Educational Series: Developing and Refining The Palate

[Herf N Turf]

Fellow Bums,

As we roam around this fabulous hobby of ours, “Bum-a-Nostra”, the term “palate”, is unavoidable. As we know, every single review thread mentions it at least a half-dozen times!

Another place you see palate a lot, is in The New Bum Intro Forum. Namely, the ubiquitous, “how do I refine/develop mine?”

The best of all ways is as easy as what you’re doing right now! Writing Reviews. Without question, composing a cigar review is the fast track to discovering, identifying, comparing, defining, APPRECIATING a fine cigar. Quite literally, the romance of enjoying a fine cigar. The difference is pretty accurately compared to it, when you consider that sure, a one-nighter isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but on the other hand, knowing her name and what wine she likes certainly make it more interesting, satisfying and fulfilling. The relationship we share with a cigar, while obviously shorter, makes for one hell of a metaphor. 

At no other times are my energies and impressions focused more sharply on a cigar, than when I’m writing them down. Fortunately, it’s a lot of fun, too. Part of that benefit is where the reader comes in. You have a platform where in you have the complete attention of what could be the ideal audience; a fellow enthusiast. The reader is then enabled to sift through his own experience base and recall similarly described flavors, smoke nuance, draw resistance, smoke delivery and texture, on and on, and on…

Let’s not forget about the visuals, either. What’s more fun than looking at a nice, toothy, oily, living, breathing maduro that’s run about a third of its race?

While certainly true for all of us, doing reviews is of particular benefit to “The Newb”. For anyone less than two years into the sport, this is the absolute Holy Grail of explosive palate refinement. There is just no faster, as effective way to do it. It’s a near-vertical learning curve.

Anyway, thanks for reading through this and giving it a little thought. Also, I’d really be interested to know what your thoughts are on the topic and especially anything you feel you learn from it.

Cheers!

[cvoss]

What’s more fun than looking at a nice, toothy, oily, living, breathing maduro that’s run about a third of its race?

I'm going to go look at my maduros now. Great read!

[steelman]

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Don. I agree with what you say as I am still somewhat new to this hobby but recently I am beginning to discover more and more slight tastes and changes within certain cigars. I should write my thoughts down as I am smoking as I believe that searching for the right words will also help in searching for the corresponding tastes. Just thinking out loud....

[Lostmason]

Great read and advice,Thanks don !

[jhedrick83]

I agree and also think that reading other reviews while smoking a cigar can be useful too if you are really new to cigars. You can try to notice the flavors they are describing. Sometimes it's a load of crap but it can help you pick out flavors from time to time. You may think "what the hell is barnyard or leather" and looking for that taste as you smoke can help you identify them better. Obviously that leaves you a little susceptible to suggestion but it can be a good jumping off point.

For me, when smoking a cigar for the first time, I like to try and pair coffee with it. I think it helps keep the palate pretty clean IMO and helps make sure my drink doesn't interfere with the flavors.

[Tombstone]

Doing reviews are a great way to start picking out subtle flavors. You sit there with the intent to take in all the flavors and make a point to identify them.

[Jordan23]

Good post, Don. Writing reviews helped me a great deal. As you said, it does force you to really focus on the cigar.

One thing I did was after I read a review, I would actually seek out to smell or taste a frequently mentioned unfamiliar note. For example, the only time I eat caramel is in a candy bar. For me its hard to isolate, because the candy bar has caramel, nuts, and other things. So I bought caramel so I could identify the taste. I did this with cocoa also. I don't cook much, so I went in my wife spice cabinet, and I sniffed the difference between red pepper and black pepper. Little weird things like this helped me out. The challenge (and the fun) of reviews is finding clear language to communicate to others what I'm tasting.

It takes time to develop, but it does come along. Retro-haling, smoking slower, and rolling the smoke around my mouth all help me to taste more.

[Lostmason]

This post should be a sticky for future uses.