One of the most important things you can do for your palate is to focus on the cigar.  It may sound like something from a 99-cent self-help book, but it’s completely true.  When you isolate yourself, drown out the noise, and wholly focus on what you’re tasting – that’s when the magic starts happening. 

Myself, I was a skeptic about cigar flavors until I started focusing my thoughts through paper.  I spent the better part of a decade missing out on the wonderful world of cigars while smoking several a week.  For you, focus might mean closing your eyes, writing things down, typing your thoughts, listening to a certain style of music, or just escaping to a quiet area by yourself.  Find what focus means to you and embrace it to make the most of every cigar. 

This one is equally as important as the first.  No matter how hard you focus, your palate becomes compromised throughout the day, especially depending on your eating habits.  Smoking your cigar before eating or drinking anything but water enables you to fully utilize your sense of taste. 

If you’re really into tasting the most from your cigars, I’d also suggest foregoing any biases or preconceived notions that you may have from years past.  Prioritize the cigar experience first above the band, brand, size, or shape.  Every new cigar has something to teach us if we’re willing to learn. 

#BurnToLearn

Here comes the fun part! Have you ever tasted an intriguing spice in a cigar that you couldn’t pinpoint?  Experimenting with your tasting senses at home will help you nail down those odd flavors by adding to your experience. 

In addition to just tasting more things in general, I’m a strong advocate of building what I used to call a Review Buddy.  I started with small glass vials that contained cinnamon, nutmeg, different peppercorns, cumin, cardamom, cloves, anise seeds, cedar strips, and whatever else I could find to add.  It’s amazing how many taste and smell associations we’re able to reinforce with a little added effort. 

If you want extra credit, try tasting or smelling different samples of things like bread, ice cream, or woods with your eyes closed.  Then close one or both nostrils and sample them again to simulate your sinuses wreaking havoc on your tasting ability.  It really is fascinating how much different senses impact our tasting sensations.  

Associations are what it’s all about!  As you’re experimenting with different smells and tastes, you’re also building an association table in your mind that allows you to interpret tasting notes.  Now, we can take that a bit further by using other people’s associations as a translator of sorts to build off of. 

Reading reviews is one of the most common ways to do this, but it’s not without an exact science. Taste is extremely subjective, and the notes a reviewer finds are based largely on their experiences, associations, vocabulary, and methods.  A neat way to see this in action is to read any of our weekly Blind Reviews and see how three different people interpret the cigar in similar and contrasting ways. 

Another thing you can do is try one of our Develop Your Palate samplers, where we’ve carefully selected a cigar that has a dominant tasting note.  This isn’t an exact science either but may be just what you need to help identify and associate certain flavors. You can find these samplers in the images scattered throughout this article. 

Maintaining our sinus health is vitally important in any endeavor where taste is required.  As such, a quick reminder about the value of Neti Pots is in order.  These handy devices allow us to keep our sinuses in good working order and therefore our sense of smell.  I wouldn’t recommend using them at night, however, as midday seems to be the most effective for me. 

And, if you’re already doing the things above, the addition of a Neti Pot to your weekly routine will yield awesome dividends in your ability to taste and smell.  

Of course, none of these tips above will assist someone that doesn’t have the basics down.  Enjoying a cigar is an art form and, while no one can tell you how to do it, there are definite ways to make a cigar perform poorly. 

Essentially, heat is the enemy.  There are two ways in which I see heat unnecessarily being added to cigars: by improper lighting or smoking too fast.  We only want to apply as much heat as necessary to smoke our cigars.  Scorching it with the actual flame from a torch lighter is much like burning your coffee and it tastes as appetizing as it sounds. Likewise, smoking the cigar too fast stokes the heat and, once again, creates a bitter nightmare that we’d all rather do without.  

Lastly, always remember to double check your storage.  If your cigars consistently taste wonky, suspect your humidity solution to be the trouble maker.  There’s no quick fix to wet or dry cigars, and they’ll equally disappoint in different ways.  

Tell Us!  What are YOUR tips for getting more from your cigars?