Improving palate
- Thread starter Omerta
- Start date
Another good piece of advice is so not chain smoke cigars, give your palate time to rebound between cigars. My rule of thumb is enjoy a cigar, drinking water and a libation alone with it. After I finish the cigar, I drink about 16 ounces of water to cleanse my mouth/palate. Seems to refresh my palate, thus allowing for flavor so to show up.
You are good then brother, it just takes time to develop your palate and your ability to pick out the different flavors.
Bearclaw
The dude playin the dude disquised as another dude
Great advice here. I actually aim the smoke at different parts of my tongue sometimes, if you can imagine that. Also try puffing in different ways:
short puff with immediate exhale,
long puff hold smoke in mouth,
medium puff exhale almost all then retro the last bit,
exhale from lungs blowing out,
exhale without lungs by pushing smoke out with your tongue/cheeks, etc..
Mix it up and I think you'll find your palate will pick up more.long puff hold smoke in mouth,
medium puff exhale almost all then retro the last bit,
exhale from lungs blowing out,
exhale without lungs by pushing smoke out with your tongue/cheeks, etc..
The first step is to start tasting things. The 2nd step is to identify what you've tasted! It takes concentration and isn't automatic. Try it for a while, then just smoke for a while and enjoy yourself. A flavor wheel is definitely helpful.
Don't worry about trying to taste exactly what the reviewer did. You almost never will.
I'm a newb to cigars, but my palate has been developed by wine/whiskey tasting. Once you develop an ability to taste, in my opinion, you will be able to apply it to all things to some degree (food, scotch, bourbon, wine, cigars...)
TraderCigarCo.
Alex
^ Yup. I've just started experiencing this and now that I've been focusing on my cigars so much, I've started noticing flavors popping with certain foods I eat as well.
StogieNinja
Derek | BoM June 2014
Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Glad you took it in stride!I'd like to purely blame my phone for this...but I can not.Did I mention I am a newb.
Drinking water helps a lot when I smoke a cigar I really want to pay attention to the flavors. I really have to concentrate on what it is that I am tasting in order to be able to determine it. Sometimes taking the smoke and kind of doing like a chewing motion will help to cover more places inside my mouth and can help me to determine. For the most part I feel as though I can pick out the main flavors rather easily now and some of the finer flavors some of the time. I will never get a lot of the flavors that the half wheel guys write about and to be honest I am not so sure they are not imbellished in their reviews but that is ok with me I am happy with the progress I have made in this area.
Mu suggestion would be get a NUB sampler. The cigars themselves aren't top of the line, but each one gives a good (imo) example of the type of flavors you can get from the different wrappers.
I'd suggest going to Fuente or Padron, and start by smoking a cigar from their core line, then smoke your way up to their higher up offerings over a few days.
For example, you can start with a Padron 2000 natural (robusto-ish size), then move to a larger ring gauge like a Padron 4000 natural (toro-ish size), then down to a smaller ring guage like a Padron Londres natural (corona size). Repeat the process with the same vitolas in the Maduro wrapper. Repeat all of that in the 1964 line, then in the 1926 line, then in the Family reserve line.
By doing this, you can train your palate on:
For example, you can start with a Padron 2000 natural (robusto-ish size), then move to a larger ring gauge like a Padron 4000 natural (toro-ish size), then down to a smaller ring guage like a Padron Londres natural (corona size). Repeat the process with the same vitolas in the Maduro wrapper. Repeat all of that in the 1964 line, then in the 1926 line, then in the Family reserve line.
By doing this, you can train your palate on:
- How ring guages influences a blend.
- How wrapper influences a blend.
- How higher quality aged tobaccos influences a blend.
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http://www.cigarinspector.com/images/misc/cigar-flavors-wheel-large.png
This really does help.
Also, avoid drinking cold beverages with your cigar, as the cold numbs your taste buds, buds!
This really does help.
Also, avoid drinking cold beverages with your cigar, as the cold numbs your taste buds, buds!
How about a list of the sticks you smoke? I second the above comments about retrohale as well as trying an AJ New world as a budget friendly smoke. Another would be My Father Connecticut. That cigar has a very distinct peanut flavor.
I've been trying to do the same thing lately (refine my palette). It's tricky because everyone tastes different sticks a little differently. However, I found the advice of getting the smoke to different parts of your tongue helpful. Also, draw the cigar slowly and release the smoke slowly as well. I always find this to help release some of the nuances of each cigar I smoke. In the past I used to look at reviews of the particular cigar I was smoking and see if I could pick up on the same flavor profiles. This can be tricky as well, because like stated previously, everyone's taste is a little different. However if you find someone with similar tastes, it can help in distinguishing those flavors. Good luck!
I know wine and beer have been mentioned already but it wasn't until I seriously got into wine that I could start "naming" the flavors I taste in cigars.
I could tell you the difference between a Nicaraguan and a Dominican, but I couldn't articulate why I could tell you. Go do some wine tastings with someone who has developed their palate a bit and listen to what they say. They'll give you some BS about "tart apple, cherries, and figs on the back end" (try not to roll your eyes... they hate that) and when you taste it, you might not get two of those three, but you'll go "Oh yeah, that does sort of taste like a green apple!" That's how it starts.
Now that I'm working with guys to stand up a brewery, we test samples all the time and I'm amazed at how much better my vocabulary has gotten in expressing what I taste. It's not so much that I taste more or less than I used to, but I'm much more aware of what I'm tasting. Part of it is being mindful, and part of it is just practice. One it really starts going, it kind of snowballs. Next thing you know, you'll be talking like you're reading a halfwheel review, and you'll think to yourself "Did I just say fresh sage, night blooming jasmine, and tart orange peel behind a predominant damp hay smell? WTF?"
I could tell you the difference between a Nicaraguan and a Dominican, but I couldn't articulate why I could tell you. Go do some wine tastings with someone who has developed their palate a bit and listen to what they say. They'll give you some BS about "tart apple, cherries, and figs on the back end" (try not to roll your eyes... they hate that) and when you taste it, you might not get two of those three, but you'll go "Oh yeah, that does sort of taste like a green apple!" That's how it starts.
Now that I'm working with guys to stand up a brewery, we test samples all the time and I'm amazed at how much better my vocabulary has gotten in expressing what I taste. It's not so much that I taste more or less than I used to, but I'm much more aware of what I'm tasting. Part of it is being mindful, and part of it is just practice. One it really starts going, it kind of snowballs. Next thing you know, you'll be talking like you're reading a halfwheel review, and you'll think to yourself "Did I just say fresh sage, night blooming jasmine, and tart orange peel behind a predominant damp hay smell? WTF?"
The_Rev
Chaplain of Saints and Sinners
Nah was funny, I laught then felt dumb then laughter again. Was a good oneSorry, I couldn't help myself. Glad you took it in stride!
.Thanks for all the advise guys I'll take my time and not get discouraged if I'm not tasting something.
On a side note my wife got me an acid kuba kuba and a romeo y julieta 1875 over a vacation with the in-laws. Of course I could taste lots in the acid almost to much. But the one that I was happy about with the ryj. I tried retrohaling it a few times and the flavors really popped all of a sudden it was like I stuck my nose in an oven with chocolate cookies. Had a very coca like flavor for me. So hopefully I can keep picking stuff like that up.