Doesn't it just taste like smoke?

Joined Sep 2005
1 Posts | 0+
Ok, let me start off, I got into cigars about 6 months ago and have probably smoked about 40+ cigars. I usually smoke good cigar brands like Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta and a few other brands so I am not really smoking anything cheap.

The problem is, I read all of these posts, magazines etc and everyone is going into great detail about how this cigar tastes like mild vanilla, almund, nutty, fruity, spicy, hint of coffee etc etc, but honestly it just tastes like smoke to me. I can definatly notice the difference between a cheap cigar and a good one, the smoke simply seems "nicer", better draw etc, but I definatly cannot say it is spicy, fruity etc it still seems like smoke.

Now I wouldn't say I have no tastebuds either, I have recently got into wine and can definatly go into some fairly great detail about all the subtle hints of a good glass of wine, but for some reason I cannot for cigars.

Yesterday I lite up a Romeo y Julieta #4 and smoked it, it was nice, great draw, milder than I am used to, but then I go online and people say it is spicy, hint of vanilla etc etc and it just tasted like a good smoke to me.

Honestly I love cigar smoking and just bought $600 worth of cigars and a good humidor etc, but how do you guys tell all these subtle hints? Is it practice? Am I simply smoking it wrong? I usually take a nice medium puff, let it glide over my tongue as I inhale into my mouth, let it sit for second and then exhale out of my mouth, but the entire time I cannot really taste anything, including the smoke as if I try I swallow the smoke, I only get a whiff of the taste after it is out of my mouth and by then it simply tastes like smoke.

I must be missing something right? Help a guy out.
 
ive found romeo y julieta to be decent but not very complex, they taste good but dont really have many subtlties. and montes (non cuban) are pretty much the same. it also depends on what lines you are getting from the companys. and remember!! price is not directly related to quality!!!!
 
Your palate will develope over time. YOu will also notice that your tastes will always be different from what you are reading or seeing. Like thor says in the upcoming issue, "one mans dog rocket is another mans special occassion smoke."

I can say this. Branch out from what you are smoking. While those cigars are pricey they are name brand and spend tons on advertising which makes them popular. IMHO all montecristos, romeos, hoyo de monterrey, all taste the same to me. Track down some Cusano, Camacho, Oliva. These boutique guys are the best.
 
I posted something about this a couple months back. I dare say that I think Castle Crest did as well.

As your taste is physiologicly connected to smell, you must not close off the nose when trying to taste. Notice how you can't taste anything when your sinuses are plugged?

Do not inhale the smoke, but with practice, you should be able to draw it into your mouth, and exhale it through your nose. It takes getting used to, but worth it. You will then find all kinds of flavors you never tasted before.

Give it a try, let us know.
 
Welcome to the forum! Mac said it, check out the boutiquers...there stuff is really unique compared to the cigars you mentioned...

Colonel said it too, it is said that if you don't blow smoke out of your nose, you have never tasted a cigar. It's kinda hard at first, but it's important not to inhale because cigar smoking is a palatable experience, you will get used to it, for the most part, some cigars still beat the crap out of my sinuses when I do it....
 
Welcome!
I have to say some people have better palate tahn others.
I know because my wife has a better palate than I do.
We often smoke tgether and descrobe what we are tasting.
The flavors people describe are subtle (mostly) and I need to pay attention to what I am smoking to notice.
I find keeping a Dossier (taking notes) when I first try a cigar will keep my focus on the flavors & experience.
Trust me I was the same way when I started - Vanilla????
But they are there in some cigars.
 
I've been smoking cigars for nine years. For at least the first two years I couldn't tell flavors either. I knew what I liked and didn't like, but it's true what some others have said. The palate develops over time. If you're into wine already, you have a head start on cigars. It will come.
 
Welcome macker :)

I agree with what the others are saying about the palette developing over time.
When I first began smoking I would read CIGARAficionado (remember when it
was written like that fellas? :roll: ), and I couldn't for the life of me understand how
the heck someone could taste toasted marshmallow, or leather... c'mon, who
chews on leather!
But since I enjoyed the whole ritual of smoking I didn't let that discourage me.
Like Bloof, it probably took me close to 2 years to be able to discern
different flavors from the smoke.
You might think it only tastes like smoke now, but like you said, you're only six
months and 40 cigars into it. Just wait until you're 400 cigars into our world :wink:
 
I have a leather guitar strap, but I've never chewed on it.


It smells good tho :D


I'm relatively new to smoking too, and I can't really discern any flavors yet either. I've been smoking since January. I'm at the point where I know what I like and I know what I don't like.
 
:cryinlaugh: :cryinlaugh: :cryinlaugh:

Wolfdaddy actually hit on something very important. My friend DocBarry is far better at explaining it, but how something smells has a great deal to do with how it tastes. Sure, idiots like me put a lot of things in our mouths when we were infants and even small children. Heck, I've put stupid things in my mouth as an adult, oftentimes just to see what it tasted like. But, even if you've never chewed on leather or anything of that nature, since taste buds and sense of smell are connected, i.e., the olfactory system, often you can get an idea of a taste because of the aroma.

A lot of times I will get that trail of flavor during the exhale that really isn't going into your mouth, it's the smoke of the cigar wafting up into your nose as you finish the puff and prepare to exhale upon removing the cigar from your mouth. A lot of "flavor" can be detected, and thereby reported on, from this part of the cigar smoking experience. So, if you want to know what a cigar tastes like, pay close attention to what your nose tells you. This may not apply so much if you walk down the street and smell a cigar someone is smoking, but rather the smoke that drifts your way as you are smoking your own cigar.

Please note, this is not an advice to run around your house or apartment chasing your own second hand cigar smoke and trying to sniff it. By that time, it's not going to do anything but make you choke. Trust me, it happens to me sometimes, and is one of the group of factors that kept me out of work last Saturday night. I was smoking a delicious cigar, and the smoke was all over my den. I had to get up at one point to go to the bathroom, and ran smack into a huge cloud of smoke that I had just let go of. I had my mouth open and stood up right into the cloud. I choked my head off, spiraled into a severe asthma attack, which had already been coming on for hours, and wound up, as stated elsewhere, eventually telling the taxi driver to turn back and take me home.

You can't take this Doof guy anywhere, even into a discussion on the flavor of cigars. He winds up telling you his life story, and giving you no substance to boot.

:duh: :duh: :flush:
 
Bloofington said:
You can't take this Doof guy anywhere, even into a discussion on the flavor of cigars. He winds up telling you his life story, and giving you no substance to boot.




maybe so, but it's entertaining anyhow :wink: :lol:
 
While at the sitdown I was listening to Maduro Mistress from CigarWise and Alex talking about different cigars and was blown away by how they discerned the different nuances of each cigar.

I have to start writing in my dossier so I can track my own palate development.
 
I just wanted to revive this thread a bit because I think it contains some very deep wisdom.

I too just started on this journey we call cigar apreciation, and also wondered why I wasn't getting all of those flavors that I was hearing about. You guys give me hope, and now a new method, to try and add to my ever increasing knowledge. One thing I do know for sure, its been a good trip so far, and I do not think it is going to end any time soon!
 
Great idea. It sounds like many people have the same experience, or maybe they just catch on to the correct "lingo" I have a friend that is into wine big time and we were drinking (I was drinking, he was sniffing) and he was talking about the smell/taste of baby powder. I've had two bottles since and still have not had that experience.
 
Been into many bottles of wine, rather have a stout beer and a cigar any day.