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Old 09-11-2005, 09:26 AM   #1
jazznut
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What do your tastebuds taste?

WHAT DO YOUR TASTEBUDS TASTE?

One Saturday afternoon, a true aficionado of all leaves Cuban and I kicked back in the lounge of La Casa del Habano and talked about – what else – memorable cigars. My friend worked his way through a Dunhill Cabinetta and diet soft drink, while I opted for a Montecristo Robusto and Late Bottled Vintage Port. It soon dawned on me how closely the way we recounted our smoking pleasure mirrored the manner in which we expressed appreciation for food and drink. What’s more, the descriptive thread binding these areas of aroma and flavor experience seemed entirely natural – to the two of us, at least.

Now, there is a school of thought that deems such an approach over-the-top. “Tobacco is just tobacco,” many proponents of this view maintain, “and alluding to other substances in order to convey the style of a cigar doesn’t make any sense.” Purists often poke fun at anyone who dares portray a cigar as smelling or tasting of foodstuffs. “I mean, you’re smoking the darn thing, not eating it,” they insist. Despite the odd fragment of filler having occasionally slipped down my throat, I accept the physical aspect of this philosophy. When it comes to sensory matters, though, I’m not so sure.

The cigar bug bit me long after I discovered the pleasures of culinary creativity, beer, wine and liquor – what better rationalization for my finding non-tobacco aromas and flavors in a cigar? Yet I’m convinced this sort of cross-category impressionism can bear fruit when relating to others how a wrapped bunch of rolled leaves strikes us.

A not-so-strange logic lies behind equating characteristics of cured tobacco with those of food and drink. All three draw elements from climate, soil and water. If Tuscan olive oil tastes of Italian hillsides, Scotch whisky of the moors and shores of Scotland, and Médoc wine of the Gironde, do not Cohiba and Fuente taste unmistakably of their respective regions? I know I derive much satisfaction from an artisanal product that reflects its place of origin on nose and palate.

In the case of cigars, beers, wines, liquors and some foods, we can add fermentation and aging to environmental factors. Vegetation is vegetation, after all – no matter the extracted or otherwise manipulated form, or the method we use to discern its fragrance and flavor.

“But how,” you ask, “can a cigar possibly smell or taste of coffee, cream, cardamon or compost?” The short answer is that it can’t – exactly. However, this is not to say that a blend of tobacco leaves might not evoke such sensory images, and often with eery similarity. Clearly, an associative process drawing upon a range of aromatic and gustatory experiences is at work here. And if this subjective analysis helps you and I to get a better grip on the flavor profile of a cigar, then something positive has been achieved.

By the way, how do they get the Caramilk inside of those Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas?
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Old 09-11-2005, 09:52 AM   #2
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Very well stated, Doug.

Taste and smell are also very closely linked in the brain. The two "chemical senses", so called because they detect minute traces of chemical in order to function, are so closely linked that some estimate that 80-90% of what we perceive as taste is actually smell!

Why is this important? Because memories of scent and smell are the strongest memories in humans. Odor memories are the slowest to fall off and smells are the most likely to evoke or cue memories of events. Whole memories, complete with all associated emotions, can be prompted by smell. This is possibly why we are capable of enjoying the experience of a fine cigar so fully - because we imprint the situation and surroundings of the event in our minds as well as the flavors and nuances of the cigar itself.

To get to the real issue of the ability to discern various tastes one must also look to the research currently being done on the subject of supertasters. Modern thought says that we each inherit a unique ability to detect odors and flavors, and that some inherit a much more sophisticated and sensitive palate. These so called supertasters, who are estimated to comprise up to 25% of the population, have the ability to form much more complex understandings of taste and smell than others. This ability can translate into more sophisticated descriptions of flavor - descriptions which non-supertasters can only envy.

Thanks for starting a dialogue on this fascinating subject, and for coupling your unique palate with the initiative to comprehensively analyze, capture, and publish your thoughts on so many fine cigars. We certainly appreciate it!
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Old 09-24-2005, 04:46 AM   #3
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Both previous posts are very interesting. I've been trying to taste the things I read about in cigar reviews, but don't seem to have that ability. I would like to develop a good palate, but so far can only distinguish that which tastes good or bad to my particular way of thinking.

Is there a way to develop the ability to identify tastes and smells as some describe?
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Old 09-24-2005, 04:47 PM   #4
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To paraphrase Michael Broadbent, one of the truly great winetasters, "If one can taste food, one can taste cigars (sic)." He goes on to say, "Reasoned judgement... must be based on knowledge, and this can only be acquired by the sort of practice in tasting that will help... memory." Continuing on, he states, "Some people are no doubt endowed with a more delicate and sensitive palate than others, but this alone is less useful than a normal but well-trained and experienced palate... In the end it is almost always memory which lets one down, which is why it is advisable to make notes."

I am fortunate in that I've been an inveterate note-taker for practically as long as I can remember. And I'd hasten to add that it is this fact, above and beyond any other, which has enabled me to 'catalogue' and retain a sense of various sensations of smell and taste. My brother, for instance, possesses innate senses of smell and taste far superior to mine (and smokes cigarettes on top of it all, goodness!). Yet I end up having to constantly remind him of aroma and flavour impressions we've shared in analysis and discussion. The ability to form associations amongst seemingly disparate sensory stimuli and the times and places one experiences them in works wonders in helping one to get a better grasp of what smells and tastes like what.

So what about that note-taking process?

Though you might not consider it essential information, the setting in which you smoke the cigar (such as before or after a meal, inside, outside, etc.) can affect how the flavours of the cigar are perceived.

If you have chosen to smoke the cigar with any beverage other than plain water, noting how this drink interacts is a good idea. For instance, does the drink act as a flavour foil to the cigar (contrast) or does it complement the characteristics of the smoke?

The pre-light aroma of a cigar is normally the sweetest, while the pre-light draw often reveals more herbaceous or spicy nuances. The post-light aroma, in contrast, is the most forceful and ‘toastiest’. Another factor is how well the scents of the cigar reflect the flavours. Are these two indicative of one another or are they totally out of whack?

The progression of flavours through the smoke reflects how complex the blend of tobaccos in the cigar is – a simpler or not properly aged blend will often seem more linear, while a more complex or better aged blend will often seem far subtler and ever-changing in taste.

The aspects of strength and fullness of body should also be addressed. And remember that these are not necessarily one and the same. It is entirely possible for a cigar to come across as relatively light-bodied and to also have a head-spinning underlying strength, or vice versa. More often than not, though, strength and fullness will bear a fairly close relationship to each other.

Dividing flavour assessment into 3 parts – opening portion, mid portion and final portion - permits one to more clearly note how the characteristics of the cigar change through the smoke. Last but not least, how long do the flavours linger on the palate?

Some essential aroma and flavour characteristics include tobacco (SURPRISE! But is it light and uplifted or profoundly rich?), wood (cedar is the most common, but sometimes many exotic woods – sweet, dry or bittersweet in tone – can be present), earth (this often directly reflects the provenance of the cigar, and can range from a dry calcareous sort to a rich, fertilized, barnyard type), animal-like nuances (ranging from furniture leather through more stable-like to downright funky musk) vegetation (floral, grassy, herbal, etc.), spices (sweeter as in baking spices or more piquant as in peppery) and citrus (prevalent in many cigars and a key component of that famous Cuban "twang"). Allusions to other characteristics such as fruits, nuts, chocolate and coffee may or may not seem important in describing the flavour.

So it seems as though it's no simple matter to get to the bottom of a cigar's many mysteries. In the final analysis, however, all of this has little bearing on how much you enjoy your cigar. To quote Broadbent once more, "What is good smells and tastes good."

May it always be so!
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Old 09-24-2005, 04:52 PM   #5
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Amen
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Old 09-24-2005, 05:48 PM   #6
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Jazznut, thanks for the great lesson. I will start taking notes and see if I can discern the difference of which you speak.
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Old 09-27-2005, 05:47 AM   #7
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Mr. Jazz, my tendancy is towards the opposition (not strongly but nonetheless). I do identify with some of the more dominant "flavor" descriptors but not the depth and intricacies you invoke. I subscibe to adjectives such as smooth, complex, sweet, harsh... and some flavors such as woody, earthy, coffee (but not to an exact variety).

Having said that, you are an eloquent writer with a diverse vocabulary and thus provide an enjoyable read. One thing I respect is your true love of cigars. Therefore, next time I am in la belle province, It would be a pleasure to enjoy a cigar and your company. Who knows...

Take care,
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Old 09-27-2005, 04:48 PM   #8
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Smooth, harsh or transmuting from one to the other...
Sweet, dry or likewise changing in direction...
Complex or not...
These are key characteristics into which any and all other discerned scents and tastes must, of necessity, fall. And you are right to place emphasis on them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gotsmoke
It would be a pleasure to enjoy a cigar and your company.
Likewise, Mike.
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Old 11-04-2005, 08:51 AM   #9
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The biggest problem that I have always had was actually relating the flavors and aromas that I can discern to something that could be communicated clearly. If there were a cigar that smelled like aged Jarlsberg, I could sure as heck pass that on. But, for the most part, they are unique aromas, and I have problems relating them to anything else that I have experienced.

I have smelled and tasted several things, ever since I really started concentrating and isolating these nuances. I got allspice, cinnamon, or basically mixed baking spices a couple times. I have gotten a taste similar to baking ginger snap, meaning molasses, sugar and spices. Different times I have had things come up that struck me as similar to roasted coffee. Sometimes, a caramel flavor, ranging from a mild sweet taste all the way to burnt suger.

For every flavor component that I have been able to recognize, there have to be at least a half dozen or even twice as many that I have been able to isolate and analyze, but have not been able to quantify.

Maybe I am too literal minded. I have a keen sense of smell, and tastes and aromas stick with me. I could easily detect the various seasonings in food, but they are obviously going to be in there. Identifying the various components of cigar smoke is a whole lot harder because I just don't have a frame of reference, since it is so difficult for me to think of smells as 'Kinda like' something else. It is what it is, if you understand me.
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Old 11-06-2005, 06:43 AM   #10
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If i smoke the same cigar with coffee, wine, beer, armagnac/whiskey i create 4 different smoking sensations;I don't understand the science I just know that smoking without drinking is like cheese without a cracker
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