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Give me "Flavor"

C

Cakalac

New Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2021
Messages
16
One of the things I'm looking forward to w/ taking up smoking is the different flavors of cigars. I'm a craft beer drinker and that's what I enjoy about that is the different flavors of the beers along w/ the different styles. So far the cigars I have chosen have been the $7-10 range mellow to mild smokes and I'm not tasting it on my pallet. What direction would you guys send me in for the 'flavors" I speak of. I think I'm mostly at this point smoked nutty, smoked type stuff and that just doesn't do the taste buds popping for me. For example I tried a infused Drew Estate Tabak Especial and the infused flavors in the wrapper made it a flavorful smoke. However it was a little too "strong" on the nicotine side and I felt that and didn't like it. I realize that is infused so much different, but that is the type of flavor albeit on a diff scale based on the infusion that I want to taste. I'm not opposed to paying for the cigars $10+ but was encouraged to start out cheaper so I could appreciate a more expensive cigar. What direction would you guys send me in? I've looked into the Montecristo White Series but have yet to smoke one. Seems lots of guys like that smoke and the description they give is more along the lines I'm looking for "creamy, rich" taste. Currently in my humidor is:

-Perdomo Champagne 10th Anniversary
-CLE Connecticut
-Romeo Y Julietta 1875 Reserva Real
-Perdomo Lot 23

I smoked a Gurkha Castle Hall last night and I didn't care of the taste. Seemed bland on the taste buds for me. IMO I didn't get much "flavor" out of it. All this realizing we ALL have different taste buds so I don't dare say a cigar is bad. Any help would be appreciated fellas.

Thanks
 
The cigars you have in your humi are good sticks. You should find them very enjoyable and flavorful. Friends don’t let friends smoke Gurkhas.

Try out a Fuente Chateau series Sungrown Pyramid or a Fuente Rosado Sungrown Magnum R44 or R52. In my opinion, excellent, flavorful smokes, tops in my book for average priced smokes.
 
CMontoya79 said:
The cigars you have in your humi are good sticks. You should find them very enjoyable and flavorful. Friends don’t let friends smoke Gurkhas.

Try out a Fuente Chateau series Sungrown Pyramid or a Fuente Rosado Sungrown Magnum R44 or R52. In my opinion, excellent, flavorful smokes, tops in my book for average priced smokes.
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Awesome. Thank you. I will be trying another tonight and see where that leads me, and my next purchase I will find the ones you mentioned and give them a shot. I want to smoke, but I don't care to smoke just to smoke. I want to get some flavorful pleasure from it, if that makes sense.
 
Do you buy your cigars online or at your local B&M. If it’s the latter. If it would be nice if you could take a pic of their humidor lineup. That way people can recommend based on what’s available.
Otherwise here is a sample list:
Olivia serie V
Fuente king B or Queen B
Romacraft Cromagnum
Anything by pepin
Padron Anniversary 64 - this will be more than $10 but worth it
 
CgarDan said:
Do you buy your cigars online or at your local B&M. If it’s the latter. If it would be nice if you could take a pic of their humidor lineup. That way people can recommend based on what’s available.
Otherwise here is a sample list:
Olivia serie V
Fuente king B or Queen B
Romacraft Cromagnum
Anything by pepin
Padron Anniversary 64 - this will be more than $10 but worth it
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I buy from a local shop. They serve beer and wine in there also so it's nice to go have a drink and smoke. This list was taken directly off their site if it helps any. Seems it includes the ones mentioned in your post. I will take your list back w/ me when I go.

Acid - Aganorsa Leaf - AJ Fernandez - Alec Bradley - Arturo Fuente - Aquitaine

Ashton - Asylum - Baccarat - Bellas Artes - BrickHouse - Camacho - CAO

Casa Cuba by A. Fuente - Casa Fernandez - Charter Oak - CLE Cigars

Cohiba - Cromagnon - Cuban Rounds - Deadwood Tobacco Co - Diamond Crown

Drew Estate - Don Pepin Garcia - El Centurion - El Gueguense - Enclave Broadleaf

Esteban Carreras - Flor de Las Antillas - Florida Sungrown - H. Upmann - Henry

Clay - Herrera Esteli - Hoyo de Monterrey - illusione - Intemperance - Insidious

Isle del Sol - Jaimie Garica - Java - JFR - Joya de Nicaragua - Kristoff - La Aroma de

Cuba - La Flor Dominicana - La Fontana - La Gloria Cubana - Larutan - Leaf by

Oscar - Liga Privada - Lunatic - Macanudo - Montecristo - MUWAT - My Father

Cigars - Nat Sherman - Neanderthal - New World - Nica Rustica - Norteno - Nub

Oliva - Opus XXX by Arturo Fuente - Padron - Perla del Mar - Perdomo - Punch

Quorum - Ramon Allones - Rocky Patel - Roma Craft - Romeo y Julieta

San Cristobal - Serino Cigars - Sobremesa - St. Louis Rey - Surrogates by - Tabak

Tabernacle - Tatiana - The Upsetters - Trinidad - Undercrown - Villiger Cigars
 
Great selection. They have a lot of great cigars. Try a few and then ask the owner to show you more if the ones that are similar to what you liked. B&M owners are a great resource if they are knowledgeable
 
I may add, the smokes I suggested were mediumish in strength. From the list you posted, I’d try Casa cuba inspiration, if available, if not, any Casa cuba, Illusione, Herrera Esteli, Tatuaje, all pretty flavorful. Not boring or one dimensional. Varied strengths.
 
So the last two nights I've had the Gurkha on Monday and the Romeo 1875 last night. Both seem to have that oaky, leathery, nutty finish. That's all my taste buds can taste and I believe that's the flavor of the cigar. I'm going to smoke the Perdomo Lot 23 tonight and see if I taste much different.

I read here and other places where strength(nicotine) and flavor are not intertwined, but it seems the more flavorful smokes ARE stronger. What's the thoughts on that?
 
I'd recommend avoiding Gurkha's and yes I would say you'll get more "flavor" from stronger cigars.
 
I never, or hardly ever, get distinct flavors from a cigar. I got a taste of chocolate for one draw (Protocol Probable Cause) and raisins/dates for one draw (Laranga Escuro). I've smoked other examples of both cigars and never got those flavors again. I don't dwell on it, I can still tell a cigar I enjoy from one I enjoy less, I'll just never be able to wax poetic like most cigar reviewers do.
 
ChuckJr said:
I never, or hardly ever, get distinct flavors from a cigar. I got a taste of chocolate for one draw (Protocol Probable Cause) and raisins/dates for one draw (Laranga Escuro). I've smoked other examples of both cigars and never got those flavors again. I don't dwell on it, I can still tell a cigar I enjoy from one I enjoy less, I'll just never be able to wax poetic like most cigar reviewers do.
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Man I hope that changes for me. I really want to get the "taste" but I may not. I'll say this. I poured a glass of scotch last night and that was the most enjoyment I've had drinking scotch since I started drinking it a year ago. So today I splurged on a bottle of Balvenie 14.
 
How is the retrohale? (Without inhaling allow a bit to flow out your nose) I find that I can distinguish much more that way than just from mouth taste. Smoke body or mouth feel is another way to pick up subtleties.
 
"Flavors", or notes, you get from a cigar are more of essences in a draw, rather than in-your-face, and mostly recognized after the fact, as it were. It's just something you kind of say, "Hey, that was kind of chocolatey", or, "I think I just had some snozzberry in that one"... They are fleeting and usually subtle. As a new smoker, you probably aren't going to pick up on a lot, especially if you are smoking shitty cigars. Also, as a new smoker, you will need to build your nic tolerance (keep your blood sugar up, as well). If you are wanting constant, in your face flavor, stick with infused cigars like CAO flavored and ACIDs. If that's your thing, then nothing wrong with that. Most of the reviewers in magazines are full of shit with their pretentiousness. I can count on one hand (and have fingers left over) the amount of times I've had a cigar where I was knocked on my ass by the kaleidoscope of prominent tastes and flavors coming from a traditional cigar. Don't go looking for it -- let it come to you.

Cigar smoking should be relaxing and enjoyable. Rate your experience as either "Like" or "Don't like". Then, figure out what you did or didn't care for; that will help you start to pick out different characteristics of cigars that appeal to you, as well as recognizing the tastes and notes.
 
I would highly recommend Padron Maduro thousand series (the 6000 maduro is my favorite and the 2000 maduro has a home in many humidors here). The RoMa Craft Intemperance EC/BA is also a fantastic smoke with plenty of flavor without knocking your socks off strength wise.

It seems your humidor is currently filled with all Connecticut wrappers. That’s by no means a bad thing, but typically those are going to be very mild. Once you start moving into other wrappers, you’ll notice a huge difference. If you wanted a slower transition, perhaps look into rosado wrappers. Not quite as full as a maduro/habano wrapper, but much more interesting IMO than a conn. Of course this will vary by blend and personal preference. Enjoy the journey!
 
@Cakalac

What worked for me won't work for everyone but here is how I got into cigars.
I went to my local B&M once, twice, and then a third time.
First two times I went through about a dozen cigars & nothing rang my bell.
On my third trip I finally found a stick that spoke to me; I was hooked & never looked back.
Over the course of 14 years of cigars as a hobby, I'm still learning; that's one of the things that keeps it fun.

So, it took me a third trip to my local B&M to 'see the light' but that worked for me.
That may not work for you but as long as you keep an interest, continue to learn, and pursue the hobby, you will eventually find what you like, and also what you don't like.
Take it easy, don't rush things, enjoy the experience; that for me is what cigars are all about.
YMMV
 
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Cakalac said:
One of the things I'm looking forward to w/ taking up smoking is the different flavors of cigars. I'm a craft beer drinker and that's what I enjoy about that is the different flavors of the beers along w/ the different styles. So far the cigars I have chosen have been the $7-10 range mellow to mild smokes and I'm not tasting it on my pallet. What direction would you guys send me in for the 'flavors" I speak of. I think I'm mostly at this point smoked nutty, smoked type stuff and that just doesn't do the taste buds popping for me. For example I tried a infused Drew Estate Tabak Especial and the infused flavors in the wrapper made it a flavorful smoke. However it was a little too "strong" on the nicotine side and I felt that and didn't like it. I realize that is infused so much different, but that is the type of flavor albeit on a diff scale based on the infusion that I want to taste. I'm not opposed to paying for the cigars $10+ but was encouraged to start out cheaper so I could appreciate a more expensive cigar. What direction would you guys send me in? I've looked into the Montecristo White Series but have yet to smoke one. Seems lots of guys like that smoke and the description they give is more along the lines I'm looking for "creamy, rich" taste. Currently in my humidor is:

-Perdomo Champagne 10th Anniversary
-CLE Connecticut
-Romeo Y Julietta 1875 Reserva Real
-Perdomo Lot 23

I smoked a Gurkha Castle Hall last night and I didn't care of the taste. Seemed bland on the taste buds for me. IMO I didn't get much "flavor" out of it. All this realizing we ALL have different taste buds so I don't dare say a cigar is bad. Any help would be appreciated fellas.

Thanks
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I'm in the same boat "Cakalac". I started smoking cigars about 4 months ago and haven't found a non-infused stick that I thought was flavorful. I've read a lot of cigar reviews, but I haven't encountered any of the flavors they say should be present. Thinking I was doing something wrong, I even watched a few Youtube videos on 'how to smoke cigars', but still no flavor other than tobacco has really come through. I was reading yesterday about developing my palate for the flavors, so maybe that's the problem. I'll look into it some more. A guy at one of the cigar shops told me that since I've never smoked anything before, smoking cigars just may not be for me. He doesn't know that I'm not easily discouraged. For some reason I'm convinced that there's a stick out there that I'll fall in love with. I've tried various sticks from what I've been told are good brands (Padrons, Davidoff, Oliva, AVO, Montecristo, A. Fuente, Gurkha, Camacho, Diamond Crown, Pepin, My Father's, Estelli, RyJ, Perdomo, and Ashton just to name a few). I still have some other suggestions that I've been told to try, so hopefully within the next two months I'll have a serious flavor breakthrough and find that one or two that's for me. I've invested in three humidors already, so I'm committed. I just hope I find a stick or two that keeps me committed.
 
Sticks21 said:
I'm in the same boat "Cakalac". I started smoking cigars about 4 months ago and haven't found a non-infused stick that I thought was flavorful. I've read a lot of cigar reviews, but I haven't encountered any of the flavors they say should be present. Thinking I was doing something wrong, I even watched a few Youtube videos on 'how to smoke cigars', but still no flavor other than tobacco has really come through. I was reading yesterday about developing my palate for the flavors, so maybe that's the problem. I'll look into it some more. A guy at one of the cigar shops told me that since I've never smoked anything before, smoking cigars just may not be for me. He doesn't know that I'm not easily discouraged. For some reason I'm convinced that there's a stick out there that I'll fall in love with. I've tried various sticks from what I've been told are good brands (Padrons, Davidoff, Oliva, AVO, Montecristo, A. Fuente, Gurkha, Camacho, Diamond Crown, Pepin, My Father's, Estelli, RyJ, Perdomo, and Ashton just to name a few). I still have some other suggestions that I've been told to try, so hopefully within the next two months I'll have a serious flavor breakthrough and find that one or two that's for me. I've invested in three humidors already, so I'm committed. I just hope I find a stick or two that keeps me committed.
Click to expand...
If you are looking for bold flavor from a cigar, stick with the flavored cigars. Typical cigars will give you hints of flavor and mostly during the retrohale. There is nothing wrong with enjoying flavored cigars, that's why there is tons of them...
 
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