Who are the taste experts?
 

I'm new to the boards (see intro thread) and in order to get adjusted quickly, I'm curious who the 'in-the-know' guys are around here when it comes to reviews.

i.e. who are the vets who post a favorable review and you say to yourself, "Well, XXX said it's good, it must be good!"

I wanna know who's reviews I should be paying the most attention to. I'll read them all, I just figured you guys who know better than me!

Feel free to rattle of a list of names rather than narrow it down to one.

Thanks,

M

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I would advise against that. Taste is completely subjective. What they like, you may not and what they don't like, you may.

If you do decide to do it that way, read through the reviews of cigars you have tried and see if the reviewer thought the same as you then, search for more of their reviews. I know alot of people like the read reviews before they have a cigar and there is nothing wrong with that, I just think they are pointless for me as I like to make up my own mind without any influence.

:2 I know I am in the minority with this opinion.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Count me in the above minority :)

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Welcome to the forum.You will figure it out,everyone has his own palate and favorite brands.Some folks like certain flavors,certain aromas.Ultimately you need to try a cigar for yourself,but you can get a good idea about a smoke if there is a good review.
More members should attempt to offer reviews,it adds to the database and can help you to learn what to look for in a cigar, and how to analyze your taste profile.It can also save you from disappointment by steering you away from something you will not like....

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I like the help as far as getting in the general area of what profile I like. But each cigar has to be smoked by you to tell if YOU like it. Makes no difference if I like it and you don't.

It's a fun process, enjoy.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

+1

I like to read reviews, and even enjoy writing the odd one, but it is just an opinion, and the only one that knows your opinion is you.:tu

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

:tpd:


Don't read any reviews posted by Skywalker....he is totally clueless.....:D

I believe my reviews are the best!!! I don't think I have one though hehe

Seriously though you need to find someone with tastes similar to yours. Just because "the top reviewer" says a certain cigar is good doesn't mean you will like it.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

:tpd: Well said!! :tu

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

But that's the thing, Tom. How can you say you will not like it if you don't try it? Based on what somebody else tastes? That's just not logical.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I wouldn't go out and buy a box on anyone's say-so, because as has been pointed out, taste is subjective. I would however grab a 5er to try and decide for myself.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

+1 for me. Learn from as many people as you can despite their time on the forum.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

There's one guy who does a ton of video reviews. I think his name is Kaelaria or something like that. He's really good at describing the cigars he reviews and he probably posts at least 1 video a week. check the review section.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I like reviews for a few reasons.

The style of writing, the cigar is unknown to me (or hard to find, very rare, extremely old, etc), past reviews by this person have matched closely with my experience.

IMHO the best use for a review is to calibrate the reviewers taste buds with yours. Kinda like when you hear someone say "Celebrity X is so freakin' hot !!!" and you think to yourself, "eh, they're not that hot, they're just average" and you then calibrate that person's opinion with your own. Next time they say something like that about someone you've never seen you've got a better feel for what they mean. :r (did that to my buddy the other day - he said "So-and-so is so hot!!!" and I gave him a funny look and said "Calibrating. Calibrating." :r )

However, even if I buy a cigar based on a glowing review I still go in with the knowledge that I may not like the cigar at all.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I agree with what most others have said.

IMO, over time, you learn who you share similar likes and dislikes with and that can help you decide which cigars to try. I've got a friend here that if he tells me he likes something, I'll try it. But one of his all time favorite smokes is one I don't care for.

At least you'll have fun figuring it out!

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I guess this is the kinda thing I was looking for...who does the best reviews...ones you can read/see and say, now THAT sounds like something I wanna try.

M

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Reviews are too subjective to count on as being the "gospel" on a certain cigar. While I respect many of the reviewers that post here, I would only use their reviews as a guide, not a definitive.

We have a saying here."Like what you smoke, smoke what you like."

What i find to be a good cigar, you might find it to be crap, and vice versa.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I'm an expert. I know exactly what I like. Don't know how anyone else feels about my reviews, though. ;)

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I agree with those who say they're best for entertainment value. I really enjoy reading and seeing pictures of rare and vintage smokes getting torched. The video reviews are fun to watch as well.

but taste being so subjective, I don't really base my decision to smoke something off of a review. I know many times I'm listening to someone describe a cigar I've tried and it sounds like they're talking about a completely different smoke than the one I had.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

This post is almost exactly what I would have posted. It sums up everything very well.

As a sort of aside, most of you say that you go off of what you like, but yet I see a number of posts elsewhere telling people that such and such cigar "needs more time", "it will be better in a few months", etc. And also asking questions like "how are such and such smoking right now". How does that fit into the whole equation of taste is subjective?

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Too many variables involved. I would say tobacco fields and curring barns are not as controlable as lets say a Hershey factory. :2 (my candy bar will most likely be exactly the same as yours... but cigars will vary within the same box, possibly)

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

:tpd:

I also really enjoy hi def pictures of cigars getting torched.

Taste is very tricky, I think it's difficult to get the true "taste" of a cigar from just doing or reading one review. Rote memorization is where it's at.

At the same time though, you can get a basic understanding of whether or not you should try the smoke. Most people can agree on whether a cigar is "smooth" or "harsh" or if the draw is too tight or too loose. It's when you start venturing into the cigar's strength and flavor profile that things get murky.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I'm a newbie as well. I agree with the minority (is it a majority yet?) YOUR taste is what's important. That being said, if I see 50 negative reviews of something, I generally avoid it. If I see 50 positive reviews of something, I try a 5'er. I'm not rich. I really see no point in buying a "blind box." Bundle reviews I find handy just to see what is quality and what is not.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I agree with the others. You can't go by reviews alone. However, they do help. When you've been in the Asylum for long enough, you start to notice members who have similar tastes to you, then you can give their reviews some attention. I use reviews myself to help me with purchases; if there is some kind of consensus on a cigar for or against it, it affects my purchase. If all the descriptions of the cigar are things I look for, I add it to my list. But I don't see a rave review by icehog or skywalker or landhoney or OLS and immediately go to buy a box of that cigar.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Who the heck are they? :rolleyes:;)

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Well, +1 to everything above!

Taste is physically subjective. Each person will get a slightly (and sometimes drastic) different taste experience from a cigar. Finding a reviewer with similar physical tastes to your own is key. It's trial and error. Find reviews of a certain cigar you are familiar with and then you can use that as a barometer for that person's other reviews.

This is exactly why I never give a rating of any kind - it's 100% meaningless to anyone but me, at that moment. I simply report what I experience and it's up to the viewer to make their own decisions from there. In fact the only time I give a negative review is for purely construction issues.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Not sure - just a few bums I see hangin' around now and then :D

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Hard to go by my reviews anyway because most of sh!t I smoke comes from plexi-glass topped boxes. :ss

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

We are Spinal Tap!:banger We are most definitely not bums. ;):D

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

I think by now you get the idea. Reviews are just that, reviews. Like movie reviews everyone has their own opinion. "Experts" are most self proclaimed. Try as many different cigars and form your own opinions. It really doesnt matter what you taste, you either like it or you dont. You will notice that different blends, countries of origin and tobacco types have different flavor profiles. Take the time to research when you find something that you like. Try to find other cigars with similar characteristics(origin, wrapper, maker, blender) Also, size matters. Different sizes of the same cigar may taste different to you. Dont give up on a cigar because you dont like the Robusto. And dont be afraid to revisit a cigar in 6 months or a year. You may find your palate has changed and that you now like that smoke.

One of the fun parts of this obsession is the journey of discovery. Try as many different cigars as you can. Keep a journal or notes if that helps you. :2

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Don't listen to any of these other clowns. I am a real bona fide EXPERT. I will tell you, with complete confidence and accuracy, precisely whether or not something floats my boat, each and every time, without fail. How many of these other guys can say that?!

And get this: I've taken the GENUINE OFFICIAL HIGHER-AUTHORITY EXPERT'S PLEDGE OF SERVICETM

"I solemnly swear that for each and every sample you send me, I will do my utmost best to provide you, in turn, one genuine and authentic verdict on the question of whether I'm likely to ask you for any more of them."

Welcome to the big leagues, son.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Well, although most of you are repeating a similar idea (smoke whatever you can & like it!) I appecciate all folks providing input. :D

I'm looking forward to hanging around here a bit and smoking some good ones!

Thanks fellas.

M

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

When i first joined the forums, I did this exact thing. What I found was that although I did have some similar tastes to a handful of different individuals, others enjoyed sticks that I though were absolutely horrendous, and that's when I started to venture into my own humidor instead of buying sticks I saw in reviews.

But, of course, reviews are VERY fun to read and really do help one find amazing cigars.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Yeah, but their reviews average- what- eight words long? Wouldn't want to have too much cigar-related content cluttering up a cigar magazine, now would we?

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

anytime I'm at someone's house who has a CA subscription I flip straight to the "connoisseurs corner" or whatever the sh*t it's called where they smoke and review vintage Cubans. That one page is the most entertaining section in the whole mag if you ask me.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

+1 That's pretty much the only interesting thing to read besides the corny paid into regular reviews.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Me too. I am a cigar blog guy, with reviews. To me, taste is completely subjective. What I get out of a cigar might not be what you get, and vice-versa. Even though I have my own blog, I still read all the other ones I can, just for some comparison, and for my own enjoyment. The best advice I can give, is smoke, smoke and smoke some more, let your palette mature, and eventually you will figure out what you like in a cigar, and what you don't like. I don't know about the other sites out there, but I just do my reviews for fun, and really, its kinda like my own personal journal of cigars I've smoked, with the bonus that other people might read it.
Scott

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

Just as an example - I recently did the Exile Wired, and so did another guy. He got 'mild coffee and sweet', I got 'tobacco, leather and pepper/spice' - same cigars!

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

:tpd:

kwagga is the only true Legend - and he's long gone. :D

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

If a particular cigar is on the market, it's because people like it and buy it.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

With you guys on this. :tpd:

If I like a cigar, after I've smoked it I will find those that seem to have similar tastes as me to see what they thought of a cigar. Never know when someone can pick out tastes that you didn't realize were there.

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

If your palate is rather goat-like, feel free to read my reviews.
:ss

Re: Who are the taste experts?
 

:tpd: My name mentioned in the same post as "the top reviewer" has to be a mistake!!!:td

My name mentioned at all has to be a mistake!!!;)