Spanishcedar,
Great job at putting your thoughts on paper, it helps to write this kind of information down. Your next step is to get a notebook and write down what your impressions are on each cigar you smoke. Make note of the day you smoked it, brand, size, where you got it from, age, visual impressions, how you cut it, pre-light taste, initial light up taste notes...then break it down to 1/4 or 1/3 as how the cigar profile changed to your taste buds...or if it changes at all. Take note of how it burns throughout the entire cigar (if you had to re-light and how often), how the ash holds or doesn't, what color the ash is, and how the wrapper holds up during smoking. Some people make note of how much smoke is produced, I'm not one of those folks...if it matters to you, just write it down. One thing I always do during this time is I hold the cigar a few feet away from me and cup my other hand to bring the burning cigar smoke towards my nose to smell it....taste is just one sense, smell is another. When I take the cigar away from my mouth and nose and then bring new smoke back towards my nose, it gives me another perspective on the cigar. Most of the time I make an entire page for each cigar leaving room for the next time I smoke that same cigar again, if your impression changes, write it down, if not, don't. Keep in mind that when you drink alcohol, it will have an impression on your taste buds. Write down what you are drinking during the cigar evaluation. When I smoke a new cigar that I know I will write down tasting note on, I always drink water. Save the alcohol consumption for when you smoke another of the same cigar with friends...but always make a mental note on how the cigar tastes different by what you were drinking....beer, wine(style), scotch, bourbon, etc.
But always remember, write this down in your own words....if a member says a certain cigar has notes of pepper and you don't taste it that way, DON'T WRITE THAT DOWN. Just do it in your own words, the way it presents itself to you. My tasting notes are for my eyes only because they are written in a manor that I understand...and my impressions are not open for debate....I do that during a verbal conversation with a fellow cigar smoker. I suggest you do the same, remember...you're never wrong! You write down what you feel and taste. The witting down of the tasting notes for a new cigar can be quite pleasurable and fun...making it a kind of personal event.
Most importantly, have fun. :laugh:
to smoke them young.