Question about flavours from Cigars

[paulF]

Hello everyone,

During the Melbourne get together last Saturday(thanks again to Matt for organising), i tried a Montecristo Especiales and after that a RASS from 2008. Thanks to Rob and Trevor for providing those beautiful Cigars

I have tried a lot of Cigars from before(nothing compared to most members in here) but i never managed to actually pick on actual flavours. I used to taste something that i like or dislike but not know what it was and mostly it was very broad tastes like earthy and peppery...

My experience this saturday was so different. I was actually picking up flavours and was managing to identify them such as roast tobacco and dark chocolate tastes from the monte and dried fruit (apricots from memory) and some sort of sultana sweetness from the RASS.

I know that taste buds do evolve but i'm thinking it's not the reason why i can actually differentiate the different flavours. I believe that the difference this time was coming from the fact that i have been reading Cigar reviews on a daily basis now on the forum and i think now i simply have words to associate to the flavours i'm tasting!!!

What you guys think?!

Cheers

[Jeremy Festa]

Spot on. I'm the same mate.

It's definitely a learning experience, as a whole, and in this case, more about learning the language associated with it. Specifically the creative adjectives that go into describing these experiences.

[Habana Mike]

Smoking Rob's and Trevor's cigars may also have had a bit to do with it!

[paulF]

I definitely agree on that one Mike! Most definitely the quality of the Cigars have contributed to the whole experience.

[galtline]

Hello everyone,

During the Melbourne get together last Saturday(thanks again to Matt for organising), i tried a Montecristo Especiales and after that a RASS from 2008. Thanks to Rob and Trevor for providing those beautiful Cigars

I have tried a lot of Cigars from before(nothing compared to most members in here) but i never managed to actually pick on actual flavours. I used to taste something that i like or dislike but not know what it was and mostly it was very broad tastes like earthy and peppery...

My experience this saturday was so different. I was actually picking up flavours and was managing to identify them such as roast tobacco and dark chocolate tastes from the monte and dried fruit (apricots from memory) and some sort of sultana sweetness from the RASS.

I know that taste buds do evolve but i'm thinking it's not the reason why i can actually differentiate the different flavours. I believe that the difference this time was coming from the fact that i have been reading Cigar reviews on a daily basis now on the forum and i think now i simply have words to associate to the flavours i'm tasting!!!

What you guys think?!

Cheers

Cigars Wine And Sex are all fun. Don't make it so complicated

[mazolaman]

Cigars Wine And Sex are all fun. Don't make it so complicated

Just not at the same time!

But you can make it as complicated as you like..some people have super taste buds and can trace the most refined flavours, some just enjoy the experience of a cigar, without analysing it.

It's a question I asked in this thread. http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=113392&hl=+how%20+good%20+are%20+your%20+taste%20+buds#entry361638

[Reevzy]

Yeah, I've stopped trying to pick out flavours, it was driving me nuts and I was fooling myself into believing that it was happening.

Some of them yes, I can pick out nuts or coffee but watching the reviews here, sometimes I reckon these guys are pulling the other one with things like - the orange candy shell of a Jaffa, and my favourite, roast lamb.

Alls I knows is if I like it or not

[canadianbeaver]

The only thing I can contribute to this conversation is a concept from the coffee world. This is the difference between "strong" and "bold".

Strong means the amount of proportion of coffee to water. Or in the cigar comparison, the physical attributes of the leaves in the cigar (how tight they are wrapped, the quality of the leaves, how moist/dry). You get it.

Bold means the flavor of the coffee or cigar and whether it is mild, medium or bold. This describes the fullness, the flavor and aroma of the cigar. In the coffee world, an example of a milder coffee is Hawaiian Kona. A medium coffee would be Starbucks Guatemala Antigua. A bold would be Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

These coffees can be made "stronger" by adding more coffee in the water. A cigar can't be made stronger but it can change over time. Others can add to this about cigars I am sure.

[Hafner32]

This is an interesting topic as I cracked a box of 2008 RASCC yesterday and had my first one. I have had several diffferent cigars from Ramon Allones but never really picked up the "stewed fruit" flavor that som many talk about. When enjoying the RASCC, I did pick up a fruity sweetness in the stick. Was it because I heard so many people describe that flavor, or was it because it was aged 5 years and a great looking cigar. Who knows, who cares, it was fantastic.

[ramon_cojones]

To this day I still do not know what stewed fruit is LOL.

[Smallclub]

To this day I still do not know what stewed fruit is LOL.

You would know if you had a grandmother who cooked fruit to make home made jam and jelly, at the end of the summer season…

[ramon_cojones]

Ah so that's what stewed fruit means! Too lazy to look that up, thanks Frank.

Very fortunate my mother is a superlative cook.

[Orion21]

I don't search for flavors, but when they hit me I take note. All tobacco is different , all blends aren't the same so all cigars should be different - even if only slightly. If a cigar is really "ON" I will pull up my notepad app on my phone and start putting down my thoughts. Quality does matter, as well as storage conditions and the condition of your palate when smoking. Example, the worst thing you can do before smoking a BHK 52 is to eat a spicy Mexican meal that blows out your taste buds . . . I would know. Also, what you drink can influence what you are tasting.

To the OP, I am very happy you were able to experience a "higher level" of smoking. It's the reason a lot of us are passionate about this hobby. Cheers!

[stogieluver]

Yeah, I've stopped trying to pick out flavours, it was driving me nuts and I was fooling myself into believing that it was happening.

Some of them yes, I can pick out nuts or coffee but watching the reviews here, sometimes I reckon these guys are pulling the other one with things like - the orange candy shell of a Jaffa, and my favourite, roast lamb.

Alls I knows is if I like it or not

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^What he said^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The only thing I can tell is the difference in taste from one marka or vitolla from another. I've smoked well into the thousands of cigars over the last ten years, so I think my pallete would be as refined as anyone's I guess, but I just don't get off on trying to figure out what that taste is, and I really doubt some, or most, who say they can pick out some of those tastes. I just know if I like it or not.

To each, his own.

[vitruvius]

Amen to that, I agree 100%. I start to get suspicious when someone is able to pick up 5 or 6 level of flavour.

[Reevzy]

As much as I love smoking cigars, I think I'll have to give it away when I agree with a couple of Kens regular observations like a musty old gym bag or grandmas handbag.

I do get a kick out of watching the reviews though

[Bartolomeo]

I dont look for flavors when casually smoking but will notice some when they pop up.....when reviewing a cigar I tend to pay more attention to flavors amongst other things

Everybody's different in their palate

[ramon_cojones]

I have gotten old lady handbag from plmcs but when people get creative with their rhetoric in the reviews it is quite painful to read ie the oft quoted "candy cane dipped in strawberry vanilla sorbet" or some such. I think Ken is always spot on however, he is quite good at it and have a lot of respect for his opinion.

[Colt45]

What you guys think?!

I guess for me the simple way I look at it is sometimes a cigar's flavor will remind me of how something else tastes or smells. A quick example would be the Bolivar Corona Gigantes. I find one of the main traits to be what I consider saddle leather. I've never eaten a saddle but I've been in close enough proximity to saddles and other tack enough to know what they smell like - the BCG flavor reminds me of this.

[paulF]

Cheers for the replies everyone

I don't think that reading other's reviews would have influenced my tasting and i say this because i never read any specific reviews on the 2008 RASS and never actually smoked a RASS before but the dried fruits flavour was so strong that i immediately picked it up from the first draw.

On the other hand, i think keeping a Cigar tasting wheel close by when smoking a Cigar could be a very good idea to help one describe what they are actually tasting! I used to and still do that with Wine!

At the end of the day, i think picking up on these flavours and being able to describe them will simply help in choosing the right Cigars for me and hence enhance the whole Cigar enjoyment experience.

[paulF]

I guess for me the simple way I look at it is sometimes a cigar's flavor will remind me of how something else tastes or smells. A quick example would be the Bolivar Corona Gigantes. I find one of the main traits to be what I consider saddle leather. I've never eaten a saddle but I've been in close enough proximity to saddles and other tack enough to know what they smell like - the BCG flavor reminds me of this.

Definitely agree on this one! Its like that earthiness that you get from some Cigars. it's not the taste, it's the smell too.

Flavour has been proved to be a combination of smell and taste which explains a lot i guess!