Humidor Notes

[Mckucci]

I found these Humidor Notes on Instagram a couple years back, www.Humidornotes.com They are little pocket journals to save your cigar bands and rate / review your cigars. Has anybody else used these, or any similar products?

Personally I find them very useful. I've gone through over 10 booklets now, and it's always fun to look back and read what I thought about a particular cigar.

What do you do with your cigar bands, do you keep any sort of log / journal of your smoking experiences?

[forgop]

To me, it'd be a waste of time. Even though I've smoked cigars for 10+ years, I still can't detect all of the different flavors you read about in these reviews. I just know I either like it or I don't.

[cigarbreak]

That's awesome. I should start logging but sometimes I don't even want to be on my phone let alone be writing anything while smoking. As for my cigar bands I keep them all as much as possible in cigar boxes hoping to do some craft with it sometime in the future

[polarbear]

I have one that looks very similar

I use it for all my reviews. It gets left on the shelf for my day to day smoking but if I'm reviewing a cigar it comes out

[Rushman]

its one of those ideas that seem cool to me but just isn't practical.

[Mckucci]

To me, it'd be a waste of time. Even though I've smoked cigars for 10+ years, I still can't detect all of the different flavors you read about in these reviews. I just know I either like it or I don't.

In my opinion most of those reviews are complete BS! The good thing about this journal is you don't really write the flavors, its more geared towards the experience, ie) with food, with a drink, weather outside, how was the light, the draw, the appearance of the cigar etc. then It has a section you can make note, and rate it out of 5 stars...

I've read so many reviews, where people are like "hints of leather arm chair" ... Seriously, you can taste leather arm chair in your cigar, BULL!... lol

[oliverdst]

I used it for some time and really liked it.

After some time I tried another one and it wasn't good and just stopped using any of them.

The glue dot it's really helpful.

It's good to let beside your usual place you smoke with a pen inside.

I visited the website and found a bit expensive, I think 2-3 years ago they were cheaper but I may be wrong.

Later I will try to attach some pics.

[Mynamesnotdan]

I've gone through about 5 of the 33 Cigars Tasting Notebooks and I found them to be really useful. I don't use them every time, but I like them when I am really trying to focus on the flavors of the stick. Plus my memory is terrible so its nice to be able to reference them later on down the road.

[Mckucci]

I used it for some time and really liked it.

After some time I tried another one and it wasn't good and just stopped using any of them.

The glue dot it's really helpful.

It's good to let beside your usual place you smoke with a pen inside.

I visited the website and found a bit expensive, I think 2-3 years ago they were cheaper but I may be wrong.

Later I will try to attach some pics.

Yeah true! Those glue dots are key! Now they come in packs of 3 or $13.00 USD... So just over $4.00 each

I'm not sure if the price has changed in the past two years, because that's what I've always paid for them. My local shop also sells them, but they charge almost $20.00 for the pack of 3

[Optic101]

Using Excel (Actually Apple Numbers) to record all cigars I smoke as iPad is always with me.

[oliverdst]

Yeah true! Those glue dots are key! Now they come in packs of 3 or $13.00 USD... So just over $4.00 each

I'm not sure if the price has changed in the past two years, because that's what I've always paid for them. My local shop also sells them, but they charge almost $20.00 for the pack of 3

So that's it: a 3 pack.

I guess I paid 13 as well.

[Smallclub]

In my opinion most of those reviews are complete BS!

I suppose wine reviews are BS as well for you , and gastronomic reviews, etc.

Either you have a poor olfactory system, or have no idea of the flavors mentioned, but please don't insult those who are lucky to detect and enjoy the richness in products of terroir…

Yes, there are many different types of leather aromas, that can be found in flavors.

[Mckucci]

I suppose wine reviews are BS as well for you , and gastronomic reviews, etc.

Either you have a poor olfactory system, or have no idea of the flavors mentioned, but please don't insult those who are lucky to detect and enjoy the richness in products of terroir…

Yes, there are many different types of leather aromas, that can be found in flavors.

I said most not all of those reviews are BS and I stand by that.

However, if you want to go lick an armchair and try and tell me you can pick up that profile in a cigar, go for it buddy!

[tjohn7]

I love this idea. I put together my own template, because I never found these journals through an internet search. My best friend and I originally started doing it as more of a memory journal, to remember the great nights while smoking cigars, but now it's more of a journal like the one you posted.

As noted above, it's not always practical, but well worth it when you look back and can see on paper all the great times and great cigars you've had.

Tom

[Smallclub]

However, if you want to go lick an armchair and try and tell me you can pick up that profile in a cigar, go for it buddy!

And when reviewers write about earth, or soil, or "grassy" flavours, do you believe they have experimented earth or grass IN their mouth, ON their tongue?

There is a relation between aromas and actual flavors, I don't understand how it can be so hard to get it.

[CUBANO]

I did it for a couple of years, but now I just enjoy the cigar I'm smoking and if I don't I just toss it.

[Puros Y Vino]

Download a cigar and wine flavour wheel. You'll see that these nuanced tastes are rooted in our basic taste profiles (sweet, salty, sour, bitter). When someone claims to taste something exotic, it's a cross between a persons' taste and smell experiences over their lifetime and an inclination to equate it with something relatable, though it may seem like a stretch. Most of what you taste comes in via what you smell. Try eating a meal with your nose plugged and you'll understand. Leather is a very common observation amongst many cigar smokers, even wine drinkers. The aroma of it can be powerful enough to give you a sense of what it might taste like. Coffee and chocolate are also common, but many of us have that taste experience. Do some reviewers seem to embellish things? Yes, very likely. But what seems like an embellishment to you is an acceptable descriptor to them.

[Mckucci]

And when reviewers write about earth, or soil, or "grassy" flavours, do you believe they have experimented earth or grass IN their mouth, ON their tongue?

There is a relation between aromas and actual flavors, I don't understand how it can be so hard to get it.

LOL, it's not that I don't get it, I just find a lot of it fake..

Listen, Earth, grass, leather and soil are all acceptable profiles to be able to distinguish. As well as white / black pepper, hay, coco, salt etc... My point is, when people get specific and say "I got hints of Brazilian grass, and red soil" That's where I draw the line and call BS.. Unless you've sat there and ate soil, and licked all different types of leather and compared them, how are you going to tell me you can pick those flavors out in your cigar... I'm just explaining how I feel, I see so much of this in reviews, people are trying to fill black space on the page.. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, and I'm not saying I'm right and you're wrong, so please don't mistake this conversation for an argument.

[Mckucci]

I love this idea. I put together my own template, because I never found these journals through an internet search. My best friend and I originally started doing it as more of a memory journal, to remember the great nights while smoking cigars, but now it's more of a journal like the one you posted.

As noted above, it's not always practical, but well worth it when you look back and can see on paper all the great times and great cigars you've had.

Tom

Yes, practicality is an issue. However, it would make an awesome gift! Mine sits beside my lighter and cutter. Most of the time I fill them out after I've already smoked. When I'm putting my stuff away. While I'm smoking I couldn't be bothered lol

[PigFish]

If those participating don't mind me saying, arguing the tastes of another is simply an exercise in futility. Who is to say what another can or cannot taste? By doing so you rate yourself as the datum for the whole world. There are people with exceptional taste and taste recognition. If you are not one, it is best to come to grips with it early. Of course you can dismiss those with finer palates as liars if you wish, and of course there could certainly be groups of them out there, but saying that since "I" did not see it, it does not exist is certainly rather egocentric!

I know my palate is somewhat slightly more sensitive, in taste recognitions, than average. I say this just as a comparison to those that I have matched finding flavors with me or in their own reviews. That are a lot of folks with palates better than mine. I some way, such as in flavor sensitivity, I think I am far below average.

For one thing there are folks who can take a cigar, say from a company like General Cigar, and smoke it and enjoy it. Two puffs for me and I can no longer taste the cigar… And, I mean I cannot taste it! My sensitivity is largely gone! I must have a rather robust cigar to keep me interested, or it is a waste.

That alone has affected my tastes in smoking. Rather large ring cigars run milder (to me generally). I therefore don't chose them. Some of them, even CC's, I cannot taste.

Anything you read on the net, or anywhere else for that matter could be BS… But saying that "I" define the world of taste, is certainly BS as well.

My 2cts. -Piggy

[...]

LOL, it's not that I don't get it, I just find a lot of it fake..

Listen, Earth, grass, leather and soil are all acceptable profiles to be able to distinguish. As well as white / black pepper, hay, coco, salt etc... My point is, when people get specific and say "I got hints of Brazilian grass, and red soil" That's where I draw the line and call BS.. Unless you've sat there and ate soil, and licked all different types of leather and compared them, how are you going to tell me you can pick those flavors out in your cigar... I'm just explaining how I feel, I see so much of this in reviews, people are trying to fill black space on the page.. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, and I'm not saying I'm right and you're wrong, so please don't mistake this conversation for an argument.

I call it cigar poetry Indeed, these reviews are sometimes hard to relate to if one's width of personal sensory experience is limited.

In such case, the review is but a glimpse of what we would experience if we could relate more.

In my opinion (and Bundwallah's) some of these reviews are likely to be exaggerated but lumping them all and saying 'most of those reviews' are BS (meaning cigar reviews in general, since 'those' was not referring to anything in the post thread) will definitely come off as reductionist at best.

Cheers!