Experiment in Tasting

[Snoman13]

Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll get into a taste test.

Looking forward to this one!! Gonna keep close watch, the premise has me intrigued.

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by Volt

Sounds like a fun project. Would you prefer with this smoke we refrain from a nice quality Bourbon, or would that influence your test?

I believe it was Myth Busters they did a similier test with a very cheap vodka filtered up to 9 times with one good vodka. The vodka super tester put all 9 or 10 shots in the correct order with out mistake. I was truley impressed.

I will be sending along instructions so there shouldn't be any confusion. But to answer your question, the only beverage allowed is water.

Originally Posted by Snoman13

Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll get into a taste test.

Looking forward to this one!! Gonna keep close watch, the premise has me intrigued.

If you want to get in on taste testing check out this thread:

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthr...109223&page=33

[smokeyscotch]

I am looking very forward to keeping up with this. Cool idea!

[wayner123]

Alright,

So I have all the addresses now and I'll hopefully send these out Saturday. Adding two more people will have me re-adjusting some things.

Thanks to all who hae shown interest. Even if the test is a bust it still proves something. Should be fun!!

[Volt]

"Thanks to all who hae shown interest. Even if the test is a bust it still proves something. Should be fun!!"

As we are doing a bit of hidden testing for you, we may not know all the parameters. It should be a lot of fun just seeing how all the different results turn out. While I understand "standards" in testing, no Bourbon with the cigar is gonna be tough. The things I do for science

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by Volt

While I understand "standards" in testing, no Bourbon with the cigar is gonna be tough. The things I do for science

Well, that may be one of the reasons you have a hard time getting flavors out of cigars. The Bourbon may be killing a lot of the tastes.

[Virginia Gent]

I'm looking forward to this and really hoping it will help with getting the flavors from my cigars.

[CigarMonkel]

lets hope he doesn't try to mix fish with cigar!

[wayner123]

Hey all,

Sorry for the delay guys, some family stuff came up this weekend. But the packages are all packaged up now and are going in the mail tomorrow morning. You should have them by Thursday, Friday at the latest.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**:

In each package are instructions. Please make sure you read those first before posting anything. If you do not, then you will forfeit your review!

Here are the DC#'s

Volt - 0103 8555 7492 1878 2504

Blues Tiger - 0103 8555 7492 3975 4023

Virginia Gent - 0103 8555 7491 9781 0984

Mark C - 0103 8555 7492 0829 6745

DennisP - 0103 8555 7492 2926 8264


This is going to be fun!!

[Volt]

I'll PM you when it gets here. Looking forward to the fun!

[DennisP]

Recieved mine tody. Haven't done anything but read the rules. Look forward to getting the time to do this.

[Volt]

Ok, cigar received today. I like the rules and have complied. I'll probrably head out to the bar tonight to do this. The curiosity will kill me if I have to wait till Sat to smoke it.

[Volt]

Experiment in Tasting by Wayner123

Blues Tiger, Virginia Gent, Mark C, Dennis P – unless you have completed your testing, Wayne may not want you reading my review.

Ok, Wayne brought up some interesting points in “tasting” cigars. In order to prove (what we don’t know yet) he asked for volunteers for an experiment. I was on of the lucky five. I am “young” to cigars, maybe 2 years and don't consider my palette to be very refined. Today I received a box that had some very specific instructions that I followed, some jelly beans, and a “cigar”.

My preparation: I ate dinner, collected up the wife, cigar material, and my beans. and headed off to the bar. Along the way to the bar per the instructions, I ate 3 beans each of each flavor. I had pink colada, strawberry daiquiri, and margarita. I was given 3 of each. I ate all 3 of each at one time. I wanted the full burst of the flavor to be strong in my memory. Not a lot of difference between the strawberry daiquiri and the margarita.

About ½ an hour trip to the bar.

Once I got to the bar I ordered a water (per the instructions and settled in.

1) Aesthetics: Unknown, per the instructions, an inspection of the cigar was not allowed. So all I can really say is it was a cigar with a semi dark wrapper in maybe a 48 or 50 RG.

2) Pre-light Construction: See #1

3) The smoke:

First third: I brought my el cheapo double bladed cutter and my Colibri Executive triple flame lighter. The cut was perfect, the end was just as I like it, no loose tobacco leaves, stems, etc. I toasted the foot for a few minutes and then hit with the first draw, it lit very easily and I was pleasantly surprised at the taste, not bad. Usually I don’t like the first 10 or so puffs of most cigars for some reason, this one was, not so bad.

The draw was a bit loose for me. Not terrible, but not a lot of resistance. It produced a fair amount of smoke through out the burn. Now that we are on the burn, let’s talk about it. In a word, it was terrible. Consistently stayed out of line, would not stay lit. After about the first inch or so it was work to keep it going, at least a hit every 45 to 60 seconds or puff city to get it up and running again. On the whole, even with the extra puffing it never smoked hot. The ash on this cigar never really went much past a ¼ inch without falling off. I really don’t care about the ash like some do, so no issues for me.

Let’s move on to the flavor. Had I been drinking my standard fare, I would have missed a lot. The cigar started out not creamy, but a silky smooth feel. The flavor was hitting me like sweet water, and then I realized it reminded me of eating a watermelon. Not that it had the taste, but that silky wet sensation of eating one. This is hitting me as a mild but complex cigar, what a combo. It faded a bit and came back on strong at the end of the first third. This is an easy smoke to blow through the nose, good for getting a feel for the smoke. Great comments from the other bar patrons on the aroma. I in fact gifted a Padron 3000 (my third gift, I never seem to get to smoke it) to a guy who was enjoying me smoke the one I had.

The ½ mark: Things are a changing. The flavors are muting a bit and it picks up a sugary taste/sensation. It is really starting to pick up a tobacco type taste, no more through the nose and leaving a dry type feel to the tongue. Starting to get a nicotine feel working even though the smoke is still “mild”.

The 2/3 mark: Ok, by the end of the 2/3 mark the nicotine is kicking! I’m thinking thank god for supper. As we can only drink water, no sugars are being taken in. During the ½ to 2/3 time frame there was a short burst of a orange/tangerine (or just call it a citrus) flavor. Maybe 5 – 9 puffs worth.

The ¾ mark: I’m done! I’m an hour and a half into this puppy and the buzz is rocking. Me getting sick on the bar isn’t gonna happen. The taste has gone to a very harsh tobacco taste with no flavors. So it now lies in the ash try with a ¼ to go for someone better than me. Sorry, only so much I can do for science.

4) Aftertaste/Finish: The aftertaste has killed the first immense enjoyment I originally had. Nothing left in the mouth but a strong tobacco taste as when I smoked cigarettes. First third I’m thinking, great complex cigar for a new person to try. Many great flavors and sensations to be experienced. As the nicotine level and harshness increased by the ½ mark, maybe not a beginner cigar.

5) Summation: Would I smoke it again, maybe. I would have stop sooner had it not been for the experiment. I smoked 3 packs of Marlboros a day before quitting, pipes, cigars, chewed tobacco and other hand rolled leaves. This is right up there with an un-filtered Camel cig. I finished the evening with a Joaquim blackberry brandy. It helped with the after taste and was similar to the original flavors I had tasted. Did the beans have any bearing? Not so much as to the actual flavors, but for this cigar, they definitely put me in the right zone to pick out the flavors I did. The water was the other help. A short rest in the humi might have helped the burn, but something tells me maybe not.

Wayne, thanks for letting me participate. It was fun and I learned a bit in trying new cigars. I hope this is some help in your experiment.

[wayner123]

Thanks so much for participating Volt. Your review gave me some good insight. I will wait till I have received all the reviews and go over the data before I put down any conclusions.

I will say this much; The cigar you had should not have given you any type of nic buzz. I can only surmise that you normally drink alcohol with your cigars and thus do not "feel" the regular nicotine that comes across in a cigar.

[Blues Tiger]

Wayner123,

I rec'd your package today. I will conduct the experiment this weekend and post a review Sunday night or Monday if at all possible. This is gonna be fun!



Blues Tiger