How do you taste all these flavors when smoking?
- Thread starter solo.ace13
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I've found time, Ie experience. Slowing down, drinking only water, not carbonated for some reason, retro hailing, and most importantly for me being ok with not tasting as others and just enjoying the cigar have helped.
All I taste most of the time is good cigar or bad cigar. Sometimes some spice.
I have also really been strugglin with this but had a breakthrough tonight! I've been trying different techniques and have found that retrohaling while gently exhaling seems to work pretty well for me. I was able to pick out some distinct coffee and hazelnut flavors off my afternoon pipe (an occasional an far less expensive treat). It was quite exciting and has me more excited to continue developing my palate!
I've been smoking cigars for 45 years, know what taste profiles I like, can easily tell the difference between the taste profiles of the different cigars I have smoked, yet could not begin to put into words what those tastes are. I usually don't find that what I'm tasting aligns with reviewers' descriptions. But at the end of the day, other than possibly adding some fun to the cigar hobby, identifying various components of taste really makes no difference to me. I still really enjoy a "good tasting" cigar (whatever that is). So don't fret as long as you are enjoying the experience.
BTW, I do find wine reviews to be more helpful. Occasionally I can actually taste some of the flavors a reviewer might identify, and it's fun to try to seek them out. Not sure why I can't do it with cigars.
BTW, I do find wine reviews to be more helpful. Occasionally I can actually taste some of the flavors a reviewer might identify, and it's fun to try to seek them out. Not sure why I can't do it with cigars.
I can't thank you fella's enough for the sound advice. Im writing this stuff down and putting it into practice tonight. I'll be smoking a Undercrown or Las Calaveras. I'll let you guys know if I pick up anything new.
I also struggle with catching nuanced flavors, but have also determined that Chef Roy is 100% correct, and often when I smoke I have bourbon or scotch in hand, since whiskey enhances my cigar time immensely.Lot of great points already.
And other times I just sit back and enjoy the flavor without caring what it is.
I think at the end of the day, as long as you're enjoying the experience, the flavors don't matter as much. I figure all in time
I enjoyed cigars much more before I started trying to analyze them and find nuanced notes of donkey shit or Amazonian blueberries - or whatever silly terms cigar reviewers use to make their reviews sound cool. Here are some truths from a 50+ year pipe and cigars smoker (yours truly):
1. There are so many variables that standardization is difficult except for gross differences - i.e., Maduro vs. Claro, Nic vs. DR or EC or CC. The variables that affect taste and flavor of a stogie are generally the age of the smoke, how it has been stored, the terroir from which it came, its moisture level when smoked, the uniformity and distribution of moisture of the stick when smoked, the quality of its construction, all of the external factors such as heat and humidity at the time of smoking, and lastly, and most importantly (as many have said here) the way you smoke - which has two components - controlling the heat and burn rate of the tobacco, and the exposure of as many of your smell and taste receptors to as much of the smoke for as long as possible.
2. Everything else you smell or taste in proximity to the smoking experience (before, during and after) will affect what you taste. You know it - remember mommy making you pinch your nose in order to swallow gross-tasting medicine? There was a reason for that. Smell informs taste hugely.
3. Some people truly have better tasting abilities than others.
4. Standardization of your smoking environment will go a long way toward really being able to compare and contrast cigars. Ambient temperature and humidity are the keys. If you can't smoke in a controlled environment, comparing cigars is really tough - but tougher is being able to smoke in a controlled environment without your wife or significant other fantasizing about replicating Lorena Bobbit's carving adventures.
So, my considered opinion after suffering the slings and arrows of too many years of reading fun, informative but completely irrelevant cigar and pipe reviews, is "F - it." Find what you like, do it your way, and, above-all, keep it fun.
1. There are so many variables that standardization is difficult except for gross differences - i.e., Maduro vs. Claro, Nic vs. DR or EC or CC. The variables that affect taste and flavor of a stogie are generally the age of the smoke, how it has been stored, the terroir from which it came, its moisture level when smoked, the uniformity and distribution of moisture of the stick when smoked, the quality of its construction, all of the external factors such as heat and humidity at the time of smoking, and lastly, and most importantly (as many have said here) the way you smoke - which has two components - controlling the heat and burn rate of the tobacco, and the exposure of as many of your smell and taste receptors to as much of the smoke for as long as possible.
2. Everything else you smell or taste in proximity to the smoking experience (before, during and after) will affect what you taste. You know it - remember mommy making you pinch your nose in order to swallow gross-tasting medicine? There was a reason for that. Smell informs taste hugely.
3. Some people truly have better tasting abilities than others.
4. Standardization of your smoking environment will go a long way toward really being able to compare and contrast cigars. Ambient temperature and humidity are the keys. If you can't smoke in a controlled environment, comparing cigars is really tough - but tougher is being able to smoke in a controlled environment without your wife or significant other fantasizing about replicating Lorena Bobbit's carving adventures.
So, my considered opinion after suffering the slings and arrows of too many years of reading fun, informative but completely irrelevant cigar and pipe reviews, is "F - it." Find what you like, do it your way, and, above-all, keep it fun.
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I didn't for a long time, but then I smoked a Bahia maduro . Its a cheap CI crap stick, but it tasted like I was chewing on my baseball glove (I actually used to). Nothing since has been that in your face, but after a while you will be able to pick out the super subtle flavors. I smoked some really 1 dimensional sticks like the Bahia and got an idea in my head what people were talking about.
Lots of great info in this thread. The best advice I ever read on the subject was in Cigar Aficionado magazine. They said that the descriptions are not specifically a "taste" but often it is something the cigar brings to mind. It may not taste like earth or leather specifically, but it may make you think of them as you smoke.
I'll still at a loss for most of this stuff but reading reviews as you smoke is the best way to develop your pallet.
Bruce.
I'll still at a loss for most of this stuff but reading reviews as you smoke is the best way to develop your pallet.
Bruce.
Or your imagination!
