Refining your Taste Palate

[parabola66]

I am pretty new to the world of cigars, only been smoking them for just under a year.

I was wondering, how long it took people to refine their palete to all the subtle little tastes in a cigar. I definatly can tell the difference when the flavor changes, but I still cant pick out suble flavors and say "thats chocolate!" or "coffee", or "nutty" and so on...

Any tips people have on how to identify the little flavors that come out in a cigar whould be awesome.

[PigFish]

Refinining a palate, to me, means understanding my palate and understanding how to make the most of the smoking experience.

Frankly, it took me at least a decade to figure it out! Am I a slow learner? Not really... What I had to do was to wade through the prevailing wisdom (myth) about cigars to get to the facts of the matter.

Here is a shortcut for you. Be your own person and don't buy into what another tries to tell you, sell you about cigars. Smoke a lot of cigars in different vitolas and discover the differences for yourself.

I could drone on and on about my tastes and beliefes but that is what they are, my tastes and beliefs. I am only going to cover a few.

Cigar are not about how much they cost, meaning, you get a better smoke if you spend more. Brands (in Cuban cigars) are more helpful in telling you which ones are overproduced verses what they taste like. I don't believe in Cuban brand profiles.

Water content greatly affects the way a cigar smokes and how it tastes. You won't know or believe this until you try it for yourself... Relative humidity is not all that matters in storing cigars. And therefore if you make a correlation of water to taste then you should realize that temperature and rH are linked to create the equilibrium water content in your cigars. After a cigar is made there is little you can do to change its taste. A bad cigar does not become a good one with age! Water content is about all you can do to change the flavor. Then again, nothing you can do will make a truly bad cigar a good one! Yet you can ruin a perfectly good smoking experience and a good cigar by smoking it in a state that is too wet!

AND, lastly, these are just my theories and opinions, although the bit about EMC, rH and temp being linked is a fact. Their validity only real matters to me. If you take the time to explore them on your own, and that is what I suggest doing, you will find those to agree with and disagree with. There are no professional smokers. There is only you, and the cigar that you are smoking!

Welcome to the front line of cigar smoking. A forum like this one (it is unique) is a place to let your passion run and share it with others. Cigar smoking is under attack, and dead without new smokers. Welcome to the forum and to the fight!!!

Cheers! -Piggy

[topdiesel]

Agree with what piggy said and would add a few things that seemed to happen for me personally. Don't just burn through a box and try to taste what others are saying that they are tasting. Age sticks and go back to the box periodically. I remember finding smokes that I loved when young and thought others sucked. Revisit the same sucky smoke and learn that it actually tastes totally different with 3 or four years on it.

For the longest time, I wondered how much stone fruit someone was actually tasting when they said that. Once you hit a smoke with a ton of cherry, raisin, nectarine, or mix of fruit like flavors, you will know it. You will not care how much someone else was tasting, you will have identified the flavor and it will probably be pretty exciting. Another nice thing about aging your smokes and going back to them is that your palate will probably be where you want it to be and your ability to taste a ton of new flavors will likely have arrived.

I think the dark chocolate (bitter and not sweet) and coffee flavors are the ones that really hit me first.

Keep smoking and you will really enjoy the moments when your palate and the cigars mesh. Different drinks will also affect your ability to taste the cigar so be aware of that. I have had cigars that taste one way and then I take a drink of water and it is like the water has become sweetened.

[mk05]

Chocolate, coffee, and nutty are arguably the most wildly available sensations present in cigars. Are you retrohaling at all?

[cigarbreak]

I'm a newb too, and id say retrohaling helps alot. Combining that with inhaling and exhaling through your nose well after you've blown the smoke out while smacking your tongue on the roof of your mouth has really helped me pick out the more obvious notes of sweet, stone fruit, nuttiness and cocoa powder. And IMHO most of the flavours/notes (if not all) that i notice are associated with the aftertaste that comes with a particular food, snack or fruit. For eg. the taste that eating peanuts leave you with (more noticeable when exhaling through your nose) is what i get in some cigars, and not the flavour you get while chomping on peanuts.

[Colt45]

It can surely take some time and repetition. My own thought is that, for average tasters, if discernible flavors present themselves, we should be able to recognize them, even if we can't immediately articulate what they are, exactly.

If you are a beer, wine, liquor, or even coffee drinker, and can pick up on aromas / flavors / sensations, you should eventually be able to do the same with cigars (when the flavor is actually there to be detected).

P.S. On a side note, I found this to be a very interesting take on describing aromas / flavor:

Link

[LeafLover]

My palate and nasopharynx says three things:

Mmmmm

Or....

Meh

Or....

Ewwww

[Arazk9]

I am pretty new to the world of cigars, only been smoking them for just under a year.

I was wondering, how long it took people to refine their palete to all the subtle little tastes in a cigar. I definatly can tell the difference when the flavor changes, but I still cant pick out suble flavors and say "thats chocolate!" or "coffee", or "nutty" and so on...

Any tips people have on how to identify the little flavors that come out in a cigar whould be awesome.

I am also new to this world, with a little over a year of experience and I always wondered the same thing. I can't tell you much because we're on the same boat but I can tell you this; When I draw too much, too often on a cigar, my palate burns(not literally and I don't feel any pain from it lol) and it is hard to take in any taste after that, so now I smoke my cigars sloooowllyyy without trying to make a lot of smoke like I always used to try and make.

Also, I had a nice batch of HoyoDeMonterrey Epicure no2 a while ago witch I found had distinctly different tastes throughout each third so it was hard not to notice. If you haven't had one of these, put it on your list! One third had fruity(berrys) another third had woody(ish) flavors.. and the last third.. well I had burned my palate by then!

[Arazk9]

Also! if you have alcohol with your cigar every few puffs have a sip, the alcohol will "clean" your mouth and the next puff you take will be like the first puff you took, BOOM FLAVOR.

[leftimatic]

Fairly new also, only about three years, and I find it helps me to have two or more people smoking the same brand and vitola at the same time and compare taste notes. That's how I found nougat. Someone to go hey that tastes like (insert flavor) and the aha! factor kicks in.

[earthson]

Took me about 4 or 5 years. And my tastes keep changing!

[kuzi16]

what really helped me develop my palate was actively tasting everything that i ate and actively smelling everything i smelled.

...not just in cigars.

dont lead a passive flavor/smell life.

If you are eating or drinking something, anything, make sure to take the time to understand what you are tasting. when you walk into a leather shop, take a deep smell of it. understand it.

i mean, how do you expect to recognize mushrooms, or stone fruit, or leather, or coffee, or any other flavor in a cigar if you have no reference point?

[Smallclub]

what really helped me develop my palate was actively tasting everything that i ate and actively smelling everything i smelled.

...not just in cigars.

dont lead a passive flavor/smell life.

If you are eating or drinking something, anything, make sure to take the time to understand what you are tasting. when you walk into a leather shop, take a deep smell of it. understand it.

i mean, how do you expect to recognize mushrooms, or stone fruit, or leather, or coffee, or any other flavor in a cigar if you have no reference point?

THIS

and, as Geneva cigar merchant Vahé Gérard wrote in one of his books: with experience comes the vocabulary.

[...]

Well said Kuzi. Living an active life has many benefits, including a much richer experience

[parabola66]

Regarding my rH and temp i try to keep my sticks around 62-66 rH and 67-70 degrees depending on the tempature in my room. I do retrohale and use a combo method of retrohale and blowing the smoke over my tongue slowly to try to pick up as many different tastes as I can. I really enjoy holding the cigar up to my nose and inhaling the smoke coming off the cigar, I feel like its a whole different set of smells and tastes.

I think I just need to play around with different cigars and changing up my smoking styles, I might be smoking some cigars to fast which makes it too hot, or trying to get too much smoke in my draw... I haven't gotten into buying cigars for long term storage either. Like I said I am pretty new to this and just getting into the premium cigar and CCs aspect of this.

I guess more will come in time with more experience. I just need to buy and smoke as many cigars as I can!!

[jdackerman]

I really enjoy holding the cigar up to my nose and inhaling the smoke coming off the cigar, I feel like its a whole different set of smells and tastes.

I do this too and just thought I was weird. There are some cigars that I do this a lot with haha. They all smell good but some just smell AMAZING.

[fabes]

what really helped me develop my palate was actively tasting everything that i ate and actively smelling everything i smelled.

...not just in cigars.

dont lead a passive flavor/smell life.

If you are eating or drinking something, anything, make sure to take the time to understand what you are tasting. when you walk into a leather shop, take a deep smell of it. understand it.

i mean, how do you expect to recognize mushrooms, or stone fruit, or leather, or coffee, or any other flavor in a cigar if you have no reference point?

Kuzi for the win!

[Ginseng]

I really enjoy holding the cigar up to my nose and inhaling the smoke coming off the cigar, I feel like its a whole different set of smells and tastes.

Nice discovery! Smoke directly off the foot is a different thing than drawn smoke. I often "cup" the foot to capture the foot smoke. If you like that trick, try this: while drawing with your mouth, simultaneously inhale the smoke off the foot. Best done in a still room but works if you "cup" the foot with your free hand.

It won't be plentiful as you're drawing, so don't expect to choke. Do expect it to be completely unlike the drawn smoke. It will give you a different perspective on what you might otherwise consider to be a familiar cigar.

Wilkey

[parabola66]

Nice discovery! Smoke directly off the foot is a different thing than drawn smoke. I often "cup" the foot to capture the foot smoke. If you like that trick, try this: while drawing with your mouth, simultaneously inhale the smoke off the foot.

I have never cupped the foot as you are talking about, but I will often try to draw at an angle so the smoke floats along the body of the cigar and right into my nose. I will have to try the "cup" method. I smoke outside to sometimes the weather is not ideal for my technique.

[...]

Nice discovery! Smoke directly off the foot is a different thing than drawn smoke. I often "cup" the foot to capture the foot smoke. If you like that trick, try this: while drawing with your mouth, simultaneously inhale the smoke off the foot. Best done in a still room but works if you "cup" the foot with your free hand.

It won't be plentiful as you're drawing, so don't expect to choke. Do expect it to be completely unlike the drawn smoke. It will give you a different perspective on what you might otherwise consider to be a familiar cigar.

Wilkey

Indeed! Some cigars are not themselves if smoked in an environment not conducive for smoke retention (windy conditions).

I can think of Cuaba Diademas, which is rather mild for the first half but if you allow the foot smoke to gather around you, the mix of aromas can be quite impressive. Hoyo DC is another that comes to mind...

[Kyoung]

I am new to the world of cuban cigars and my biggest breakthrough (like many have said) has been slowing down while I smoke. It's amazing the different flavors you notice when the cigar is burning at the right temp! Great thread by the way, love hearing what others have done to refine their palettes!

[smokum]

What the hell is retrohaling ??? Never heard that term.

[JohnS]

Moving smoke to the back of your mouth and blowing it through your nasal cavity.

[Smallclub]

Retrohaling = retro-olfaction = retronasal breathing

[JMacSr]

Great conversation

Slowing down is the best advice I ever got. Took me years to discern particular flavors and still can't articulate most of what Im tasting. I try to use others reviews as a base line but find I end up looking for flavors that I'm not getting.

Bottom line is enjoy the smoke and it'll come with practice and boy is the practice enjoyable.

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