Cigar Journal – a guide to tasting
Our main advice is to trust your instincts and let your emotions guide you. All your perceptions will rely first and foremost on your own ‘palate’. You will use your five senses to fully appreciate (or not) every moment of the tasting experience.
The sense of smell accounts for up to 80 per cent of the information perceived when consuming food (Murphy et al. 1977) or a cigar. For example, the scent of a hot coffee in the morning, which you catch a whiff of from another room, and whose aromas intensify as you bring it to your lips.
This is why aromas and flavours play a crucial role in the tasting experience, although the other senses should not be overlooked.
The visual appeal of the wrapper’s colour, the feel of its veins or its smooth texture, its colour, the way it smoulders when unlit, the crackling sound of the tobacco as you light it: all five of your senses will be engaged.
In the meantime, immerse yourself in this guide, which is simply designed to help you become more aware of the intuitive stages of tasting using the five senses, whilst keeping one thing in mind: this journey is yours, and you alone are the expert on your own ‘palate’.
The Palace of the Senses
This concept comes straight from the film… Sherlock Holmes.
Thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch’s talent, Sherlock has revived interest in the detective, with his famous ‘mind palace’
And on a more serious note, it is a method that allows us to ‘revisit’ memories we have constructed, by taking a starting point that enables us to reconstruct a moment, a memory, a tasting experience or an emotion. It is called the ‘Loci Method’ and was originally used to memorise long lists of ordered items.
Our Blue Smokeuse uses this method every day to memorise tastes, flavours, scents and sensations. She catalogues them in her ‘palace of the senses’. This simple method requires only a little concentration and a lot of practice (oh dear :-). It can be practised every day, with everything around you. Toast, its smell, its texture, the sensation of hot coffee in your mouth and the bitterness on your gums. It’s a regular exercise that will make it easier for you to recognise aromas and flavours, and which will help you refine… your tastes!
1. First step: note down the context of your tasting
It may seem basic, but it is important to note the context of your tasting: where it took place, the date, and the ‘technical’ aspects of the cigar (origin, size, etc.). This will allow you, when the time comes, to relive your tasting experience, much like Proust’s madeleine. Very quickly, you’ll come up against subjective factors, as the ‘momentum’ (the moment when you particularly enjoyed that cigar) or even the company you were in can significantly influence your tasting experience. For example, a Davidoff Signature might taste less pleasant after an argument with your mother-in-law than it would on a paradise beach in Punta Cana. So make a note of as much information as possible to help you pinpoint the moment in time.
2. The visual
Take a close look at the wrapper. It will reveal two important details: its colour and its appearance. Is the wrapper taut? Are the veins visible? Is it smooth, or are there any imperfections? All this visual information will be useful for an initial visual assessment of the vitola.
You can also classify its colour, ranging from Claro claro to Oscuro (image source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigare). And watch out for false assumptions: just because a cigar is dark doesn’t mean it’s strong, and vice versa! Find out more here.
You can also classify its colour, from Claro claro to Oscuro (image source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigare). And watch out for false friends: just because a cigar is dark doesn’t mean it’s strong, and vice versa! Find out more here.
The band will also be useful – particularly for those who are more visually oriented – as a reminder of a tasting. This in no way detracts from the care and aesthetic appeal that producers put into the bands, which generally all have a story to tell. To give an example, the band on the West Tampa Attic Series #1 proudly features a chaveta – the quintessential symbol of the torcedors and their meticulous craftsmanship. Its rounded shape allows the wrapper leaves of cigars to be cut with a single stroke of the blade.
The appearance of your smoke will also be an important part of your tasting experience. Dense, thin, blue, white: take a moment to observe how it behaves.
3. Touch
Let’s move on to the sense of touch. No, you haven’t lit your cigar yet! The wrapper, beneath your fingers, may feel rough, soft or smooth; in short: close your eyes and let your sense of touch reveal the subtleties of this examination. An example of an unusual wrapper is the CAO BX3, whose wrapper is pleasantly rough and tells a story all of its own.
To enhance the experience, run your fingers over the band. The choice of paper is no accident. Some have even taken it a step further by offering embossed metal bands, such as the cigars in the Royal Return range from ADVentura Cigars
Let’s now light this cigar and move on to another essential aspect of the sense of touch: the draw. It is indeed the sense of touch that comes into play here. Tight, loose, pleasant, or – unfortunately – sometimes blocked, the draw is a crucial element of the smoking experience.
4. Flavours and aromas
Don’t confuse flavour with intensity – they are two quite distinct elements. This is one of the most challenging stages and the one that requires the most practice. You could have fun coming up with fancy words to impress your audience. But let’s take the simplest approach: tune into your sense of taste.
What you smell and feel will almost automatically be linked to a memory. Not necessarily to an actual event (although we think the exercise is easier if that’s the case), but to a familiar flavour. For example, a toasty note will remind you of the smell of toast. A brioche-like flavour might remind you of the cakes your grandmother used to bake, or simply the pleasant smell of a bakery.
A large number of ‘flavour wheels’ have been developed to identify different flavours. We recommend the one from the Swiss Confederation’s Agroscope, whose whisky flavour wheel can be used for cigar tasting.
The one we’re suggesting is a simplified version, which helps you recognise the main ‘families’ of aromas. Understanding these aromas will be very useful when pairing your cigar with drinks or food. To learn more about the basics of pairing, read our article on pairings.
5. Power
As for strength, this is classified according to the sensation of heat and spiciness that fills your palate. It refers to the cigar’s overall intensity, which encompasses both its physical strength and the impact of its flavours. A cigar’s strength stems mainly from three factors:
The type of tobacco used: Tobacco contains nicotine, and certain varieties of leaf, such as ligeros (leaves from the top of the plant, exposed to the sun), are higher in nicotine. These leaves add strength to the cigar’s blend.
Ageing and fermentation: The processing of tobacco plays a crucial role. The more the tobacco is fermented and aged, the more the flavours can develop, but this can also reduce or intensify the strength, depending on the process.
Leaf blending: The combination of different parts of the plant (ligero, seco and volado) affects the strength. Cigars made from stronger leaves will be more intense.