seen quite often & very frequently in reviews...

[mazolaman]

Since I'm pushing 60 I expect my sense of taste is on the decline. Guess I could use some chemical boosting... http://www.newscient...epressants.html

Actually, I've stopped worrying about my ability or inability to put a name on every taste and flavor. Sometimes there's an association with an old taste memory and it's fun when you can put that special flavor down as 1960's detergent (yes, it has happened to me). Mostly I just enjoy the cigar and the moment of peace it brings.

I guess it would be a little excessive to take anti depressants, just to improve your cigar tasting experience, interesting article though, proves again that we don't really know how all these wonderful aspects of human beings are governed.

The relaxation gained from a cigar is also enough for me, sometimes I taste a myriad of things, sometimes nowt.

I also wonder if smoking too many cigars hinders the taste receptors, and if a period without cigars would help to savour the flavours more. I wonder if the professional people (!) have some kind of ritual regime that they follow.

[kjellfrick]

The smell of a mature cigar that has passed the barnyard stage...honey, bees wax. I use this as a quality determinant on cigars.

The taste of a mature Cohiba...honey in spades. Bless the people who didn't smoke these 80's Lanceros when fresh!

[mazolaman]

The smell of a mature cigar that has passed the barnyard stage...honey, bees wax. I use this as a quality determinant on cigars.

The taste of a mature Cohiba...honey in spades. Bless the people who didn't smoke these 80's Lanceros when fresh!

I had an LGC No 2 from 2002 the other day, which illustrated exactly what you say.

The honey, floral flavours that aren't blown away by youthful tobacco.

Maybe my personal tastes pick up the flavours of aged cigars better, or maybe we just shouldn't smoke cigars till they are well aged.

I guess that goes with the general concencus.

So, are the REs etc that I cannot taste meant to be aged for ten years, and if so are we making a mistake by smoking them young?

[Reevzy]

I'd say I only get the main robust flavours out of a smoke, and they do have to be very robust and prominent.

I can't really say anything about the body in terms of being medium or full or a touch under medium, I just don't know how you can pick that. I've never experienced the "evolution" of a cigar, so I just disregard the whole

splitting it up into thirds thing. If a Monte 5 tastes like cocoa drinking chocolate powder (to me it does), it tastes like that from start to finish.

As I said in another thread, I just know if I'm really enjoying a cigar or not so much.

[Colt45]

I can't really say anything about the body in terms of being medium or full or a touch under medium, I just don't know how you can pick that. I've never experienced the "evolution" of a cigar, so I just disregard the whole

splitting it up into thirds thing.

Guitar Man, purely for conversation - for me body is the weight of the smoke on the palate. If you are a beer or wine drinker I think there is a correlation. Many pinot grigio might "feel" light when you drink them. An extracted cabernet sauvignon which has spent time in new oak might "feel" much heavier. For me, kind of the same with cigars.

I would agree that a cigar can be flavorful / complex, though not necessarily evolve over the course of smoking. I think that the thirds breakdown is just a way to describe a cigar over the course of smoking - not really any kind of mandate or definite necessity.

Cheers.

[vitruvius]

I voted for the main flavors but in reality it could be either of the last two options. Still have yet to taste any type of fruit in a cigar and most of the time I like to have some type of drink to go with the cigar.

TBH I wouldn't change a thing either as when I light a cigar it's usually to just relax, I don't strive to taste every nuance. As long as what I am tasting is good then that's just fine by me.

amen to that bro, same for me.

[ramon_cojones]

I don't find many cigars to have the same flavor all the way through my god I would be so bored.

[mazolaman]

Thanks to the newer guys for contributing to this thread, and voting.

It's interesting to see from the poll results that we are similar in taste capacities! Keep voting!

[TM-US]

I can't say that I get all of the flavors that are mentioned on the form, but I do get a fair bit.

I've noticed that I get a lot more from most Cuban cigars than NCs.

[Habana Mike]

On another board we were discussing how some people occasionally get a soapy sensation/taste from their cigars, which I recently experienced with a 2010 LE Portuguese Ramon Allones Lusitano and previously commented on, which led me to look into this phenomenon a little further. Turns out it may not be that the roller washed his hands for a change but It seems from some cursory research certain naturally occurring phenols in tobacco, particularly carbolic acid, can have a decided influence on the potential for a soapy taste to be detected.

Carbolic acid is used in many soaps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbolic_soap

Considering further, Beta Damascenone is a rose ketone present in tobacco that contributes to honey, plum, tobacco (?!?), and black currant nuances along with megastigmatrienones which also introduce sweet tobacco, honeyed and dried (stewed) fruit flavors to our cigars.

Other interesting carotenoid derivatives found in cured tobacco are theaspirone, an ingredient in black tea and a component of tea essential oil, and beta-cyclocitral, which is described as green, grassy or hay-like. Must be the prevalent compounds in Cohibas...

In addition I found that apparently many of the flavors and aromas such as woody, vanilla, anise, clove, nutmeg, cinammon and basil/vegetal along with the occasional 'whiff of a Sharpie marker' can all be attributed to these same phenols http://cigarfan.net/category/cigar-science/

For the truly interested or ambitious student, extensive detail on the chemical compounds in various tobaccos and results from burning can be found in this 56 page dissertation:

http://www.leffingwell.com/download/tobacco_chemistry.pdf

Of course some individuals are more prone than others in detecting the particular chemical compounds that contribute to the flavors or sensations found while enjoying a particular cigar, and this certainly gives merit to the fact that the duration and conditions surrounding the aging of cigars contributes to those flavors as the chemical compounds change over time.

To quote Tom (cigarfan), author of the initial reference, "Many cigar enthusiasts have detected flavors like these at one point or another. Floral, honey and tea-like notes I find most often in milder cigars, usually with shade wrappers. And while these are just a few of the elements from only one group of the many compounds that contribute to the flavor and aroma of cigar tobacco, I hope it shows that notes of tea or grass or violet are not out of the range of possibility for some experienced cigar enthusiasts.

So if you find yourself musing over the soft wood and floral notes of that ’02 Choix Supreme and suddenly detect a hint of honey, consider yourself fortunate… not crazy."

[Ginseng]

Brilliant, thanks for sharing those links.

Wilkey

[Habana Mike]

One thing I find particularly intriguing about this poll is that right around 15% of the respondents state they can taste all the nuances in cigars and wine, which is precisely the percentage that has been shown to make up the 'supertaster' population among men.

So making the assumption ~98% of the respondendents here (140 out of the 2300 views so far on the thread!) are male, this ties directly to that, according to wikipedia if you believe it to be a viable source:

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Supertaster

*stat geek and google junkie

[ramon_cojones]

The only time I got the soapy taste was with fresh famosos back in 09-10, people thought I was crazy for commenting how they had a soap like characteristic at first but I actually kind of liked it LOL!!!

[thechenman]

I taste crushed ants...

[PapaDisco]

With light to medium cigars I tend to have an easy time with nuanced flavors. As the cigars get heavier and stronger my tasting gets overwhelmed and doesn't serve me so well. Often I'll have friends chuck a lighter cigar, accusing it of being bland, while I'm getting lots of subtle tastes and tones. Only for the scenario to be reversed when we're smoking a bigger, harsher stogie; I think I'm chewing on a double mouthful of smoldering leather dipped in acid and they're going all rhapsodic on the stick!

I do think that you can train the sense of taste to some degree. I find my greatest shortcoming though, is with my taste memory. I have friends that can recall every essence from a glass of wine from 20 years ago (it's their living so they better be good at it!) whereas I forget what jam I had on the toast at breakfast.

[Pedro2486]

First off let me say my sinuses are shot. Have been for years (a few broken noses , self repaired, definitely have not helped.

However, on a good day, I can detect many flavours in a cigar but have trouble defining them. I really think you can train your palate (or maybe your mind) to be more accurate. Working in bars a few years ago and part of the training was a wine appreciation course. For some time after this course I found tasting and describing motes of flavour in a wine much easier and I could identify more.

Maybe we can get Ken to run a course (except for fashion, that's on a whole other level)

[PapaDisco]

(a few broken noses , self repaired,

Sounds like there's a real story there . . .

[Pedro2486]

Sounds like there's a real story there . . .

One of the reasons I don't really drink anymore. Half were self inflicted.

[AbuAmelia]

I've always wondered how one can taste leather. I've yet to try eating leather. Lol The only tastes I pick ip are coffee and cocoa. The rest is a mystery that I just go along with. For me, as long as the cigar is good, I'm content with that. For Now. On a whole other topic, I've learned to taste fruits in a wine quite well, and I learned that by smoking ******. When I puff on a melon or tangerine or whatever it is, I can easily pick up those flavors when drinking wine.

[nikonNUT]

I have the pallet of a philistine but I can get the main gist of a cigar and every so often I have that moment where something subtle and amazing jumps out at me. Practice makes perfect I say!