My first Cohiba Siglo VI

[TJCoro]

The Man Is Still Naked!

I really have to try to detect certain flavours.

Anyway. What a great smoke. The consistancy of the flavour and draw is sublime - all the way to the nub.

Yeah...me to, senor serious. And I agree it is a great, nah, classic puro!

I just simply don't detect the flavor nuances others seem to do here and on other forum around the virtual globe.

Names TJ, TJCoro, and I still say "the fuckin' King has no cloths!

[Deano]

Nah I struggle too, but definitely almondy the ole' Cohibas

[TJCoro]

A Good Stardard!

I have one sitting in my humi right now, don't quite think I'm ready yet to have it. Palette is too fresh to detect all those flavors. The cigar smells wonderful though.

Aww hell, senor raindrip...go for it! The famalia Coro think you are ready...

If the puro has a year or more on it, spark it up!

Besides...nobody really detects all the favors they claim*

....oh yeah, IMO!



TJ

* Disclaimer: The opinions express in this and all posts by TJ are his alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the UKCigarForum.

[spacemonkey_no9]

TJ, if you talk as much sh*te as you type then the after-taste is probably affecting your ability to pick out the flavours and notes of a good cuban cigar.

I didnt get it at first but over the years you pick things out, not always, but they are there and can change dramatically during a single cigar. Took me maybe 5 or 6 months until I could pick out the distinct individual flavours of a cigar and soemtimes I still miss it. Then theres the affect of cigarette smoking/food/booze on your tastebuds, if your new to cigars drink fizzy water with a smoke, that way you keep a clean palate (San Pelagrino works for me)

If I was still not hitting the fine taste nuances of cuban cigars after these 4 or 5 years I reckon I would be back on the King Eddies and Cafe Creme's. The members who have smoked cuban cigars for longer than me will hopefully add to this.

[TJCoro]

Whatever you say, grasshopper.

TJ, if you talk as much sh*te as you type then the after-taste is probably affecting your ability to pick out the flavours and notes of a good cuban cigar.

If I was still not hitting the fine taste nuances of cuban cigars after these 4 or 5 years I reckon I would be back on the King Eddies and Cafe Creme's. The members who have smoked cuban cigars for longer than me will hopefully add to this.

Listen up senor monkeyboy...I suspect I've been smokin' fine puros long before you were even a glimmer in your pappy's eye.

And I know a fine puro when I smoke one, but I seriously doubt that many, if any, can detect the flavor nuances to the degree discussed here. Even CA finally acknowledged recently that their tasters don't actually "taste" the flavors they use to describe cigars and puros, but use these terms to describe what comes to mind as the smoke.

Having said all this, more power to the people who actually task flavors like white chocolate, rare spice, roasted marshmellows and pencil lead. I just happen not to be one of 'em. But as I said before, I know a good puro when I smoke one, and I smoke plently of 'em.

But what the hell do I know. After all I'm TJ, TJCoro, and I see naked people

[whisky77]

VI

The VI is the best of the range IMO, followed by the IV.I actually prefer the VI to the Cohiba Robusto.

[spacemonkey_no9]

TJ, at last a post of yours thats worthwhile worthwhile to read

There is something in your comments about CA's 'confessions'. IMHO the flavours and tones in a cigar are reminders and associations rather than concrete tastes. I imagine its the same thing for wine drinkers and I'm slowly getting there with malt whiskys.

I believe that the palate can be educated but can you teach an old dog new tricks???

[cohibaIV]

The VI is the best of the range IMO, followed by the IV.I actually prefer the VI to the Cohiba Robusto.

The other way round for me me, but I agree that the VI is better then the Cohiba Robusto...

[whisky77]

Genios?

Where does that leave the Genios then Dale?, as it is a great smoke for sure.

[daverave999]

Some relevant information on the 'tastes' argument. Apologies for the thread hijack Deano.

A lot of descriptive terms e.g. vanilla, coffee, spicy etc. are used to describe the taste of cigars. According to your opinion, are they real, or are they just illusions?

Yes, they are real and the most common ones have been identified chemically.
The human olfactory sense is capable to identify numerous chemical molecules with exact precision. Prove this by trying to do something you have taken for granted as very easy. Say describing the taste of an orange or banana. You will be amazed you cannot. You can only say an orange tastes like an orange and a banana tastes like a banana. Why? Because the odour for both of them is detected by the nose as a single chemical molecule and the nose is so brilliant that there will be no confusion with other molecules. For oranges, it is octyl acetate. For bananas, it is n-pentyl acetate.
I do not want to bore you with those lousy organic chemistry and I shall give a few examples only. Almond taste is an aldehyde called benzaldehyde. Hay is a lactone called coumarin. Peanuts is a ketone called 2-methoxy-5-methypyrazine. Vanilla is an aromatic phenol called vanillin. Cocoa and coffee are various combinations of vanillin and a ketone called diacetyl. In fact the subject is so complicated that the Scotch Whiskey Research Institute in Edinburgh have identified over two hundred volatile oils in a new cask wood.
The most interesting is the unique 'tobacco' flavour, it is an aromatic phenol which people who are unfamiliar with it describes as 'old English leather'. Of course there is none, unless Havanas are smuggled into America inside leather sofas. The harsh tannic taste of young cigars is natural phenol polymers and which will break down with time into more amicable simple aromatic phenol molecules.
The tobacco plant is unique in that it contains nicotine (C6H4NC4H7NCH3 or in short C10H14N2) in the form of malate or citrates in natural state. They constitute 5% of weight and tobacco leaves (Encyclopaedia Brittanica) or more specifically 2 to 8% of dried tobacco leaves (Martindale's Extra Pharmacopedia) and have a very unpleasant pungent odour and a sharp persistent taste. It is totally different from the young tannic taste but is often confused.They can ferment on its own and generate a lot of aromatic organic compounds and release ammonia. The end products then interact within themselves and other substances to form more aromatic compounds. Oxygen is required in tiny amount to form some and can destroy some in large amount. The Cubans have probably noticed this. That is probably why dressed boxes cigars are usually boxed pressed and plain wooden boxes and cabinets cigars are always round.
The tobacco taste is actually a combination of various different groups of aromatic organic compounds, like aldehydes, higher alcohols, organic acids, ketones, phenols and terpenes. It is interesting that compounds belonging to different chemical groups have distinctly different rate of formation and half-lifes in a cigar (half-life could mean rate of attrition, if you like). If you know the individual flavour's chemical behaviour well, you can date a cigar with remarkable accuracy if further information on package form and storage conditions are provided. You can even 'manipulate' the cigar according to its stage of maturation with different temperatures, humidity, and exposure to oxygen to achieved optimum results in the shortest time.

From here.

[Simon-JG-hr]

Very interesting Dave.

[TJCoro]

An Educated Palate!

TJ, at last a post of yours thats worthwhile worthwhile to read


I believe that the palate can be educated but can you teach an old dog new tricks???

...or fooled into believing something that ain't there!

Not to get to heavy on you lad, but we are all products of constant conditioning and agreements, and we can all be trained to see (and taste) things that may or may not be real. But then again, what is real....

But that's just me, TJ, TJCoro,

[cohibaIV]

Where does that leave the Genios then Dale?, as it is a great smoke for sure.

Could'nt comment mate...Not had the pleasure yet..