non-tobacco flavors in cigars

[dvickery]

talking about association...i get cravings for chocolate after smoking bolivar petite coronas and sometimes bolivar coronas.dont know if i actually taste chocolate but i sure want chocolate after a cigar.my favorite...oh henery

derrek

[linusvanpelt]

Based on some Internet research of Odor and Taste classifications, and wine tasting wheels - I developed this CIGAR TASTING CHART to help people pick out various flavors in their cigars.

The inner ring are basic flavors, the outer ring are more specific flavors associated within the basic.

[FrankB]

Have to agree with some of the earlier posts, cannot talk about the taste without alluding to the aroma. Have definitely tasted salt, pepper, and leather, have actually chewed on a piece of leather in my youth, obviously left an impression, but other flavors are very illusive and on reflection are more scent memories than actual flavors, clove, licorice, paper, balsa wood, etc., and it's not that these are lasting impressions, just very transient, you say to yourself, what was that, and from somewhere in your memory your brain says clove or whatever. Can say have never tasted meat or mushrooms in my cigars. Smoking cigars is a very subjective experience that each of us interprets in a very individual way. As to the CA reviews I think they are forced into hyperbole by the nature of the the magazine. I , like an earlier post in this thread would be satisfied with, "Yummy, want to smoke another one!" Frank B

[Eichen]

linusvanpelt -- Nice work! It looks very usable.

FrankB -- I agree. I think you made a distinction about flavor and aroma that I've overlooked and that I've seen in drc's and linusvanpelt's previous posts. Now that I can see it, it makes sense. I suppose my working definition of "aroma" as the smell of a cigar when not tasting it got in the way of understanding this.

When I'm trying to find a flavor, my mind is working pretty much like you describe it.

[smokemifyagotem]

I really like the wheel - I will try to use it tonight when I smoke up!

[linusvanpelt]

Thanks!

When I have a cigar, I know there's flavors/aromas there, but I can't always put my finger on what they are. I figure a chart like this will give me something to choose from.

PS. I would definitely NOT want to taste meat in my cigar. UGH!

[relaxnsmoke]

The Wheel! Something so simple, yet so beautiful. That is one very nice invention. linusvanpelt you have done something very cool. Thanks for posting that, I'll save it and make copies to give out to my herfing buddies.

rns

[Eichen]

Here you go.

E

[radar]

In ISOM's absolutely I have tasted them. But, it's not a strong flavor, more of a nuance, with the exception of a Monte #4 I had that became engulfed in bloom. On that one and the 10 or so I had left, there was a floral taste, and I mean TASTE, that was great. I smoked all of them in about 3 days. It was something. Probably the best Cigar taste experience I have had to date.
Coffee and choclate are the most common for me. Might be the brands I prefer, might just be my tongue, who knows.

[c2000]

Most cigars I smoke have the chocolate, leather, spicy bold flavor to them but there is one that has a hint of fish ahhhhh Tuna in particular,,I dunnno maybe its just me...

Jerry in Minnesota.

[floydp]

Originally Posted by c2000

Most cigars I smoke have the chocolate, leather, spicy bold flavor to them but there is one that has a hint of fish ahhhhh Tuna in particular,,I dunnno maybe its just me...

Jerry in Minnesota.

I don't know,you sure that isn't sardines?? with a little mustard sauce??

Well I had to say it because I was deemed disgusting champ awhile back!

[Mr. White]

Yesterday I had a Don Diego from the Altadis sampler I got, and I swear it was like licking rock salt. It finished with a salt/peppery taste.

I've got some other no-name brand stogies, that when I first got had a leathery taste to them, and after aging a couple of months i'm now getting hints of Chocolate from them.

So I do notice a taste to them, and I do occasionally lick my lips in between, but usually it's pretty subtle (Except for that Don Diego, it was over-powering. I couldn't tell if I was eating a salt cured ham or smoking a cigar.... hehe.)


I've heard that a lot of wine-tasters have an above average # of taste-buds that allow them to pick out the more distinct flavors... Actually saw something about it on the Discovery channel a few years back.. According to that show, some people are gifted with up to twice the number of taste-buds most of us get. hehe

[kansashat]

Originally Posted by floydp

I don't know,you sure that isn't sardines?? with a little mustard sauce??

Well I had to say it because I was deemed disgusting champ awhile back!

You're still the champ in my book!

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by robmcd

- i think aroma is the key word here ... and if you hold the cigar with zircon encrusted tweezers and let the smoke linger near your nose, the aroma really comes thru (some major dudes blow the smoke out of their noses).

I honestly blow smoke out my nose everytime I smoke a cigar and take a few mini inhale puffs. That's when I can really taste what's going on. Depending on what I am smoking I taste a few things. Sometimes I get this dusty leathery taste that's rather pleasant, the usual coffee/espresso and wood, but a few times I have actually tasted cherries...real strong like. It suprised me a bit, then I noticed it was a Tijuana small that I got from some guy outside the homeless shelter. That was a joke but I have tasted cherries a few times and nutmeg. Then there's the creamy feel which is more of a sensation but delighful never the less.

[txmatt]

I taste many flavors in cigars. In maduro wrappers chocolate and coffee are most common. Sungrowns will have some of the spices and sometimes go into the floral range. The earthy and leathery flavors seem more common in EMS wrappers. The ISOMs I have smoked have a lot of earthy flavor. Flavor has a lot to do with the type of and growning method of the tobacco used IMHO. Tobacco can have the full range of flavors reguardless of where it is grown.

-Matt-