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How do you train your palate?

Cruiser5Cruiser5 Posts: 17 ✭✭

Hello, enthusiasts. As a beginner in the hobby, I seem to be failing hard at experiencing all the great flavors and nuances that are so richly described for my premiums. So either my taste buds are dead, or I'm doing something wrong. As recommended by the fine folks in the forums here, I keep my cigars unwrapped, but still within their cellos. I store them in a perfectly cooled wine-a-dor at the proper temperature and humidity. I use Xykar performance butane to fuel my lighter, which I think it's zippo? I am beginning to think my lighter is the culprit for my bland smoking experiences but I would like to hear from you. Thank-you.

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Comments

  • Rdp77Rdp77 Posts: 6,726 ✭✭✭✭✭

    First question:
    Did you enjoy your cigar?

  • Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 8,898 ✭✭✭✭✭

    2nd: Have you tried reading the "Developing your palate" thread under the Cigar 101 section?

    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

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  • NorCalR1NorCalR1 Posts: 4,197 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2022

    IMO reviews are speculative and should only be a point of reference.
    What @peter4jc might pick up as a nuanced flavor of nutmeg I might pick up as earthy and so on. As a smoker of 8 years now my advice would be don’t try and pick up what others are noting just take the time to enjoy the stick. You will figure out what you like and over time you will experience different profiles even with cigars you have previously smoked.

    For a good quick review @VegasFrank can point you in the right direction for a real man’s review.

    If you want to bomb me send it to Tony @0patience :D
    If you are a newbie I got Dem nachos....

  • VegasFrankVegasFrank Posts: 18,337 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2022

    Nah, I think dude man is just worried that he's missing out on something. The bottom line with those reviews is that people who do those tend to have an overactive imagination. This sit in front of a flavor wheel and smoke these things visualizing all the things on the wheel. Then they use their imaginations try to remember sensations.

    I smoked more cigars than like at least three people on this forum, and I rarely get any sensations of anything other than wood and occasional baking spices, pepper sensation while smoking (and mostly on the retro), and the occasional chocolate or fruitiness on a cold draw. If I try really hard, like I do during the leaf and libations stuff, I can equate it to other things too, but it's mostly subjective.

    What I taste more than anything is good Nicaraguan or Dominican or Brazilian or Honduran or American tobacco. I'm getting better at picking out wrappers and sometimes binder or filler components, and that's after about 5,000 smokes.

    But I still enjoy them anyways. I enjoy a lot of things that I have no idea about. I don't know what makes the sound of that hemi Challenger I drive in the morning, but I know it's my favorite sound in the world lol. Am I hearing components of muffler, engine, compression, dampening, other crap I don't know about? Probably. Doesn't matter. It sounds like a devil!

    Disclaimer:  All trolling is provided for the sole entertainment purposes of the author only. Readers may find entertainment and hard core truths, but none are intended. Any resulting damaged feelings or arse chapping of the reader are the sole responsibility of the reader, to include, but not limited to: crying, anger, revenge pørn, and abandonment or deletion of ccom accounts. Offer void in Utah because Utah is terrible.
  • EgoBoundaryEgoBoundary Posts: 2,259 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You won’t always get what everyone is getting out of a cigar… which is why you should just pay attention to what you are getting out of it, especially if you like it. When you start to notice that, then you can predict which cigars are going to fall into your wheelhouse…
    some people never get those flavors that you see on reviews, and yet they enjoy cigars quite often.

  • d_bladesd_blades Posts: 3,998 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2022

    Like Frank I get wood, leather, baking spice, pepper and occasionally some nut or raisin. Then again I'm only a couple of years into the habit.

    Don't let the wife know what you spend on guns, ammo or cigars.

  • YaksterYakster Posts: 27,914 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Good advice so far. The flavors that reviewers note are flavor analogs, so if someone says that they are getting notes of raisins they're getting a hint of a flavor that reminds them of raisins. Avoiding eating strong food and drink before smoking can help set up your palate to taste more of the nuances of a cigar, but as a beginner you probably don't want to smoke on an empty stomach.

    When I smoke a New World Cameroon I get a flavor that reminds me of marzipan, a creamy nuttiness. I just smoked one with a strong, straight Italian style espresso and didn't get any marzipan. Smoking with water or coffee is good, soda or espresso will probably make it hard to taste any nuances.

    I gave up drinking soda years ago and noticed that it helped me redefine my ideas of sweetness to be able to taste nuances in coffee and cigars. Sodas have their sweetness dialed up to 11, so by comparison other things will suffer.

    A lot of the flavors are picked up in the nose. Bring the smoke into your mouth, chew on it for a bit, and then retrohale it out your nose if you can. Not everyone likes to retrohale and it's not a requirement but it can help your enjoyment.

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  • YaksterYakster Posts: 27,914 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @TheKraken said:
    What I've found too is that if I don't drink much water throughout the day, my cigar is much more bland

    Words of wisdom. My cigars and pipes taste much better when I'm not dehydrated.

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  • PatrickbrickPatrickbrick Posts: 7,965 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Vision said:
    Smoke cigars, enjoy any and all time you have on this earth with that cigar, read, and again..... enjoy your time with a cigar.

    And a reminder, you can learn as much from a bad cigar as you can a good cigar.

    Edit for grammar.

    Well said Pete! We miss you on the vherf.

    "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give".  Winston Churchill.
    MOW badge received.
  • VisionVision Posts: 8,616 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Patrickbrick said:

    @Vision said:
    Smoke cigars, enjoy any and all time you have on this earth with that cigar, read, and again..... enjoy your time with a cigar.

    And a reminder, you can learn as much from a bad cigar as you can a good cigar.

    Edit for grammar.

    Well said Pete! We miss you on the vherf.

    Thank you brother. I figure in about a couple weeks I'll be back around.

  • VegasFrankVegasFrank Posts: 18,337 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yeah!

    Disclaimer:  All trolling is provided for the sole entertainment purposes of the author only. Readers may find entertainment and hard core truths, but none are intended. Any resulting damaged feelings or arse chapping of the reader are the sole responsibility of the reader, to include, but not limited to: crying, anger, revenge pørn, and abandonment or deletion of ccom accounts. Offer void in Utah because Utah is terrible.
  • YaksterYakster Posts: 27,914 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What youse all said.

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  • JrflicksterJrflickster Posts: 4,182 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My cigars taste like tobacco?

  • VisionVision Posts: 8,616 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sleeveless it is!

  • VisionVision Posts: 8,616 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Bob_Luken said:
    I'm growing suspicious of cruiserdude

    @Cruiser5 said:
    I am beginning to think my lighter is the culprit for my bland smoking experiences but I would like to hear from you. Thank-you.

    In what way do you think your lighter is a problem?

    @Cruiser5 You need to engage with us. You've gotten into this pattern of asking really good newb questions that generate a lot of discussion and you're getting a lot of valuable guidance but where are you? We get no further replies or even reactions from you.

    Is he using a zippo?

  • Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 8,898 ✭✭✭✭✭

    So, Cruiser, checked out that Developing Your Palate thread in the 101 section yet?

    If not,

    do you happen to know some guys who go by: "Rbeckom", or perhaps "Dbeckom", or even "DZR"?

    Looking forward to your response.

    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

    "If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed.  If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." --  Mark Twain
  • VisionVision Posts: 8,616 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Bob_Luken said:

    @Vision said:

    Is he using a zippo?

    Nobody commented on the lighter question, and the lighter question was vague begin with. Plus Rockwell is made by Xikar, not zippo. Maybe it's a autocorrect/typo situation.

    See how I'm falling for this thread again?,,,,, now that you pointed out the zippo word? I am trying to help by deciphering bad information with no follow-up help from the OP. That's why I'm losing patience, and also why I'm suspicious. Suspicious because this is how a resident troll would be subtle. Cru5 asks questions that elicit a lot of replies and gets this forum to talk on a subject that a resident troll would already know we tend to enjoy talking about. This thread in particular. We LUUUVE talking about how the reviewers are full of crap with their descriptive terminology. Right? We LUUUVE setting newbies straight on that s***. Right?

    I could be wrong about the troll part, but at the very least I'm frustrated by the fact that we are spending time on a newb who does not actually engage with us.

    Ohh... I was just kidding about the Zippo. LOL

  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,833 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2022

    @Vision said:

    @Bob_Luken said:

    @Vision said:

    Is he using a zippo?

    Nobody commented on the lighter question, and the lighter question was vague begin with. Plus Rockwell is made by Xikar, not zippo. Maybe it's a autocorrect/typo situation.

    See how I'm falling for this thread again?,,,,, now that you pointed out the zippo word? I am trying to help by deciphering bad information with no follow-up help from the OP. That's why I'm losing patience, and also why I'm suspicious. Suspicious because this is how a resident troll would be subtle. Cru5 asks questions that elicit a lot of replies and gets this forum to talk on a subject that a resident troll would already know we tend to enjoy talking about. This thread in particular. We LUUUVE talking about how the reviewers are full of crap with their descriptive terminology. Right? We LUUUVE setting newbies straight on that s***. Right?

    I could be wrong about the troll part, but at the very least I'm frustrated by the fact that we are spending time on a newb who does not actually engage with us.

    Ohh... I was just kidding about the Zippo. LOL

    Ohh.. He said zippo. LOL But it doesn't matter,... I was ready to unload that manure truck way before you said zippo.

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