Who can taste chocolate?

[El Presidente]

Many of you have espoused opinions that Ken's cigar descriptions are flowery at best, bullshit at worst .

Here is typical an e-mail from "Stew Anker"

"Rob...I have been enjoying Habanos cigars in my hometown of Pillow PA since 1951 and I have never tasted chocolate, peel, citrus, cinnamon, nutmeg or any other crap except pure unadulterated T O B A C C O. Am I a moron or is Ken?"

Good question Stew and one that has often been discussed (talking know about flavour descriptions ;-) )

Ken has a definitive answer on this which I am sure he will post but I would like others feedback. I have no problems tasting chocolate, honey, bitterness, coffee, cream in certain cigars. What about others here?

[Ben]

With a really good cigar you do get subtle hints of assorted flavours.

[CastleCrest]

I have found many flavors all of the above listed.

[tmos]

» I have found many flavors all of the above listed.

I've found a lot of flavors:clap: Just not good at describing them, although I detected unsweetened cocoa in a Choix Supreme the other day.

[habanablue]

Any discerning smoker can easily defend his choice of words to describe the taste and aroma of cigars by stating that his palate is his own and only they know what they are tasting.:-D

[El Presidente]

Well Ken Gargett is currently in New Zealand on a media tour tasting "Pinot Noir".

He recently made an interesting point (his interesting points tend to stand amount amongst his others )

The average tongue varies in the amount of tastebuds it posesses. The variation is from aproximately 400 to 2000. Needless to say, a person with 2000 tastebuds can taste a wider aray of flavours and nuances than a person with 400.

I am going home to count mine tonight

[PJ_CEONAD_CC]

I taste chocolate from those cigars with the pink and blue tin foil wrapper. :-P

[El Presidente]

[1f1fan]

I can taste a wide variety of flavors also. Chocolate, honey, sweet syrup, citrus, vanilla bean....all in the background of a good core tobacco taste.

Tastebuds are key...but what about your sense of smell? Ever try eating something with nose held shut...or with a bad cold? Not as good is it? But once you let go of your nose and get over that cold the flavor are back. I'm sure your sense of taste and smell are connected and I'm just babbling at this point.....but yes I can taste chocolate. :-D

[stevejb]

I've tasted cocoa in certain cigars...Monte 2, VR famoso, RyJ robusto EL come to mind off the top of my head.

[Ken Gargett]

go away for a few days and see what happens. first, not sure i do have a definitive answer and the tastebuds thing is slightly out of context. i do suspect that sense of smell is extremely important here. will have a further think and try and post something once i get a bit of time. meanwhile, i'll be crossing pillow PA off my must-visit list (i assume that the gentleman concerned is an eagles fan and that probably, if living in a town called pillow doesn't, says it all).

[Vetteman]

My tastes are pretty unsophisticated, but I have tasted chocolate and coffee flavor in some cigars I've had

[Sean9689]

» I've tasted cocoa in certain cigars...Monte 2, VR famoso, RyJ robusto EL

» come to mind off the top of my head.

Funny you say that, I had a RyJ Robusto EL and was very pleased with the sweet/cocoa tastes it possessed. Also, had a bit of floral to go along with it...great cigar!

I usually associate chocolate with sweet/creamy/cocoa, so I would say I do taste it. A fine example of sweet/chocolate/creamy would be the Cohiba Selection Reserva. Just a wonderful smoke, no matter which vitola you pick from the box!

I also taste earth/spice/coffee(which I associate with creamy)/bitter/wood. Off the top of my head, that's about it.

[PigFish]

I think some can go over the top with their reviews and descriptors. But at the same time, how can I say they are incorrect or not truthful? I did not smoke the same cigar they did.

I have tasted many of the items described here in Cuban cigars. I think SLR’s have a black cherry taste! Additionally I have tasted mint, almond and even rosemary!

Sometimes I just can’t put my finger on it and I call it tobacco! I usual say, “straight-forward tobacco,” verses crooked and backward leaning tobacco. -LOL

[Mel]

» A fine example of sweet/chocolate/creamy would be the Cohiba

» Selection Reserva. Just a wonderful smoke, no matter which vitola you

» pick from the box!»

Hey Sean those Cohiba Resereva are crap and you need to let me take them off your hands for a small fee. My box is half gone. No top layer, sob-sob.

I know all you morons are talking about me and by the way Rob you mis-spelled my name.

I smell more differences in cigars than taste on the tounge. I taste spice, earth, bitter and that sour twang that I love. Chocolate is not as easily discerned. Sometimes I get nuts or fruit and cream. Cream can aslo apply as much to the texture of the smoke.

I notice the aromas of the different cigars even more distinctly but it is more difficult to describe. Some just seem to have an extremely intoxicating and exotic smell.

I had a friend once say he put up with the flavor for the aroma. I don't agree with that but I could understand where he was coming from.

I know what I like...........

[Dave Kuck]

Unfortunately and I do say unfortunately I must have been given thousands of those taste buds and well as a good sense of smell. This has cost me dearly!

At the age of 25 I tasted my first Bordeaux-then California Cab-and the rest is history. When having a dinner party at my house, a friend of mine and I will swirl-swirl-swirl a wine for 15 minutes discussing each nuance. Many times

I cannot identify the aroma [sorry for not using the correct wine term-I know] or put a word to it-but I immensely enjoy it. In fact I hear at many parties-"There goes Dave-tasting and smelling stuff we never get to experience."

I find the same experience with cigars however I am REALLY poor at expressing

what I taste. I have hesitated to post my notes-but I will get the courage to post my nutty ideas. Ex: In one cigar the richness of wood could be compared to the visual effect of looking at a plank of dark oak varnished to a deep, intoxicating shine. Yikes-told ya.

For those that do not get all those flavors-who cares-it is what YOU enjoy that counts. Plus-I am a babbling idiot in regards to some of my friends' other hobbies.

dave

[Tampa1257]

» Many of you have espoused opinions that Ken's cigar descriptions are

» flowery at best, bullshit at worst .

As to tasting flavors, I can say that I do taste many different flavors when I smoke. I also say that I find a hugh difference in determining the flavors when I blow the smoke out of my nose and use the senses in my nose to pick up the aromaticness in the vitola. I can taste Vanilla, Chocolate, Coffee Bean, I can taste citrus, spice, pepper, in different levels and often associate the flavors to something that I can best describe. I can taste the difference in an aged cigar and a youthful cigar. I have tended to slow down my smoking to relax and enjoy all the flavors and subtle nuances as they develop. I feel that those that smoke fast tend to have a hotter and less tastefull cigar because they are rushing it and not allowing the cigar to develop and be enjoyed as it was created. Smoke slow, blow the smoke out of your nose and you will be surprised at the quality difference your cigar will taste like.

Tampa

[Well Armed]

Hey guys, first post. Try taking a piece of chocolate and letting it melt in your mouth while you keep your nose plugged. That is what choclate tastes like. Everything else comes from its aromas. When I am drawing on a cigar I like to breathe in the smoke coming off the burning end. That is where I get the most satisfying smells to accompany the actual taste of the cigar.

[Freefallguy]

For the absolute ultimate enjoyment of both the subtle nuances and bold brashness of the LE’s I partake in, I like to have the flavor linger as long a possible. Hence, I tend to smoke slowly, indeed ingesting voluminous amounts of smoke… and then after a few days I prefer to ever so slowly let it trickle out my sweet loving arse!

Aaaaahhhhhhh Nirvana!!

[ironman]

I do taste the chocolate and other flavors, I think for me it's a matter of letting yourself taste the different nuances of different cigars, slow down, relax and enjoy the moment!! For me with six kids they don't come as often as I like:surprised:

Ironman

[El Presidente]

Six kids?

+ your wife enjoys cigars?

Does she have a sister?

Well done Ironman!

[rdk]

I taste a lot of different flavors I think that is what makes Cuban Cigars so good. I don't always taste the same as other people but for me the San Cristobal El Principe is a chocolate bomb.:-P

[Ken Gargett]

the thoughts that our illustrious leader referred to in the first posting in this thread, when he 'volunteered' me, have finally been done and posted separately under 'flavours in cigars'. all a bit rambling but hope it helps a bit.

[smk819]

Chocolate, coffee, cream sometime mixed together sometime seperate. Changing flavors at different parts of the same cigar. In a simple smoke like a quintero panatella I never taste much other than an earthy tobacco flavor. A Cohiba robusto is an entirely different story with a multitude of flavors.

[dragon]

<<< Ken has a definitive answer on this which I am sure he will post but I would like others feedback. I have no problems tasting chocolate, honey, bitterness, coffee, cream in certain cigars. What about others here? >>>

Thanks to some of Kens excellent reviews, I now taste and identify flavors that I just couldn't put my finger on before. Still not sure about that meatstock and fruitcake thing though