can you really taste the difference?

can you tell the difference between most smokes?

  • every cigar has its unique personality and flavor profile

    Votes: 54 28.9%

  • most are distinguishable

    Votes: 98 52.4%

  • a few stand out, the rest taste the same with negligible differences

    Votes: 33 17.6%

  • they're all pretty much the same. i could be smoking whale crap for all i know.

    Votes: 2 1.1%
  • Total voters
    187
T

trogdor | the burninator

SilverBack
i smoke about 2-3 times a week (at most) and have been noticing that the majority of cigars i smoke pretty much taste the same as each other. there are a select few that really stand out in the crowd, but for the most part, it's just a different band, varying amounts of smoke, and the same core taste. if there are any differences at all, they're so subtle they're negligible.

is that normal? i know sometimes you can lose your keen sense of taste from smoking too much, but i really don't smoke all that often.

note, i'm also a cigar fledgling....not even monkey status, more like...monkey dingleberry status, so perhaps i've been burning up $15-20 smokes all in vain.

what say you, people?
 
Well...it's all tobacco.

I guess it's like a Fuji and a Pink Lady apple.

I wouldn't be able to tell you what I'm smoking in a blind test, but I can tell the difference.
 
Most are distinguishable. I can't tell the difference usually between different sizes but usually there are differences in the blend that vary between makers that I can tell.
 
i think another thing that might be messing me up is my beverage of choice. lately, i've been drinkin sodas or teas and that can be partially masking the otherwise distinguishing characteristics of each cigar.

i'm at the point where La Aurora Cien Anos and a CAO Italia are pretty close...i mean, the La Aurora was a better burn and left me in a happier place, but the taste was pretty similar to me. i was hopin for fireworks and shooting stars when smokin the cien anos, but it was just....nice/"aiiiiight".
 
Either your taste buds are shot, in which case you should donate all of your remaining cigars to charity....or me...or like a lot of us, your palate isn't as refined as some other folks' are. I'm new too, so I'm hoping my palate will develop with time. I can't pick out all the flavors I hear some dudes talk about and who knows, maybe I never will. Still, I can tell when I find something I really like and that's good enough for now. Maybe some day I'll be able to detect that seven-year-old Spanish Fly and all that other crap they talk about.
;)
 
I can pick out major differences in wrappers, but only subtle differences in smokes. Usually it is described as "tastes kind of like X cigar, but there's something else I can't put my finger on". Course even someone like me can taste big differences between a Padron x000, and the few puffs of an almost 10 year old Sir Winston that Jim let me puff on.
 
I am still fairly new to this so I find that a few stand out but a lot of the rest are the same. I am still on the hunt for something that...

"...smacks of licorice..." Quote J Suckling
 
Studebaker said:
Either your taste buds are shot, in which case you should donate all of your remaining cigars to charity....or me...or like a lot of us, your palate isn't as refined as some other folks' are. I'm new too, so I'm hoping my palate will develop with time. I can't pick out all the flavors I hear some dudes talk about and who knows, maybe I never will. Still, I can tell when I find something I really like and that's good enough for now. Maybe some day I'll be able to detect that seven-year-old Spanish Fly and all that other crap they talk about.
;)
Click to expand...

agreed. my palate is likely the culprit, but i'm pretty sharp when it comes to food. i thought that might easily transition into cigars, but smoke is not quite the same as food....except maybe in rate of consumption.
 
this poll is exciting to me...i'm just sitting here as the numbers go up. in hind sight, i probably should've made the poll public, so i can see who is voting for what. that way, we can see if it's all the n00bs voting for Option 3 or if there are some FOGs in there, too.
 
trogdor | the burninator said:
this poll is exciting to me...i'm just sitting here as the numbers go up. in hind sight, i probably should've made the poll public, so i can see who is voting for what. that way, we can see if it's all the n00bs voting for Option 3 or if there are some FOGs in there, too.
Click to expand...

I voted for option 3. Chronologically I'm an FOG, cigar-wise I'm still finding my way in the jungle.
 
i could be smoking whale crap for all i know.
Click to expand...

Whale 'vomit' sparks cash bonanza
An Australian couple who picked up an odd-looking fatty lump from a quiet beach are in line for a cash windfall.
Leon Wright and his wife took home a 14.75kg lump of ambergris, found in the innards of sperm whales and used in perfumes after it has been vomited up.

Sought after because of its rarity, ambergris can float on the ocean for years before washing ashore.

Worth up to $20 a gram, Mr Wright's find on a South Australian beach could net his family US$295,000 (£165,300).

At first, Mr Wright and his wife Loralee left the strange lump on the beach where it was found.

However, two weeks later the couple returned to Streaky Bay and found it still lying there.
Click to expand...

Apparently whale excretion is not such a bad deal!;)

Oh yeah, I voted for the number 1 selection.
 
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I'm still a complete newbie with this hobsession, but I found that if I'm thinking a little about what I'm smoking, I can distinguish different subtleties in the cigars I smoke. That's why if I'm golfing or busying around I'll smoke what's often called a yard gar, but if I'm just sitting back enjoying the nuances of smoking a good cigar I'll have a little fun with it and see if there's any thing that jumps out at me.

I will say that sometimes a cigar just jumps out (whether you're thinking about it or not) and says "Pay attention!", usually that's the citrus or often talked about "tang" flavor. That's what stands out the most for me.
 
i've been smoking cigars for about 8 years, to be honest I think it's a pallete thing. I think your pallete becomes more developed after awhile. I started noticing more of the nuances of a cigar.
 
I can generally pick out a few flavors, but subtleties are not my forte. Whats funny is that all Fuente's taste the same to me.
 
I am not at the point where I can truely tell specific flavors... but the favs that I keep in rotation I can tell the differences. Mainly... I can distinguish a conny, corojo, cameroon, & maduro wrapper from each other. From there the flavor & body are somewhat muddled. No where near being able to identify the various origins of the tobacco (Honduran, Brazilian, Nicgaruaguan, etc).
 
I now know what I am smoking and why. I am clear about the flavor profiles I am partial to and, can distinguish between flavors, body and aroma.
It took a while for me to develop these things but, since I have, smoking cigars is a lot more pleasurable for me.
 
I think every cigar has it's own personality and flavor... even the same brand, size and blend (quality cigars only... not lesser level cigars... and price does not always dictate a quality cigar).

As a hand-rolled, individually made item no two are alike. I have boxes of cigars that, while they are all in the same flavor and power range, each is a little different and sometimes one or two just are completely different.

I think a lot of the change also has to do with when, where and the circumstances you are smoking said cigar.

Having said all that I can pick out ranges of cigars from familys most of the time but not always... plus when you get to a certain quality range of cigar many of them all taste about the same... many times the harshness or blandness simply get in the way of distinguishing between cigars.
 
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