- Tasting Green -

[wine_junkie]

Hey all!

Love this site and have already dropped a pretty penny (have yet to receive any yet). 
 

I have been smoking cigars for quite some time (mainly Cuban as they scratch the itch) and have noticed especially recently (last 3 years) that most cigars I have received (now box 2019) taste green past the first half inch. Partagas E2, Monte 2, Monte A, Bolivar, Lusitania, etc. 

On ignition they smell amazing but as I draw down on the cigar it gets tannic and “green”. Do all of these just need age? Was it a root day? ?

 

Any thoughts would be welcome. 
 

Thanks in advance!

[wine_junkie]

Maybe my supplier? They are real but...

[SCgarman]

Young cigars. Either find a supplier who typically sends boxes with a few years of age or build up enough inventory so you have enough rotation so your boxes have time to age. Also make sure your humidity level is in the low to mid 60s

[bbguardsp]

Interesting as that is not my experience.  If anything young CCs are less green to my palate than they used to be years ago.  Do you retrohale often?  Is there the same young characteristics through the nose as well as palate?

[wine_junkie]

I am a basic palate smoker. No retrohale at all. 
 

Humidity is 65% boveda and plenty of 320 gram and the like.  Granted it’s only been weeks and not months. 
 

Every cigar has been 2019 box as of recent. 

[bbguardsp]

When you say green how would you describe it?  Bitter, sour, astringent, grassy, overly peppery, etc?

[wine_junkie]

Tannic but in a leafy way. Astringent is the best word with a hint of bitter but to me in wine terms I would say fruit tannins (not oak)

[leapingknown2]

Nap time. They tend to go through a sick period...but that's after they have been down for a while. Greg B.

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[Hollywood Ninja]

How long you letting them rest before getting into a box?


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[wine_junkie]

2-3 weeks

[Mikeltee]

I have only had a couple 'green' tasting cigars but those were all NCs. I have yet to experience this with CCs, but I did my homework when swapping over. I immediately bought up 5ers of aged material to find what I liked and then proceeded to build a nice inventory of boxes. Make sure your sticks are acclimated properly as well. 3 months from overseas and even when I get them locally I find it takes a few weeks in my environment to become the cigar they are intended to be.

Heres a list that I have had success in smoking within 6 months of the box code. There are many more that can be included in this list. Rob's descriptions accurately portray how they smoke young as well:

HuHC

Rass

Monte petite edmundo

Boli PC

Cohiba Robustos

QdO 54 smoked slow

 

Here is a list that I would avoid unless 3 years are on them:

All PL marca

Most Montes aside from PE

San Kristolbal marca 

LGC marca

 

YMMV... these are just my experiences with my untrained pallet. Although I can not discern "a fish market by the coast of Scotland on a rainy day" (my new favorite), I do know when a cigar tastes good and when it dosen't. I just can't/refuse to acknowledge and poetically express what I am tasting.

 

 

[wine_junkie]

Thank you all for the feedback so far!

[Hammer Smokin']

16 minutes ago, wine_junkie said:

2-3 weeks

you will get a number of people advise you to sit your cigars for anywhere from 6 months to 6 years (and beyond).

cigar smokers will either pony up for aged cuban cigars (all the while purchasing "new" cuban cigars to lay down) so that you smoke your purchased aged cigars (purchased at a premium price) while also purchasing fresh cigars for you to age.

many will find that process needless, and move back to non cubans.

I think the process is worth it.

[BoliDan]

"Green" is typically used in beer terminology. When i make a beer but dont let it sit long enough green means young, maybe high ester notes confusing the other flavors because it didnt sit long enough at the proper fermentation temp to meld all flavors. Is that what you mean? We use "mongrel" as a descriptor for cigars (on this site anyway). If i hit the nail on the head, then yes. Give it another 3 months and try another.

[wine_junkie]

I’m into food and wine quite a bit. I’m intrigued by your use of green.  To me in wine terms “green” is used when there is an over abundance of stem inclusion and not enough fruit to compliment. 

Green in this case (to me) more signifies younger tobacco leaves that aren’t properly aged. Like newer wines released too early (but to me are more approachable than most of these cigars)

 

I guess I’m wondering if others are experiencing this same thing and does age rectify the issue

[Hammer Smokin']

you'll read that some folks enjoy "powerful" young cigars that show "mongrel".

i do not.

as a result most of my cigar smoking are cigars with 3 years of age, minimum.

I often buy 5's and 10's of aged cigars, instead of full boxes of new cigars.

[PigFish]

Your cigars are likely too wet. If your cigars are pliable, don’t have an audible crackle when rolled between fingers, bands are tight, they are too wet.

MHO.

[La_Tigre]

I’m curious if anyone has experience of the pine-sol flavor and what that indicates. 

[Hammer Smokin']

one of the common flavours I taste is shoe polish / leather cleaner. (not leather itself).

I don't 'dislike' the flavour, but I'm sure when reviewing cigars that flavour hint is changed to something more appealing on the pallet.

[PigFish]

I often used to taste gasoline. I believe that to be an unconverted tannin, but am guessing.

 I taste it less and less as smoke through late nineties stock.

[PigFish]

45 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

one of the common flavours I taste is shoe polish / leather cleaner. (not leather itself).

I don't 'dislike' the flavour, but I'm sure when reviewing cigars that flavour hint is changed to something more appealing on the pallet.

I have never tasted shoe polish, but years of surfing, I know the taste of paraffin. Shoe polish, a wax, means we might be describing the same taste, lacking the taste of the dye...!

if I ever meet a smoker with a black tongue, I will have you pegged. -?

 

[PigFish]

6 hours ago, La_Tigre said:

I’m curious if anyone has experience of the pine-sol flavor and what that indicates. 

I have also tasted turpentine. This can also be described as tea tree oil. 
If you taste pinesol, you are a novice. If you taste tea tree oil, you are a sophisticate. See the difference???

Remember, Tabacuba has the community convinced that smoking is not for boorish commoners that would actually know what pinesol is. No, no... that would be unheard of. But tea tree oil, an essence, that is fitting a person smoking a $35 dollar cigar!!!

?? 

Read with levity.

[wine_junkie]

Cigars crackle when pressed and are just the absolute slightest bit pliable. 
 

Thank you all for the responses so far. Paraffin could be in the neighborhood of what I am tasting too...the texture is like that but the flavor has more of a dense, deep stemmy component. 

[La_Tigre]

14 hours ago, PigFish said:

I have also tasted turpentine. This can also be described as tea tree oil. 
If you taste pinesol, you are a novice. If you taste tea tree oil, you are a sophisticate. See the difference???

Remember, Tabacuba has the community convinced that smoking is not for boorish commoners that would actually know what pinesol is. No, no... that would be unheard of. But tea tree oil, an essence, that is fitting a person smoking a $35 dollar cigar!!!

?? 

Read with levity.

Dammit, I knew we missed a chance at establishing how refined we are. I blew it letting it be known notes of camphor with hints of ambergris comes through like huffing a pine cleaner rag to our serf palate! ?

[SmokyFontaine]

I find that about 5min in, to about the band is pleasure city for me. Anything past that and I get hit with bitter, burnt cherry (tar?) flavors. On the last 3-4 cigars I've been trying to play around with a much less enthusiastic draw to see if the...ehem...intensity of my sucking...is heating the cigar more than is necessary, as I know the pace of smoking is perfectly normal (45-60 sec). Tried to do that with a Siglo I the other night, but that was a tight draw and I had to suck like, well, let's just say there was a lot of sucking. Did it with a Fuente Short Story, and the cigar seemed to burn cooler and more flavorful throughout. 

So in other words, keep experimenting until you find out what works for you. I've shied away from longer cigars due to the consistent harshness I tend to get by the band (or earlier). If I can get it figured out with robustos and petit robustos, then I might start to chase some long Cohibas, Sir Winnies. Then I can suck some longer sticks. 

I really have nowhere to go with this comment.