Most of us spend a fair amount of time contemplating ways of developing a more refined palate in order better appreciate this great hobby. In all my years of cigar smoking, the single-best way I've found is doing reviews.

When I take the time to write a review of a cigar, I am far more focused on the task at hand. When I know I'm going to be sharing my experience with others, I pay much closer attention to the little details and nuances of the event. Rather than just sitting down and sucking my way through a cigar, I'm thinking of comparative, qualitative and quantitative aspects in a much more refined way. Then, when it comes time to actually write, or edit the review, I'm reliving the entire experience and processing the applicable information in a completely different way.

Over time, doing many different reviews on a variety of smokes, I've found that my powers of discernment have improved immeasurably. An added benefit is, provided I post my reviews on the forum, I have an eternal journal of my experiences. If I want to recall my previous impressions of a cigar from, say, a year ago, I just go back and look at my old review. It also enables me to compare others impressions against my own. For instance, maybe everyone doesn't taste raisins in an Opus X. If I want to determine how a cigar may have changed with age, I can compare to the old review. I can also see how my palate has changed/improved in that amount of time.

Reviews are great tools! Not just for the sake of the reader, but particularly for the author. Not to mention nothing earns you more respect and props from the community than a well-constructed review.

Anyway, just a thought. What's yours?