cigarettes and cigars... good or bad

[cckandb24]

Im a smoker "cigarettes" and I have always had trouble distingusing the subtle flavors in my cigars and I have wondered if smoking cigarettes has just demolished my taste buds.I see a review of a cigar I have recently smoked or aquire after the review and wish that I could make out the different profiles. Usually try to pair my cigars with water or something light to try and not hinder my tatse abilities. any thoughts or opinions.

[cigcars]

CIGARETTES will KILL YOU. Cigars just relax and complement you on your fine day, your full life, your unwinding down to a delightful smooth, wonderful, Heavenly experience - ahhhh!

[cckandb24]

Man cigarettes are bad for you... I better quit, I had no idea j/k.

[ckay]

Cigarettes mask the palate. People who have quit tell me that everything tastes better when you do quit.

[Michel1968]

A cigarette smoker myself (and trying to 'quitter' many times) I'm not that convinced cigarettes has that much of an impact on the palate. Sure when one quits cigarettes a lot of aroma's and tastes come on very strong on the palate but remember this is after a long periode where the palate was in 'neutral' in combination with smoking. If you're used to 20 strong coffees a day and you switch to tea or milk or whatever I'm dead sure a lot of well know taste markers would change like h*ll for the first few weeks before the pallat is shifting towards a new neutral (which in my case was surprisingly recognisable as when smoking). On a side note a lot of wine and whisky guys I know (including myself) smoke cigarettes during tasting sessions to get our palates back to neutral. (we do wait for 30 minutes to resume tasting...)

Im combination with cigars I'm always surprised how little a cigarette has to do with tobacco. Even if there are 10 people in the room, smoking cigars for hours with no ventilation, one can immediately notice if a cigarette is lighted. A horrible stench that is. I'm afraid I'm more addicted to the additives than nicotine... (note to myself: stop smoking these little bastards!)

My two nickels (and my palate): Smoking cigarettes diffuses the citrus-spectrum and amplifies the woody-spectrum of your taste abilities. The periodes I was not smoking I noticed after a few months this turned around: more citrus, less wood. It's up to you whether that's a good or a bad thing.

[TonyV]

Ditto,on everything Michel1968 said.

[asuavea1]

Cigarettes mask the palate. People who have quit tell me that everything tastes better when you do quit.

+1. I smoked over twenty years and it does a number on your taste buds. Try quitting, I find cigars a satisfying change.

[CanuckSARTech]

I started smoking cigars when I was also a cigarette smoker. I admit, I got into cigars on the whim of a boss of mine, at a time (late 90's) when cigar smoking was a fad/cool/in vogue/etc.

Then, I got away from cigars for a few years, and I also quit cigarette smoking. I then came back to cigars in 2004/2005 or so, and man, I personally feel a huge difference in my palate. Mind you, it's now also been 10-plus years, and palates do change. But I feel that I enjoy and notice way more with my cigars now that I'm a non-cigarette-smoker.

[77stoneblues]

I smoked very briefly, didn't enjoy it. And one of the reasons why might also have a big impact on cigars. For me, it was the smell. I found my own sense of smell reduced, thus affecting the taste of everything. And for me, cigars and the tastes I pick up with them rely heavily on the sense of smell, so cigarettes and anything are not a good pairing for me.