Flavor Profiles

[shakinghorizons]

With @El Presidente posting a flavor profile for every cigar listed on 24:24/72 I was wondering if there was a "database" with those flavors?

Like yesterday's Siglo II "Sweetness with the shortbread, citrus and  coffee spine. Class, flavour character style."

I would love to have this as a reference going in to 24:24/72 so I have a better understanding of the profile I enjoy and what cigars to seek out.

Thanks!

[ayepatz]

This might help. Far from definitive. But a fun experiment. I must get round to finishing it one day.

 

[shakinghorizons]

9 minutes ago, ayepatz said:

This might help. Far from definitive. But a fun experiment. I must get round to finishing it one day.

 

I looked there prior to posting, but that appears to be for the entire Marca and not Vitola specific. I know that Siglo I varies greatly from Siglo II, etc. Looking for something a little more specific, but thank you! 

[thedame007]

If you go onto the international store you’ll see an El Pres description for most of the smokes available - this text is usually what is used in the 24:24 listings. 

[cookj1]

 

[El Presidente]

Every palate is unique 

if you can taste in the cigars what i am tasting, then I will be a fair guide.  If however you don't taste what I am tasting (over a few cigars) then you need to find another reviewer who is tasting what you are tasting.  Palate matching 

 

[JIK]

11 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Every palate is unique 

if you can taste in the cigars what i am tasting, then I will be a fair guide.  If however you don't taste what I am tasting (over a few cigars) then you need to find another reviewer who is tasting what you are tasting.  Palate matching 

 

Or learn to associate your own taste with El Prez’s descriptions. 

I screen shot every box I buy from 24:24 and go back to the descriptors to learn how Prez is describing what I am tasting. 

[cfc1016]

This is how my palate was trained - long before getting into cigars. My father would sit me down with a meal. As we tasted each bite, he would walk me through what he was tasting/smelling, and ask me if I noticed it as well. He would tell me which parts of my mouth were most receptive to each flavor, and how to ensure that my whole palate was able to experience each bite. These experiences gave me: the ability to fully experience the meal; the prior experience to recognize which flavors I was tasting and how they interacted with other flavors; the vocabulary to express these sensory experiences to another person.

The same basic idea helped me develop my palate for cigars, when I first started smoking habanos with my late friend and mentor, Tommy. We would each sit down with a cigar from the same box; try to smoke at a similar pace; compare what we were tasting/experiencing with that of the other. Through combining multiple senses, my comprehension and memory of each of those flavor experiences became easier to recall in future events.

Shared experience. Dialogue. Multi-sensory interaction. Bring these things together, and you'll gain a great understanding of the range of your own palate, and how it perceives the different flavors you're exposed to.

Then... buy a bunch of boxes - not just singles. You'll be able to compare experience 1 (within a box) to experience 7, 12, etc - and you'll start to notice how external factors influence your experience. Age of the stock; condition of your palate before smoking; ambient air temp/humidity; etc. Every single cigar you smoke should be viewed as a one-time-only event. Compare it to previous experiences? Sure. Expect it to duplicate those experiences? NO.

As @El Presidente said - everyone's palate is unique. If you want to experience nuance, you need to learn your palate, much more importantly than learning what other people experience.

Honestly, though... I've been doing this 20+ years. I used to be hyper-focused on recognizing all those little nuanced flavors. I don't think it really improved my overall experience. Anymore, I really just try to focus on the holistic experience. After all, this is a hedonistic pursuit. I smoke cigars not because they give me an opportunity to demonstrate how classy I can be (anyone who knows me will tell you I am NOT classy), but rather simply because I enjoy the experience. Many years of searching for The Lost City of Flavortown have taught me that, like El Dorado, it's inside of us all. There is no Shangri La. The best cigar is the one you simply allowed yourself to kick back and enjoy.

[shakinghorizons]

On 1/17/2019 at 2:34 PM, thedame007 said:

If you go onto the international store you’ll see an El Pres description for most of the smokes available - this text is usually what is used in the 24:24 listings. 

D'Oh! That's exactly what I was looking for, thank you!