Are My Taste Buds Broken?!

[Wattsie]

Something very bizarre is happening with my cigar taste. Every cigar I taste has a bitter flavor to it. I'm on my third one now. It doesn't seem to matter what stick it is. My last stick I enjoyed was a CAO Black. Since then, every stick I have smoked has felt smooth and smelled fine, but my tongue is only picking up bitter flavors I'm not burning it quickly, I'm not smoking it too hot, and I'm purging when I smoke. These aren't all new smokes either, some of these are cigars that I have had before and tastes I'm familiar with.

Ive cleansed the palate with just about everything from chocolate, to beer or water. Anyone ever experience this? Am I in some twilight zone here?

This is putting a serious damper on my enjoyment.

[ryansallee]

Hmmm... I've never had it happen. Maybe you should take a break for a few days and see what happens. You could just be overworking your taste buds.

[smokin5]

"Damper" may be the key. Often, over-moist cigars pick up a bitter taste. What's your Relative Humidity?

[Wattsie]

RH is 70%. My humi has been at this RH for a while now and ese are the first ill effects i've observed. I have been smoking daily though...that's something to consider i guess.

[smokin5]

Just for sheets & grins, try putting some of your smokes in a drier environment, say 65% RH.
Then try one after a few days & see if it makes a difference.

That, or drink more bourbon. No reason, just that it couldn't hurt.

[Wattsie]

Would an over-full humi cause those problems? I have a 25ct now with about 22 in it, so there's not a lot of room. It may be taking too long to recover? As for the bourbon, I'll try it some time, never was a fan, but I'm redisovering some drinks I had written off in the past lately.

[lenguamor]

If you smoke while drinking an overly-hopped beer, like one of the monster IPA's, the hop oils will coat your tongue and influence everything you taste.

Are you drinking beer with?

[smokin5]

Can't go wrong with bourbon, at least that's my philosophy.
As far as smoking daily, that's no big deal, unless it's out of ordinary for you. I've been smoking 2-3 per day for years.

[tchariya]

you might have to lay off the stogies for a while and let your tongue heal.
Drink some oj and see if the taste is gone from that too.

[romwarrior]

How often have you been smoking? Have you increased your frequency lately? This happens to me every once in a while. I lay off for a few days and then my next smoke is usually great!

[tjblades]

I agree with some of the replies. I suggest taking a couple of days off and see if it helps. I seem to remember a time not too long ago where I experienced a lot of bitterness in sticks that normally didn't taste that way. I took about 3-4 days off and everything seemed to go back to normal. Hope the bitterness stops.

[GrtndpwrflOZ]

YES

[chris45set]

When this happens to me I find I am smoking too fast.
I am enough of a geek that I have set my cell phone's stopwatch on the table and timed my pulls to get a feel for 60 seconds.
I also re-light fairly often (life gets in the way sometines) and I find at these times it is especially important to let the stogie rest between puffs.
I want to be in a hurry to enjoy these nice sticks, but SPEED KILLS.
Good luck, I hope your muse returns soon as I have enjoyed your reviews.

[demiurgic]

Originally Posted by smokin5

Just for sheets & grins, try putting some of your smokes in a drier environment, say 65% RH.
Then try one after a few days & see if it makes a difference.

Had the same problem, and just kept getting bummed out about it. Wasn't the taste buds at all, since food tasted just fine. Stogies were too damp at 70% for me, and they simply got bitter and ill tasting. Now I dedicate one small humi to being a dry box. It's seasoned, and that's it, no beads. Sticks move from the largest humi to drybox and stay there for a couple days (cap cut or uncut).
If it's tight when I cut it, they go back into the dry box for a few more days.
This is my experiment that works for me. Not sure if it's the best way.

[wattsd]

maybe you should let your brother hold on to your cigars until things clear up.