How's Your Palate?

[Colt45]

Do they work up a blend for say, a RASS, test it, then stand around and discuss it the same as we do? "Hey Carlos, there's not enough marshmallow in this cigar, put another .5 gram of third priming volado (or whatever) in this blend."

No doubt they're not blending for marshmallow or crushed ants But there's no denying that people can taste a variety of flavors when smoking a cigar.

I once distinctly tasted rose petal in a glass of Burgundy. I'm sure it was not vinified to taste so, but taste it I did.

I do recall Rob once mentioning that some in the industry were surprised or didn't understand the the concept of tastings or ratings or something along

those lines.

[khomeinist]

Some thoughts I am putting together....so restated from another thread weeks ago....

I want to point out that we are not 'sampling machines.' I know that others allude to this from time to time, but I think it is worth stating explicitly. The physiological and psychological processes underlying taste are complex and beyond our human capacity for full comprehension. Who knows how good a cigar sampled a few times really is? I understand that this is partly why we have smoker communities (to exchange tasting notes and share experiences), but sometimes I am not convinced that variability is merely a function of Cuban quality control. If my mood is foul or I am drinking an overblown red wine with my cigar, I am much less likely to find all the complex notes that I seek from a favorite vitola. Good mood and an excellent cup of tea? I might just have a 'nirvana experience.' I also tend to have more 'nirvanas' when first getting to know a flavor profile. The first Lusitania I had years ago was unforgettable. Others from the same box were less so as I became accustomed to what the Lusi had to offer. Sometimes I get excited when I revisit a particular cigar after a few months. Is this down to quality control or physiology/psychology? Both obviously. But good luck teasing these factors out....

Scoring cigars in general (as various Cubans pointed out to Rob at the Habanos festival) in so subjective as to almost be farcical. That being said, I love the video reviews and I love to see how different people rate certain cigars. These ratings may have little bearing on my personal tastes or consumption patterns. I just like to know what is smoking well relative to 'what it is' or what others define 'it' to be. This intrinsic quality is related to marca, vitola, historical patterns, and many subjective factors. Some flavors are more preferable to others. Some vitolas deliver flavor better.

So....we are not 'walking tongues' or 'sampling machines'.....

Brains....it is in the brains..... My palate seems to work fairly well....but it is the spongy mess upstairs that sorts things out...

[Colt45]

Scoring cigars in general (as various Cubans pointed out to Rob at the Habanos festival) in so subjective as to almost be farcical.

Perhaps true, but the same might be said for rating wine, art, music, literature, olympic ice skating.......

[Warren]

A few years ago Rob had a get together at Czars with a Cuban roller named Yasmel.

I asked him what he thought of Rob finding flavors like paprika in a cigar.

He just smiled at me and said "What?"

[khomeinist]

Perhaps true, but the same might be said for rating wine, art, music, literature, olympic ice skating.......

Agreed. Subjectivity and all that good stuff.

Lol. I shoulda put 'philosophical rant' next to my previous post.

Damn yanquis

[Colt45]

Lol. I shoulda put 'philosophical rant' next to my previous post.

Absolutely no need. I generally agree - I just don't always use smileys

[cigarros]

Imagine yourself sitting back enjoying a new cigar. As you take a nice long draw and retrohale the smoke you think to yourself: “Mmmm, that tastes like something I have had before but I am not sure what.” As you take another puff, your thoughts continue: “Perhaps the flavor reminds me of wood or maybe cocoa or maybe… barnyard!”

That churning sound you hear coming from your head is your brain trying to access its hard drive…your long-term memory storage for flavors. An essential part of our experience with a cigar is linking the sensations we are currently receiving from our taste buds and olfactory receptors with the memory of something we have tasted in the past. Flavor recognition is the feeling that we have experienced the flavor before – kind of like a flavor déjà vu. At this stage we cannot connect a name with the flavor; we just know it is familiar. Flavor identification occurs when we give a name to the flavor we are experiencing. Our ability to recognize and identify flavors in a cigar will essentially depend on two things: the catalog of flavor memories we have stored away, and the efficiency with which we can access them.

More

[Colt45]

Imagine yourself sitting back enjoying a new cigar.......

It's very important to credit the author when using someone else's material here.

[laficion]

Great thread you've started there Ross,

I have always been more of a nose man then a taster on the whole.

I've always been a believer in, " Olfactory Memory" when coming to tasting a cigar

and picking up the nuances or subtle notes of a cigar.

It's always been the after tastes that I look for more then the evident ones,

leather, cedar, coffee, etc.

I'm sure that over the years I can say that I'm a taster in the middle but what makes up for

my taste buds is my ability to refer to my menory to tell me where I've had that same sensation

and my accute sense of smell.

Ever since I was a child, I've always smelled everything and anything that I had in my hands,

even today, If I smell lets say a note book, certain note books have the same smell as the ones I

had in grammer school. Every taste or smell has a link to an experience.

This has come in handy when tasting wines and searching for that specific terroir.

I have a habit of marking down flavors and sensations that I've eaten or drank or smoked.

Tastebuds are great, but tastebuds alone will not do it if you don't refer to your Olfactory Memory

to know what it is that you are tasting. As I always say, try everything, smell everything, drink

everything and build up your references around your experience.

[cigarros]

It's very important to credit the author when using someone else's material here.

Sorry Ross! This article was writen by Rob Gray, Ph.D.

[ned]

i would say mine is ok, .I guess my palate isnt as sensitive but i just dont get most of them. most of the time i just prefer to kick back and enjoy a nice cigar. I dont want to be paying that much attention trying to pick up the flavors. I can tell you while i am smoking it if i think it is a good smoke though. but ya i dont get most of the flavors that some of these people come up with

[El Presidente]

Ken and others are correct in that what we taste is a direct correlation to the number of taste buds we have. It is all due to the topography of the tongue, and the number of papillae that are on it. The taste buds are located in these papillae. Depending on the numbers, you will either be:

1. A "Non-Taster"- too few taste buds. You have fewer than 15 papillae per 7mm's. This constitutes 25% of the population.

2. An "Average Taster"- most people. Between 16-35 papillae per 7mm's. 50% of the population.

3. A "Super-Taster"- a large amount of taste buds. Over 35 papillae per 7 mm's.

35% of women are Super-Tasters, while only 15% of men are. You will find more Super-Tasters who become Professional Chefs and Professional Wine Tasters.

To test your taste buds, you need some blue food colouring, a piece of paper with a 7mm-wide hole punched through it, and a magnifying glass.

Swab some of the food colouring onto the tip of your tongue. The tongue will take up the dye, but the papillae, tiny structures that house the taste buds, will stay pink.

Put the piece of paper on the front part of the tongue and, using the magnifying glass, count how many pink dots are inside the hole. Then compare to what I wrote above to see what you rate.

Cheers!

Nice work

Plenty of great points already made by members.

I can only add that there weeks that my taste is sharp and others where it is crap. Your own general health plays an important role.

Overall I am a slightly better than average 'taster". Ken and Smithy have a much better ability.

[dicko]

I think some members here are being VERY modest (looking at you Colt )

I think I have a pretty good palate and nose. However, because of my inexperience its hard for me to articulate some of the flavours which I can pick up and especially hard to make comparisens between different cigars/wines etc and especially vintages because i simple havent tried a big enough range or had anything more than a handful of pre 2007/2008 stock

I do struggle to pick up chocolate flavours in things also

[Wicky]

A confession.

Last evening, while enjoying a beautiful spring Sunday evening on the patio with a cool pint ( or 4! ) and smoking a BCE... about halfway through the cigar it hit me... BACON! I said it out loud at the moment. My wife looked at me as if she were a bewildered puppy! I swear on my sainted mothers grave it was bacon as clear as glass. Am I alone on this or has anyone else ever tasted cooked meat in a cigar?

I throw myself on the mercy of the court! Besides...If Smithy can gleen crushed ants then maybe I'm not so far fetched!

BTW, I remember exactly from my childhood what crushed ants smell like! We had to amuse ourselves back then!

[LeafLover]

A confession.

Last evening, while enjoying a beautiful spring Sunday evening on the patio with a cool pint ( or 4! ) and smoking a BCE... about halfway through the cigar it hit me... BACON! I said it out loud at the moment. My wife looked at me as if she were a bewildered puppy! I swear on my sainted mothers grave it was bacon as clear as glass. Am I alone on this or has anyone else ever tasted cooked meat in a cigar?

I throw myself on the mercy of the court! Besides...If Smithy can gleen crushed ants then maybe I'm not so far fetched!

BTW, I remember exactly from my childhood what crushed ants smell like! We had to amuse ourselves back then!

Hell, if you got bacon.....you got bacon!!! BTW, did you say 4 pints?

One great thing about this thread is I've never seen any of our members throw anyone under the bus for their thoughts and opinions on their cigars. I'm sure, there are some, okay maybe a few, who might raise their eyebrows or chuckle to themselves, bur rarely do I see a condescending word in their replies. That's why this site is the classiest and most informative CC forum on the world wide web, IMO.

Wicky, kudos to you for putting it out there.

P.S. I never experienced bacon myself, but if I do, I hope its maple bacon.

[Wicky]

Hell, if you got bacon.....you got bacon!!! BTW, did you say 4 pints?

One great thing about this thread is I've never seen any of our members throw anyone under the bus for their thoughts and opinions on their cigars. I'm sure, there are some, okay maybe a few, who might raise their eyebrows or chuckle to themselves, bur rarely do I see a condescending word in their replies. That's why this site is the classiest and most informative CC forum on the world wide web, IMO.

Wicky, kudos to you for putting it out there.

P.S. I never experienced bacon myself, but if I do, I hope its maple bacon.

Right on L.L. I too admit the strong ale might have been a factor. Nevertheless a memorable smoke!

[aavkk]

I have 6 more taste buds than Suckling but 4 less than Smithy who has 10

[thechenman]

While I have never tasted bacon in a cigar, I have smoked cigars that felt meaty to me...

[dicko]

While I have never tasted bacon in a cigar, I have smoked cigars that felt meaty to me...

Agreed. I've got a meaty/salty/sweaty type flavour in several cigars before. normally along with that 'barnyard' and leathery/earthy spectrum of flavours.

very interesting thread!

[frenchkiwi]

taste buds... they come and they go...

e.g. on sunday had a lovely ramon allones SS (from czar this one) while watching the rugby.

started out with caol ila for company(islay malt whisky), then the cigar grew some cojones so moved on to a lagavulin (great malt for reasonably strong cigars), and when i was down to the nub but didn't want to give it up so was effectively burning my tongue i pulled out the ardbeg supernova (whisky made for maximum - we are talking Maximum here - peatiness).

this ardbeg tastes like sewage if you have it off the cuff, but when you've progressively loaded your tastebuds to the point that everything tastes a bit weak, it's absolutely great! (and neat to boot)

Now it's thursday and i still haven't quite recovered my full capacity to taste. The tongue is still a bit numb - no jokes. That's the trouble with cigars and alcohol together they combine to do a lot worse damage to your mouth than either one can do separately (and enhance carcinogenic effects). so since then i've avoided any decent wine or cigars - don't want to waste them on an unappreciative audience...

ah the sacrifices one has to make for a great taste experience...!

[LeafLover]

taste buds... they come and they go...

e.g. on sunday had a lovely ramon allones SS (from czar this one) while watching the rugby.

started out with caol ila for company(islay malt whisky), then the cigar grew some cojones so moved on to a lagavulin (great malt for reasonably strong cigars), and when i was down to the nub but didn't want to give it up so was effectively burning my tongue i pulled out the ardbeg supernova (whisky made for maximum - we are talking Maximum here - peatiness).

this ardbeg tastes like sewage if you have it off the cuff, but when you've progressively loaded your tastebuds to the point that everything tastes a bit weak, it's absolutely great! (and neat to boot)

Now it's thursday and i still haven't quite recovered my full capacity to taste. The tongue is still a bit numb - no jokes. That's the trouble with cigars and alcohol together they combine to do a lot worse damage to your mouth than either one can do separately (and enhance carcinogenic effects). so since then i've avoided any decent wine or cigars - don't want to waste them on an unappreciative audience...

ah the sacrifices one has to make for a great taste experience...!

French Kiwi,

You have great taste in single malts sir. Cao Ila and Lagavulin are always stocked in cabinet. Never had the ardberg supernova. Will be on the look out for them now.......LL