The Evil Dr. Moki's Group Blind Taste Test #1

[insight]

I think the point is that when you focus on the process, you miss out on the actual taste of the cigar. YMMV

Do you mean you think the focus we are spending on trying to pick out the characteristics of the cigar are detracting from our enjoyment?

 

[tone-ny]

I think the point is that when you focus on the process, you miss out on the actual taste of the cigar. YMMV

Do you mean you think the focus we are spending on trying to pick out the characteristics of the cigar are detracting from our enjoyment?

Phil, I think that is it in a nutshell!

We smoke for enjoyment, when we are forced to write down the process, we are distracted from the enjoyment phase of smoking. I could be simplifying it but we are trying to describe as we smoke the cigar and the analysis takes over. We become much more critical than we probably would have. I'm sure that if we knew the last cigar was an original AVO LE5 we would have scored it higher than it was. IMHO

 

[BlindedByScience]

I think the point is that when you focus on the process, you miss out on the actual taste of the cigar. YMMV

Do you mean you think the focus we are spending on trying to pick out the characteristics of the cigar are detracting from our enjoyment?

Phil, I think that is it in a nutshell!

We smoke for enjoyment, when we are forced to write down the process, we are distracted from the enjoyment phase of smoking. I could be simplifying it but we are trying to describe as we smoke the cigar and the analysis takes over. We become much more critical than we probably would have. I'm sure that if we knew the last cigar was an original AVO LE5 we would have scored it higher than it was. IMHO

Anthony, I couldn't agree more. In trying to focus, analyze, discern, and guess as to what these smokes are, I'm afraid we miss the forest in the quest of the trees.....

Regards - B.B.S.

 

[moki]

...and what is up with these scores?



1. 6.25/10
2. 5.45/10
3. 6.94/10
4. 6.65/10
5. 6.45/10
6. 5.75/10
7. 6.60/10
8. 6.28/10
9. 6.45/10

They are "average" scores -- which inevitably drags things down when for every cigar, some rate it really low, some really high, and some in the middle. We've had zero consistency for ratings (good or bad) for individual cigars across the range of taste testers.

 

[grateful1]

I think the point is that when you focus on the process, you miss out on the actual taste of the cigar. YMMV

Do you mean you think the focus we are spending on trying to pick out the characteristics of the cigar are detracting from our enjoyment?

Phil, I think that is it in a nutshell!

We smoke for enjoyment, when we are forced to write down the process, we are distracted from the enjoyment phase of smoking. I could be simplifying it but we are trying to describe as we smoke the cigar and the analysis takes over. We become much more critical than we probably would have. I'm sure that if we knew the last cigar was an original AVO LE5 we would have scored it higher than it was. IMHO

Anthony, I couldn't agree more. In trying to focus, analyze, discern, and guess as to what these smokes are, I'm afraid we miss the forest in the quest of the trees.....

Regards - B.B.S.

On the contrary, when I focus, I tend to find more good or bad in the cigar....which one stands out more helps determine overall enjoyment.

 

[moki]

Anthony, I couldn't agree more. In trying to focus, analyze, discern, and guess as to what these smokes are, I'm afraid we miss the forest in the quest of the trees.....

Regards - B.B.S.

I can certainly eliminate the various guesses from the next test. I included them here because without that data, we can't really make any conclusions... but it appears that the data has been so random that there may not be any conclusions to be drawn anyway.

Perhaps for round #2, I will simply ask for a review and a rating, and nothing more, and draw any conclusions from what the cigars actually are rather than from what people think they are.

It was instructive to see the guesses being all over the map, though.

 

[insight]

Anthony I am sort of on the fence on this one. Like Gary said, I tend to find more detail regarding 'good' and 'bad' when I am smoking critically. Case in point, I have never had an AVO I liked (including the LE05) but I definitely enjoyed this one. I wonder if the different approach enhanced my enjoyment. On the other hand, I think the analysis of flavor and complexity can be done without the guessing game. Although I enjoy the guessing portion of the test, I think it detracts from enjoying what you are smoking because you are spending more time thinking about what it *could* be. Also I definitely agree with you that making smoking into a thinking/notation exercise detracts from the enjoyment of the experience, which is probably why even those cigars we have been enjoying haven't been a home run.

 

[BlindedByScience]

Anthony, I couldn't agree more. In trying to focus, analyze, discern, and guess as to what these smokes are, I'm afraid we miss the forest in the quest of the trees.....

Regards - B.B.S.

I can certainly eliminate the various guesses from the next test. I included them here because without that data, we can't really make any conclusions... but it appears that the data has been so random that there may not be any conclusions to be drawn anyway.

Perhaps for round #2, I will simply ask for a review and a rating, and nothing more, and draw any conclusions from what the cigars actually are rather than from what people think they are.

It was instructive to see the guesses being all over the map, though.

No, I'd keep the guesses in, Andrew. They really add an interesting dimension to the reviews. Admit it or not, I do think down deep this group is so doggone competitive that we're all trying to nail the guesses.... :laugh:

Please don't misunderstand; I have really enjoyed myself with this and have actually learned quite a bit about my tastes and smoked some great sticks in the process. I'm glad to have been able to participate and look forward to #10.

Cheers, guys - B.B.S.

 

[NorCalCigarLover]

Here's some more data

Reviewer - Cigar #1, Cigar #2, Cigar #3, Cigar #4, Cigar #5, Cigar #6, Cigar #7, Cigar #8, Cigar #9, Cigar #10
bfreebern - 5, 6, 7, 8, 6, 5, 8, 9, 3
BlindedByScience - 6, 7.5, 5, 6, 8, 3.5, 8, 7, 6
Brickhouse - 6, 7, 7, 3, 9, 6, 7, 7, 7
enerjay - 8, 7, 8, 6, 8, 9, 9.5, 9.8, 9
insight - na 7, 5, 7, 4, 2, 9.5, 2.5, 7.5
grateful1 - 5, 1, 5.5, 8, 5, 7, 5, 8, 6
NorCalCigarLover - 4, 7, 8, 3, 5, 8, 6, 1, 5
sinnyc - 7.5, 3, 7.9, 8, 4.5, 8, 4, 5, 4.5
Smokyballs - 8, 2, 8, 10, 8, 1, 2, 6, 8
tone-ny - 8, 7, 8, 7.5, 7, 8, 7, 7.5, 8.5

 

[Brickhouse]

Like sinnyc, I think my rating scale was pretty rough on these cigars. Just a little run down on how I rated them:

10 - Best cigar I've had to date, haven't had anything that compares to this
9 - Wow, top 5 cigars I've smoked in the last 6 months at least!
8 - Damned fine cigar, I'll be looking for a box of these
7 - Very tastey, I gotta find more
6 - Decent, I'd be happy to have a few in my humi, but I'm not seeking them out
5 - Smokeable, maybe it was the weather , but probably not going to make it into my humi
4 - Had it's moments, but most of them were bad moments
3 - Didn't like it, don't plan on smoking anymore if possible
2 - I told you I didn't plan on smoking anymore of these, why did you trick me?
1 - No thanks, I just quit smoking

 

[moki]

Like sinnyc, I think my rating scale was pretty rough on these cigars. Just a little run down on how I rated them:

10 - Best cigar I've had to date, haven't had anything that compares to this
9 - Wow, top 5 cigars I've smoked in the last 6 months at least!
8 - Damned fine cigar, I'll be looking for a box of these
7 - Very tastey, I gotta find more
6 - Decent, I'd be happy to have a few in my humi, but I'm not seeking them out
5 - Smokeable, maybe it was the weather , but probably not going to make it into my humi
4 - Had it's moments, but most of them were bad moments
3 - Didn't like it, don't plan on smoking anymore if possible
2 - I told you I didn't plan on smoking anymore of these, why did you trick me?
1 - No thanks, I just quit smoking

I think you're making a good point here -- that is, I should have provided a scale such as this for reference at the beginning of the taste test, so everyone was on the same page.

Still, if you look at the scores, the variance seems evenly distributed. That is, no one was consistently rating things high, and no one was consistently rating them low.

 

[NorCalCigarLover]

...and what is up with these scores?

1. 6.25/10
2. 5.45/10
3. 6.94/10
4. 6.65/10
5. 6.45/10
6. 5.75/10
7. 6.60/10
8. 6.28/10
9. 6.45/10

I can only speak for myself but I am not using the CA method of rating
I have been rating along these lines:
10 = among the very best cigars I have ever smoked.
1 = among the very worst I have ever smoked
Thus the 5 to 6 range would quailify as average.
So, for me, a 7 or 8 would be a very good cigar.

I think the rating spreads have been right in line with the reviews - the only clear consensus we have had was for Cigar #3, the Cabaiguan WCD 120. Every tester thought it was a Cuban - and we were ALL wrong. :laugh:

Other than that, there hasn't been much agreement at all.

Yup, that's about the same way I rate them as well.

 

[Infinity]

You make an interesting point Anthony.

I have mentioned this several times, I don't enjoy the process of doing a review, it is not relaxing. However, this has always been about self discovery and not about being right.

I wander wonder what a blind test would show when one knows the cigars being tested. In other words, a real blind test, as in blindfolded. Take 10 smokes, be told what they are and then
blind test them.

Brian

 

[JHolmes763]

I can certainly eliminate the various guesses from the next test.

Maybe you should tell them what the cigar is the next time, but include that you have the option to lie. Maybe it really is what you say, maybe it isn't. I think it'd be interesting to see how the reviews stack up then. Nothing scientific would come from it, but it'd be interesting to watch. Would be harder for you because the cigars would have to look similar if you were trying to pass one off as a lie.

Great thread all around!

---John Holmes...

 

[grateful1]

...

I think you're making a good point here -- that is, I should have provided a scale such as this for reference at the beginning of the taste test, so everyone was on the same page.

Still, if you look at the scores, the variance seems evenly distributed. That is, no one was consistently rating things high, and no one was consistently rating them low.

Send us out 10 more and we'll do it again! :whistling:

 

[insight]

You make an interesting point Anthony.

I have mentioned this several times, I don't enjoy the process of doing a review, it is not relaxing. However, this has always been about self discovery and not about being right.

I wander wonder what a blind test would show when one knows the cigars being tested. In other words, a real blind test, as in blindfolded. Take 10 smokes, be told what they are and then
blind test them.

Brian

That is EXACTLY what I was thinking about doing the other day. Obviously the blindfold aspect plays a critical role that would make it difficult to do via the Internet but I think if you only used, for example, two vitolas you could pull it off without the blindfold.

 

[tone-ny]

You make an interesting point Anthony.

I have mentioned this several times, I don't enjoy the process of doing a review, it is not relaxing. However, this has always been about self discovery and not about being right.

I wander wonder what a blind test would show when one knows the cigars being tested. In other words, a real blind test, as in blindfolded. Take 10 smokes, be told what they are and then
blind test them.

Brian

That is EXACTLY what I was thinking about doing the other day. Obviously the blindfold aspect plays a critical role that would make it difficult to do via the Internet but I think if you only used, for example, two vitolas you could pull it off without the blindfold.

What an interesting test that would make. Without seeing the size, shape and overall dimension of the cigar, that would truly be a blind test taste. Okay when does this start?

 

[bfreebern]

Who's bringing the handcuffs?

 

[grateful1]

You make an interesting point Anthony.

I have mentioned this several times, I don't enjoy the process of doing a review, it is not relaxing. However, this has always been about self discovery and not about being right.

I wander wonder what a blind test would show when one knows what is being tested. In other words, a real blind test, as in blindfolded. Take 10, be told what they are and then
blind test them.

That is EXACTLY what I was thinking about doing the other day. Obviously the blindfold aspect plays a critical role that would make it difficult to do via the Internet but I think if you only used, for example, two you could pull it off without the blindfold.

What an interesting test that would make. Without seeing the size, shape and overall dimension, that would truly be a blind test taste. Okay when does this start?

Who's bringing the handcuffs?

Ewwwww!!!

 

[enerjay]

I smoke cigars because I like them, much like the other men in the blind taste test.

I did not make one note on any of the cigars while smoking them.

I asked my self did I enjoy it, what could I pick out and if I had smoked it before.

Well take a look, I had not smoked many before. LOL

This has been fun for sure and opened my eyes quite a bit on how experience can point you in the right direction.

Thanks Moki.