Can you 'experts' help me define my 'cigar preference profile'?

thunkit

Hello!

I'm very new to serial cigar smoking (hadn't smoked one in twenty years, and only then maybe once a year) so I'm trying to figure out my general likes and dislikes. I ordered the "Choice Cuts 54-Ring" sampler from CI and the 10-cigar sampler/humidor deal from Cigar.com. So far, there are my general impressions of what I've smoked so far from these sets.

Joya de Nicaragua Antano: This has been my favorite of all I've tried so far. For me, it's very full tasting and flavorful.

CAO Gold Maduro: Enjoyed this one a whole llot--starts off slow, and builds in flavor.

Morrow Castle Toro:--Quite nice, very pleasant.

Ave Maria Toro: I found this hard to get burning and not particulary flavorful.

Cohiba 'Red Dot': Surprisingly, the worst cigar I've smoked so far. An incredibly bitter taste with no subtlety whatsoever.

5 Vegas Triple A Toro: An okay cigar with some nice spices, but nothing outstanding.

Man O' War Ruination Toro: Pleasant, but not particularly memorable.

La Herencia Cubano Toro: A nice smoke with nice spices, but, overall, not particularly memorable.

From your experience, do my likes and dislikes point to a patter, i.e., full vs. mild, country-specific, or style specific? If so, are there any other cigars I might move on to next on my sampling trail? At the moment, I still have the following to try out:

Man O' War Virtue Toro
La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte
Diesel Toro
Graycliff Turbo Toro
Sancho Panza
La Gloria Cubana Series R
Hoyo De Monterey
Padilla Miami
CAO Black

Any thoughts on these or other brands/styles? Thanks for your opinions.

Jeff

beatnic

You seem to be all over the board, Jeff. I would have thought you might like the AAA with your other choices. Morrow Castle: Its' the wrapper. Delicious. The Antano, just plain good. Keep trying. Buy lots of sticks, put them in your humidor and start smoking. At some point you'll reach in for a particular cigar, and it will be gone. That's your go-to-stick.
I have no particular palate preferences. I like mild, medium and strong, but my preference is usually determined by the taste of the wrapper. I like some maduros, but not all.
You might want to try the House Blends Samplers. They have a good range of sticks, very reasonably priced, that can give you a variety of flavor profiles. It'll come. Good luck.

Vision

La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte : Lots of flavor
Diesel Toro : Smooth yet powerful
Graycliff Turbo Toro : Good but not one of their best

From what I have read... and I am probably wrong... It looks like you may not be a fan of AJ Fernandez blends. This is the list of SOME of his stuff.

5 Vegas AAA
A.J. Fernandez Fresh-Rolled
A. Fernandez Signature Series
Ave Maria
Ave Maria Reconquista
Diesel
Diesel Crucible
Diesel Unlimited
Emilio AF-1
Emilio AF-2
Est. 1844 Anejado
Graycliff G2 Turbo
Gurkha Park Avenue
Gurkha Sherpa
La Herencia Cubana
La Herencia Cubana Core
La Herencia Cubana Oscuro Fuerte
ITC 10th Anniversary
ITC Signature Summer Blend 2008
La Cuna Bin No 85
Man O' War
Man O' War Armada
Man O' War Puro Authentico
Man O' War Ruination
Man O' War Side Projects
Man O' War Virtue
Morro Castle
Nica Libre (not Potencia)
Rocky Patel Fusion
Padilla Achilles
Padilla Habano
Padilla Miami Edicion Limitada
San Lotano
San Lotano Oval
San Miguel
Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet

I keep a list on my phone thru an app called RateMyCigar. Its awesome. I had a Gurkha Vintage 2001 and it SUCKED. I let them sit for 3 months... Now I love them... Don't just kick them to the curb. Let them hang out for a while. Get to know your humidor.Then smoke them again. I give all my sticks the 3 strike rule.

j0z3r

HAHA, experts.

I think if you liked the Joya de Nicaragua Antaño, then you likely have a proclivity towards Nicaraguan tobacco, and rather strong cigars at that.

What I would suggest is looking into cigars made by Don Pepin Garcia, if you like that spicy character of the Antaño, then look at the Pepin Garcia Blue Label.

Going into a different country, La Flor Dominicana also has some cigars that I think fall in the category with JdN, namely the Ligero and Double Ligero. These are bold, spicy and strong cigars, they are some of the fullest flavored Dominican cigars out there.

So those are two suggestions, there are so many out there to try, and using these suggestions as a building block will help you on your way to fully exploring your preferred cigars. Let us know how the journey goes.

thunkit

Thank your thoughts, gentlemen. I think I'm lleaning a bit toward more full-bodied Nicaraguan tobaccos and Maduros, but who knows?

I was also thinking about getting Cigar.com's "Cigar Aficianado Best of 2011" sampler, since I figure, hey, they're highly rated so they've just GOT to be good, right ?

xmacro

If you like the Joyo de Nicaragua Antano, be sure to try the JdN Dark Corojo Antano, as well as the La Gloria Cubana Series N; both very good IMO

kuzi16

xmacro:

If you like the Joyo de Nicaragua Antano, be sure to try the JdN Dark Corojo Antano, as well as the La Gloria Cubana Series N; both very good IMO

agreed. any of the JdN line you will like then. they have a blending style that is great. the Celebracion being my favorite of the bunch. its like the antano but a bit softer and a bit more complex.

Smokindaddy

thunkit:

Thank your thoughts, gentlemen. I think I'm lleaning a bit toward more full-bodied Nicaraguan tobaccos and Maduros, but who knows? I was also thinking about getting Cigar.com's "Cigar Aficianado Best of 2011" sampler, since I figure, hey, they're highly rated so they've just GOT to be good, right ?

If your wanting to try sticks from the top 25 I would not recommend this sampler pack. Most of the sticks in the sampler are not on the top 25 but more so family to the top 25. Like the AB Prensado, the sampler comes with the robusto not the Churchill. I for one loved the Churchill but could not stand the robusto. Not all blends are the same in a serie. So if your just wanting to try some sticks from the same series then this sampler would be great but if you looking for the top 25 sticks I would pass.