Formulating the 2022 International Blind Tasting Competition

[El Presidente]

 

Hypothetical "ish"   

 

How confident are you that you could pick a Cuban from a non Cuban if that Non Cuban were rolled and blended to imitate a Cuban cigar?

• Same wrapper shade
• Same triple cap
• Approximately same rest period?
• Imitation blend.
• Blind tasting

Now imagine if there were 3 Cuban and 2 Non Cuban cigars in a blind tasting.  Let’s expand on those parameters again.

You know that three of those blind cigars are Cuban and two are  not.

How confident would you be in pegging the Cuban and non Cuban correctly? If you correctly picked it as Cuban you get a point and then a bonus two points for getting the Marque correct. If you incorrectly called it as non Cuban you lose 3 points.  Something along those lines.

Naturally you don't have to name the non cubans by brand as they were chosen for their "Cuckoo" * nature 

*A cunning master of misdirection, the cuckoo's reputation precedes it. These brood parasites spook woodland birds from their nests, then lay their own eggs in them to be brought up by the host. Other birds are tricked into caring for the cuckoo's young. Cuckoos leave the nest after around 20 days.

 

 

 

 

Thoughts? How confident would you be? 

[LordAnubis]

i reckon my odds are pretty high, 70% confident i could pick em.

[Chibearsv]

It's an interesting idea.  I really don't know if I could pick the non-Cubans out with certainty out of 5.  I'd happily give it a go though.  Just don't give Sherlock any hints, he seems to decipher them all. 😁

 

[Boxer31]

100% - picked 5 of 5 in last taste test 😉 . Of course can see a diff.  With that being said probably lucky to get 1 or 2 correct again!!

[asudevil08]

I think I could get pretty close.  NC's just have a "twang" all of their own.  At least the two I have smoked this year.  😉

[J-Slay]

Love this idea!! Feel like the pepper would show up enough to give me a chance here and there. 

[MPhillips]

Not sure if I could pick them. Would be interesting to try. 
I know of new world vs Cuban I’ve smoked in the past year I could tell a difference. 

[chris12381]

I think I could if it was 1 out 5.  Once you start increasing that to 40%...😂

Of course, the curveball you're throwing... "that non Cuban were rolled and blended to imitate a Cuban cigar" has got me completely second guessing my ability to pick even 1 out of 5!

Nevertheless...sounds fun. 

[bishop532]

I think it would be fun to try. I'd give myself better than 50/50 odds at least.

[Nevrknow]

I'm in. I did kind of ok in the last one. 😁

[Smatthews607]

I would be up to trying again. Didn't really do well on the last competition, but I think my years of NC smoking could help out. Or not and I might completely tank again. Would be fun to try, at least.

[Sir Diggamus]

I love this idea. To answer your question, it would be really tough. There are so many NC blends nowadays that have the depth and nuance of a Habano cigar. I would totally be in for this blind tasting


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[Fuzz]

Hahaha! I still remember when you handed me one of the early Nudies in Havana to try, but told me nothing about it. I was so confused at the time. I initially thought it was a Cuabn custom as it was reminiscent of an SdC#3, but my brain was screaming, "there is no way this is Cuban!!".

[inter4alia]

Based on my past performances in the international blind tastings here, I would not bet on my ability to differentiate a Montecristo from a Marlboro. But I'll keep signing up to play ball. 

[Cigar Surgeon]

[Skypilot]

Not confident at all especially if the NC’s are attempting to replicate the CC taste. I can’t wait to see the results!

[sho671]

I’d say I have a 50/50 chance to pick between Cuban and non-Cuban.

[Bijan]

I feel pretty confident, but I don't smoke NCs very often, so I might be a bit overconfident in this case.

[westg]

3 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Hahaha! I still remember when you handed me one of the early Nudies in Havana to try, but told me nothing about it. I was so confused at the time. I initially thought it was a Cuabn custom as it was reminiscent of an SdC#3, but my brain was screaming, "there is no way this is Cuban!!".

I remember watching you. No pulling the wool over your eyes ...

 

All I can say is ....is that I have smoked an all manner of non Cubans including just about everything Opus x all Pardon family reserve ...the list goes on and I found them all bloody awful compared to a stock standard D 4 ...gee give me a favoritos over a padron any day 

For me anything that leaves a foul taste on your mouth for several hours is usually non Cuban. So I think I would get 2/5. 😎🌴

[Skeng Don]

1 hour ago, Bijan said:

I feel pretty confident, but I don't smoke NCs very often, so I might be a bit overconfident in this case.

🙄

 

Bring IT ON Aye!!!

[Mr. Japan]

It will be fun. There are cigars out there non cuban that can show us how bad is our palate 😉

[Puros Y Vino]

I'd say I'd have a 75% chance of picking out an NC.

It's like finding the difference between

And

 

😁 I keed! I keed!! 

[Edicion]

Here's my take on it. 

[riderpride]

Interesting question. I haven't tried many new NCs in the last few years - I usually stick to my faves (too many new sticks to keep up with).

Getting one NC correct should be easy. The second may be tough depending on the blend. I'd say confidence is 75-80%.

I look forward to the challenge 

Cheers!

[BlueRidgeFly]

I feel pretty confident I could pick them all. Of course, I've also been pretty confident about a lot of stuff I've botched lately.