How to Taste Cigars - Developing the palate?

[Marinero]

Thanks all for great tips....

i can not wait to try it,.... i have been finding it hard to get the taste of each cigar,,,,now i know why and how....

Lets see what new experience i will get out of snorking....

[kuzi16]

google image search:
cigar flavor wheel.

[a j]

i Agree with post # 12. I very rarely taste all coffe chocolate Etc. i smoke what i enjoy, # 1 Maduros, for hardy smoke, # 2 conn.shade for milder more lighter taste. all cigars must be medium to full, and be full plume of smoke. ? If you devolp those taste buds that people say they have thats great. that would make me an ADDICT. Good luck A j

[Mr C]

Tasting? Velvety grassy chocolate with hints of red apples. What?

This was one of my first postings when I had just started...

Over time, i've found my style of smoking (small purge, slow gentle pull, release through mouth slowly while gently inhaling through nose to catch subtle flavours, then snorking the last third)

If you search for some of my other posts, there was alot of questions on how long, how fast etc
I've come to get the most from my current style.

This immediately improved my flavour recognition... but as the guys told me, time is all it takes.
Im no master, but I can def extract some of the more interesting flavours I used to raise an eyebrow at...

Give it time...

Also, Smoke by yourself... When Im around company, I can't concentrate enough on the smoke...

I made little cards that had all types of info from burn rates, construction, flavours etc and I'd tick it as I smoked... (a lazy mans review if you will)

Looking back on it, I can see how my pallete developed and how it guided me in drawing the finer flavours...

Enjoy

[Cigar Man Andy]

I have to say it. You guys are all trying too hard to figure it out. You can't train, force or make your pallet do anything. It develops individually on it's own. Mine changed when it changed over the years. Keep it simple. Smoke what you enjoy and let your pallet do it's thing.

Over the years it will change several times. Just enjoy the ride and be patient.

[jedipastor]

The biggest thing that has helped me so far is to smoke MORE SLOWLY! Taking a puff every minute or so is my norm now. This gives my palate time to recover between puffs, as well as gives the cigar a chance to cool down a bit--when taking frequent draws, the cigar burns much hotter and this changes the flavor.

Also, how hard you draw on the cigar will make a difference as well. A very hard draw can pick up extra tar (and make the cigar too hot) resulting in a bitter taste. On the other hand, very light draws might not keep the wrapper burning right, which will mess things up as well!

And of course, how frequently you smoke will effect how well you can discern flavors--smoking every 3 days vs smoking 3-a-day makes a huge difference to most people. Many claim that over time your palate will recover more and more quickly--I think this is true to a degree, as I've moved from a 2-3 times a week guy to a stick-a-day guy, and sometimes even 2 a day if I have time. But if I keep up frequent smoking (like 10 or more a week) for a couple weeks I notice my palate getting more dull.