Lazy mans review guide and palette development

[Mr C]

Hey peeps

I've been smoking cigars for a few years and been on and off the site since 2006.
Every time I come back I see the same questions:

How to develop palette, how to do reviews, learning to taste, what boxes to buy etc.

I learnt alot through these forums and from these people, so feel I should give something back...

So hopefully the mods will make this a sticky for anyone who is interested:

It helped me find what I like and dislike, develop my palette and monitor my changing tastes.

Attached is a card I designed up a few years ago that I use for my reviews.
I dislike writing and wanted to make it as quick and simple as possible without distracting me from my smoke.

I got a filofax and punched holes in card to fit it. This way it's kept neat, small, clean and easily accessible...

Take a look at attachment and I'll explain the card here:

Cigar:
This is pretty straight forward, simply the brand and name of cigar; I also put down the size of the cigar

Date bought:
I always write down when I have bought the cigar on either the box or on the band

Date smoked:
The date you smoke it

Manufactured:
This is mostly for boxes, because with singles you cannot tell unless you looked at the box you pulled the sticks from.

Aged:
If it's a box, I see how long it's been since the cigars were made, if it's singles, how long since I bought it.

Somewhere near the top, I also put the date of the last smoke of the same stick I've had.


Inspection:

Appearance:
This is how it looks, is it neat, uniform, color, not marked or have spots etc
Rating 1 - 5, 1 being terrible, 5 being perfect

Construction:
This is how it's made, well finished, not plugged, (looking into foot) are the leaves inside folded over (good) or circular (bad) etc
Rating 1 - 5, 1 being terrible, 5 being perfect

Scent:
Take a big smell along the cigar, is it pleasant or not?
Rating 1 to 5, 1 being smells like a dog rocket, 5 being smells like heaven


Ignited:

Burn:
I normally leave this open until I'm done with cigar.
How does it burn? Even rim all the way down or do you have to make touch ups?
This does not include coning or hollowing (that’s a smoker’s mistake, not a cigars construction)
Do you have to relight many times or does it burn too hot?
Rating 1 - 5, 1 being you had to fight with it, 5 being it was hassle free

Ash:
What type of ash, was it long and tight or loose and flaky?
Rating 1 - 5, 1 being it could easily fall into your cognac, 5 being it will stand like Viagra

Smoke volume:
I usually also leave this to end
How much smoke, lots or little?
Rating 1 to 5, 1 for little smoke, 5 for lots


Flavour

This gets a little trickier
A cigar is usually smoked with certain flavours in thirds, however I found that sometimes the marrying of flavours start to take on the next profile before that third, so I’ve broken each third into 2.

Imagine breaking the cigar into 6 equal pieces.
The first part by the foot will be 1, and the nub would be 6 with the other numbers in order

Say I have a floral tone in first third and nutty and smooth in 2nd third and leather and coffee toward the last third

I'd circle floral - 1 and 2, nutty - 3 and 4, smooth - 3 and 4, leather - 5 and 6, coffee - 5 and 6

I have had flavours that are only evident on 1 number or over all 6. Some that starts at 2 and end at 5 etc.

This system allows you to not be as constricted in your thoughts and experience.


Finish

Strength:
How strong is the nicotine?
Are you high? Harsh on throat or was it mellow with no effects?
Rating 1 - 5, 1 being mellow, 5 being "I'm seeing things and can barely speak"

Draw:
Was it plugged, loose or just right?
Rating 1 to 5, 1 being so loose you can suck a marshmallow through it, 5 being so tight that Electrolux would be out of business (3 is perfect)

Aroma:
Was the scent if the cigar and smoke combo wonderful or terrible?
Rating 1 to 5, 1 being terrible, 5 being wonderful


Summary:

overall:
How was the cigars overall rating, take into account all the above and you satisfaction level
Rating 1 to 5, 1 being not satisfied at all, 5 being completely satisfied

Try Another:
Circle this if you are undecided or this was your first cigar of that make and type

Buy box:
Simple, you loved it so much, you want a box (make sure you have tried a few of these with most of them making it high in your overall rating before buying box)

Disregard:
No thanks, Not for me (also try at least 2 before making this decision)

Some tips and hints:

When smoking with this system and working on developing your palette, do it alone.
You can't concentrate on cigar when you’re chatting or watching TV.

If some flavour comes to mind, circle the corresponding number whether you're sure or not.
It came to mind for a reason, so circle it.

Developing your palette will come with cigars smoked, whether you use reviews or not, but using reviews will speed your flavour recognition up.

Occasionally go back over your reviews and see how your tastes have developed or changed.

Take your cards with you when you go buy cigars so that you can:

Get help on selecting cigars profiles your partial too
Buying boxes of cigars you truly enjoy
Buying singles that you should give a second chance too

Hope this help you as much as it did me

[Rubix^3]

Nice review card. Personally, I prefer the journal, blank lines format for filling in impressions, but I like the scorecard thing you've got going on. thanks for sharing.

[madurolover]

Here is my review sheet.

[dubels]

Thanks!! I was looking for something like this.

[nativetexan_1]

This I like. Not that I didn't like the previous, but this is SIMPLE.

[SMOKE20]

Very very cool

[Phantom57]

Nice review format, but think you are missing the most important aspect, ie what kind of tobacco was it. When trying cigars, the things most important to me are, manufacturer/blender, and the type and country of origin of the tobacco. Learning what tobaccos you prefer will vastly narrow your search and expense for cigars you like.

[P_Roberts]

Both very cool ideas. Thank you for sharing.