I cant believe that i did not post this here. i wrote it a long time ago but it may help some of the new guys. Im sure a few of you have seen this before. I was gunna link to it on another thread but i couldnt find it. so here ya go:


I am by no means an expert on the topic of cigars but (being a cook and a wine connoisseur) I do know a bit about taste.
When you taste food most of the taste comes from smell. We all know this. All that the human tongue can actually taste is salt, sweet, and bitter. To develop your palate you need to develop you sense of smell. This may seem like a difficult task but it isn’t hard. It just takes practice. Another thing that helps is knowing what you are looking for.
I do enjoy a glass of wine. If it was up to me I would have a glass of wine with every meal. I like to taste all the little flavors going on in the wine, but being able to identify them took practice. Here is how I taste wine:
1) Pour glass less than half way full.
2) Swirl and look for impurities (cork from opening) and to release aroma, and took for "legs"*
3) Take a deep sniff of it.
4) Take a small amount in and hold in the mouth
5) Smell again
6) Swallow

When I do this I can smell everything in the wine and identify what is in it.
But, how do I know what to look for?
Good question.
Look up what other people say about the wine. If they say it has a black cherry smell to it, go out and buy a black cherry. (Try it: Blackstone Merlot does in fact taste like black cherry) Cut the cherry in half and place it in a wine glass and smell it. Then pour the wine in another glass and smell it. Notice the similarities. After a while you learn to point out taste on your own.

How does this relate to cigars?
Another good question.
Read reviews. If someone says it has a hint of coffee then smell some coffee while smoking a cigar. I recently red a thread here where someone said they could taste Macadamia nuts. Buy that cigar and some macadamia nuts. Smoke the cigar and eat the nuts. Notice how they are the same. How else are you supposed to identify a taste if you don’t have a reference point? Basically, you need to learn the common smells and tastes of cigars. (Nutty, pepper, leather, and so on)

Develop a smoke strategy. Much like my wine tasting, I have found a way to taste cigars better then when I first started. I feel the cigar, I look at it closely and I spend a lot of time smelling the cigar pre-smoke. Before I clip, I lick the cap. I use the method described in “lighting cigars 101.” (that was a great thread) I make sure to blow at least one puff out through my nose (albeit a small one). All of this helps me understand the cigar better.

Read reviews, buy the flavors mentioned, try the cigar, and decide for yourself. At worst you’ll enjoy a few good smokes.

that was most of the original document. now a few years on id like to add that you should learn how to get smoke through the nose. when you get a bit of it through the nose your sence of smell can really go to work for you. You will start to see complexities in cigars that you thought were simple and you may even start to not like cigars you did before. it opens a new world up to you.

*edit on 9-19-09

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

Are you suggesting I chew on my leather shoes while smoking a cigar? :oP

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In this kind of town, say you kick someone in the head. They'll just, well, they'll likely sue you... but mad? No, they don't get mad.

~ Gogol Bordello "Punk Rock Parranda"

yes.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

no but smelling fresh leather wont hurt

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

This is an awesome resource. I had seen it somewhere else in the past, but forgot about it. Thanks for reviving it here, I'll definitely utilize these suggestions.

Yeah, what he said. Thanks for the insights.

great post thanks for this one!

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If you are going through hell, keep going.
Winston Churchill

I knew we kept you around for something...lol.
This is some great info. I enjoy wine and food a lot, cigars only add to the whole experiance. I never thought to relate the 2 quite like that. Although wine and cigars are similar in other ways. Thanks for this knowledge.
So I shouldn't use my boots as a referance for leather!?

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Andy

A little rebellion now and then...is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, 1787
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

Bad Andy:

I knew we kept you around for something...lol.

well, we knew it wasnt for my stunning good looks...

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

Good thread kuzi. As always very informative.

Andy as far as chewing on your boots I wouldn't recommend that, we know where you've been lol.

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j0z3r:

I liked it, it tasted less like a Gurkha and more like a normal cigar, good flavors too.

I've been sweating in those things since I got here...tasty.

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Andy

A little rebellion now and then...is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, 1787
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

It does remind me of a review I think it was from urbi .... tasted dirty belt, LMAO!

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j0z3r:

I liked it, it tasted less like a Gurkha and more like a normal cigar, good flavors too.

madurofan:

It does remind me of a review I think it was from urbi .... tasted dirty belt, LMAO!

Yeah, we have heard some interesting taste comparison around here. Make me wonder what you guys have been chewing on when you don't have a cigar in your mouth..

kaspera79:

madurofan:

It does remind me of a review I think it was from urbi .... tasted dirty belt, LMAO!

Yeah, we have heard some interesting taste comparison around here. Make me wonder what you guys have been chewing on when you don't have a cigar in your mouth..

Some night's, thinking about it gives me nightmares.

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The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground, and miss. --Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

as far as a leather taste goes... i think of what its ike to walk into the local leather shop in the mall. i think it may be wilsons leather. they used to be all over the place but for some reason i dont remember seing one recently

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate