Cigars Reviews and Subjectivity

[seamus]

Tonight I'm smoking a cigar which I've never had and from a marca I have very little experience with and down to the last 1/3 and I decided to read some reviews and found some inconsistency with various reviews as well as my own.

How much of a review can really be subjective?

Given the frame of reference is vast shouldn't most parts of different reviews be consistent?

I'm not taking about pseudo super taster comments like notes of butterfly wing, I mean descriptors like spicy, creamy, woody, body..

Can something like creamy be subjective? If you have a high frame of reference how can you label a cigar creamy when its nowhere in the ballpark of other creamy cigars? How can something be both dry/tannic and creamy?

What about body vs flavor? Why are these two synonymous? Why is a cigar that is flavorful yet lays light on the palette full bodied? Is there no such thing as medium flavor/light bodied

Are some cigars bloggers/reviewers reviewing from more of a subjective viewpoint than they should and maybe just a little full of ****?

[El Presidente]

Tonight I'm smoking a cigar which I've never had and from a marca I have very little experience with and down to the last 1/3 and I decided to read some reviews and found some inconsistency with various reviews as well as my own.

How much of a review can really be subjective?

Given the frame of reference is vast shouldn't most parts of different reviews be consistent?

Almost impossible as one persons palate is never replicated in another person. Throw in the fact that no two cigars are 100% identically rolled/blended.

I'm not taking about pseudo super taster comments like notes of butterfly wing, I mean descriptors like spicy, creamy, woody, body..

each palate is skewed and the intensity/diversity of flavours one tastes (or misses) skewed to the physiology of the individuals palate.

Can something like creamy be subjective? If you have a high frame of reference how can you label a cigar creamy when its nowhere in the ballpark of other creamy cigars? How can something be both dry/tannic and creamy?

sweet cream, sour cream, unsweetened cream? Is a hint of cream a creamy cigar or does it need to envelop the senses to be so? If one palate is skewed toward "sweet" flavours and another toward "sour"....how does one blame the reviewer? it is only their subjective opinion.

What about body vs flavor? Why are these two synonymous? Why is a cigar that is flavorful yet lays light on the palette full bodied? Is there no such thing as medium flavor/light bodied

To me cigar that is flavourful yet lays light on the palate is Full Flavoured....light bodied. Body and flavour have little in common if any (in my opinion).

Are some cigars bloggers/reviewers reviewing from more of a subjective viewpoint than they should and maybe just a little full of ****?

I think the greatest sin of a reviewer is pushing too hard to define a cigar. If you are forever searching for the nuance to describe then you are doing it the wrong way around. Like a good sports broadcaster,,,,,let the play unfold and describe the action...if any.

[TheBaron]

Nuff said Pres. Totally agree.

[AlexOk]

Good put, El Pres.

In addition to this one small thought. The subjective impressions at a tasting come from the personal environment. A wine sommelier has a different taste than a cook. From this follow other impressions in a cigar tasting. Maybe butterfly wings.

[laficion]

A good cigar should be a great cigar ,that's all, In my opinion any cigar ,I'm talking about a real cigar,(HABANOS), You should taste a little Leather,

spice and coffee, roasted coffee or cream, I mean ,the rest lays in the domain of the taster. That's what I call "subjective" tasting....

That Is why I call ALL N.C.'s ,"one dimentional" cigars because they do not take you on a journey, like a QdO , they simple stay on the spot.

Don't ask yourself too many questions but simple enjoy your cigar.Plus ,a cigar can be a light hayish and dry and still be creamy with lots of "FLVOUR" .

Guy

[LGC]

Cigars are highly subjective, just like tastes in women. I would suggest you never take anyone's opinions or reviews as gospel. The only opinion you should trust is your own. You also add in the variable of cigars having relatively bad consistency. Despite their pricing, they are an inconsistent product. Even though an aged Havana with a good blend is unbeatable, they can also be the worst cigars you will buy... 5-50 bucks for a stick that might be too young, poorly blended, or plugged.

In case you're wondering, I like my women with curves...

[paulF]

"Are some cigars bloggers/reviewers reviewing from more of a subjective viewpoint than they should and maybe just a little full of ****? "

Very good questions! I can relate to the above one. I don't each chocolate as it means nothing to me but still have it from time to time and mostly dark chocolate. Until lately, i used to consider a lot of taste to be tobacco or roast/tobacco until i had some dark chocolate lately and now i am actually able to differentiate between tobacco/roast tobacco taste and chocolate taste. I always noticed the taste difference but simply didn't have a better word to describe the taste until that time when i had dark chocolate and the Monte Cristo Esplendido came to mind.

I believe it works that way for all flavours. Some reviewers have better vocabulary than others to describe what they are tasting/smelling.

[seamus]

I might be being too hard on reviewers. I'd expect them to give honest reviews that are somewhat objective. I don't mean personal reviews, btw.

I've been re-exploring NC cigars recently to see what all the hype is about and I've seen some very interesting reviews. Some just dont seem honest and somewhat embellished.

The FOH video reviews are a great example of honest reviews given by experiences smokers. Although you can't remove the subjective nature of natural products, especially with cigars, the reviews are approached as reviews and not commercials and provide an idea of what might be expected from a cigar.

I guess some blogs are more entertainment than information.

I know not ever cigar is going to be the same to everyone but it can't be ignored that there are some similarities of the same cigars to different people.

[Colt45]

I might be being too hard on reviewers. I'd expect them to give honest reviews that are somewhat objective.

In a way, reviews will always be rather subjective in that they describe what the individual reviewer is tasting. But I would agree that they become less objective when a reviewer stretches to find things that aren't really there.

Also for me, truly objective reviews would require a base framework to reference against, which in the case with Cuban cigars, I think is a little difficult given their nature. Also, let's say I have the notion that Partagas, for example, should taste a certain way. I smoke one that does not really fit the "profile" but is a great cigar nonetheless. I can say it's "not Partagas", but at that point, I feel I'd be talking more about the band.

I don't really read any blogs anymore, but I'd agree that some seemed more interested in writing style than pertinent content - in telling a story versus being a reference. Find those which meet your needs, and take from those what you find of benefit.

[Ryan]

The only advice I could give to anyone who wants to be able to describe flavours in cigars or anything else is go out and taste stuff, as much as you can. Bitter chocolate, different ripe and unripe fruits, coffee etc.

Of course taste is also subjective. Chemicals which produce flavours will always be there but how you percieve them depends very much on time of day, what you drink or eat with it or before it, how you're feeling and especially what you are expecting.

What you expect from a cigar, whether from what you've been told or what's on the band or the wrapper colour will often have the greatest effect on your perception of flavours.

Having said all that, does anyone else taste turpentine in ripe mango?

If you haven't, you will next time..

It's not a bad thing.

[canadianbeaver]

If someone wants to write a poem with rhyming couplets about their cigar experience, who are we to judge? It's a free world.

[Smallclub]

Yes, dark chocolate. So dark it confuses people!

There's even more chocolate in the Cohiba Edmundo!

[CaptainQuintero]

There certainly is about 99& subjectivity imo. There are some core tastes that I think everyone gets in certain cigars, even if you are three sheets to the wind:

Leather-eg Upmann mag 46

Spice-eg Partagas D4

Fruity sweetness-eg SLR serie a/regio

Bitter dark chocolate-eg Sancho Panza Molinos

Nutty Cream-eg Diplomatico #2

Coffee/chocolate-eg Montecristo Especial #2