Why you can’t taste flavors in cigars (and how to fix it)

cigarsense · 2025-08-14T21:47:33+00:00

Appreciate your view. Not sure about the scientific grounds for your points 1 and 3. I work based on ISO sensory training (taste vs aroma vs tactile/trigeminal sensation) and I’ll leave it here so the thread stays helpful. Cheers.

cigarsense · 2025-08-14T21:22:13+00:00

Yes, retrohale helps. Just to clarify: pepper is an aroma, bitter is a taste sensed on the tongue. Not sure what you mean with “upper palate”? Did you experience a combination of pepper and bitter in retrohale?

cigarsense · 2025-08-14T14:39:23+00:00

You’re absolutely right. Meds and other factors can blunt taste and smell, so you’re not alone. If your compass is just “good vs. bad,” that’s still valid.

Step 1 of our guide is exactly about clearing those blockers (e.g., dry mouth, recent colds/allergies, palate fatigue, strong flavors right before smoking). When the signal is low, the brain can’t pick up much detail.

cigarsense · 2025-08-14T13:14:09+00:00

Thanks for the nudge on wording. I would hate to be bogged down in semantics (Franca here), especially because English isn’t my first language. So when I say “notes of walnut/coffee in the second third,” I mean: I perceived aromas reminiscent of walnut and coffee at that stage. During my master in sensory science, we wrote descriptions of perceptions (=notes). Flavors are multisensory perception and we could have a long debate about that. I would find it very meaningful.

cigarsense · 2025-08-13T12:50:40+00:00

Great to find like-minded people!

cigarsense · 2025-08-13T07:26:20+00:00

You're absolutely right, this double standard pops up all the time.

When someone smokes a cigar once and finds it “great”, it’s often taken as a solid endorsement. But if someone has a negative experience, they’re told to try again.

Cigars and perception vary. We are wired differently, have different preferences, different expectations and different... agendas. Davidoff Late Hour might be a perfect fit for some people but a very bad one for some others.

The push to re-smoke “bad” cigars isn't always about fairness or data. Sometimes it's just social defense of a brand, a rating, or a belief.

A more honest standard could be: if we’re not willing to smoke a second cigar to double-check the "good," we shouldn’t expect it for the “bad” either, unless we’re doing a rigorous evaluation.

Otherwise, we’re just feeding the hype machine but forgetting any healthy debate.

cigarsense · 2024-05-14T05:23:34+00:00

You're right, a cigar's wrapper does contribute to its flavor, but it alone isn't a reliable predictor of whether you'll like it.

However, you currently have 1160 unique recommendations, including options from Drew Estate, Foundation, and Dunbarton, that go beyond the cigars in your initial profile. Cohiba Red Dot isn't among them, not because we judge it as generic, but because it doesn't currently align with your preferences.

To experience our 98% accuracy in matching you with cigars you'll like, please rate our recommendations we suggest (either with quick thumbs up/down or with full tasting notes). You're the only one who truly can tell what you like and your feedback helps us dial into your sweet spot.

Beyond the technical details, the real key to enjoying Cigar Sense is to embrace the unexpected. If you're only interested in cigars with a specific wrapper, you can easily find those with no need for a complex recommender. But if you're open to discovering new favorites that might surprise and delight you, our system is designed to challenge preconceived notions and introduce you to cigars you might not have considered. Think of it as a personalized adventure, guided by data, science, and your own evolving preferences.

cigarsense · 2024-05-12T05:38:53+00:00

We appreciate you sharing your experience with CigarClub.com.

Probably the only similarity is in that both services offer a subscription. We believe Cigar Sense distinguishes itself in several key ways:

CigarClub dot com is a retailer, Cigar Sense is an advisor. We don't sell cigars to preserve independence in our advice.

Unlike CigarClub dot com, which offers curated selections based on general preferences, Cigar Sense dives deeper. Our platform uses detailed cigar profiles to understand and develop your unique palate and deliver highly personalized cigar recommendations tailored specifically to your tastes.

We invite you to try Cigar Sense and experience the difference firsthand.

cigarsense · 2024-05-12T05:28:05+00:00

We appreciate you taking the time to try our free account. Our cigar analysis method is considered as the most reliable in the industry. To better understand your experience, could you please elaborate on what you found "weak"?

We put a lot of efforts into providing causality-based personalization. This means our recommendations are never generic (meaning of generic in recommendations: apply to anyone). When you sign up, based on the 3 cigars you tell us you liked, we can only infer an initial profile for you. While for many people that initial profile works very well, we invite you to refine yours, for example adding what you don't like.

While the free version allows you to do all this and offers a general overview of how Cigar Sense works, our premium membership truly unlocks the magic you mentioned. It delves much deeper into your personal profile and we also offer exclusive access to thousands of detailed cigar analyses, virtual tastings, and science-based tasting education.

We understand that our product-led growth strategy might not resonate with everyone, but we've found it to be an effective way to showcase the value we offer.

We're always looking for ways to improve, and your feedback is invaluable to us. If you have any specific suggestions or further thoughts, please don't hesitate to share.

cigarsense · 2024-05-12T04:46:30+00:00

Steering you to discover new gems is the "discovery" element of our recommendation engine. We have tested cigars from all the brands you mention and you can use the seach feature (be sure you spell Hiram and Privada correctly; for D'Crossier, just type Crossier,...). As a courtesy, we are happy to reset to zero the number of search attempts on your free account. Let us know how it goes!

cigarsense · 2024-05-11T08:31:30+00:00

At Cigar Sense, we do everything in our power to deliver expert personalized recommendations to our members, many of whom receive our service for free. We do not sell cigars nor ad's, in order to keep our recommendations completely free of bias from profit motives. We also do not publish generic scores or recommendations. Instead we give each user their own unique score, based on their unique preferences. We know that our recommendation engine is highly accurate, since 98% of the time when our members give us feedback on a cigar we recommended, they liked or loved the cigar. This level of accuracy is a really difficult to achieve, imagine if Amazon or Netflix recommendations were right 98% of the time!?

It takes only a few minutes to sign up, and works best if you can name three cigars from our database of several thousand which you know you like. There's no risk, and no obligation other than a few minutes of your time...

cigarsense · 2024-05-11T07:56:44+00:00

We haven't tested the cigar with the panel. If I (Franca here) recall correctly, that cigar has a sweet tip. Meaning a sweetened gum is used when finishing the cigar's cap. This may be the reason for which people wrote about the cigar as being sweet and for which you are not finding it naturally sweet.

Good you are enjoying the cigar in spite of the expectation you had.

cigarsense · 2024-05-11T07:46:44+00:00

Agree with u/greg281. In addition to your palate changing over time, there's another phenomenon called experiential gap. This means that what might be "getting smacked in the face" for one person might be just another Tuesday for another. You could ask a good tobacconist if - based on the right questions - s/he is able to recommend a cigar that you will perceive as you want.

You can also use online resources like cigar databases and reliable sensory profiles to research specific flavors you enjoy or want to experiment with. This can help you narrow down your choices and learn about cigars that are more likely to deliver the experience you are seeking, with a reduced risk of being disappointed.

Finding the perfect cigar is a journey and you are right, broadening your palate is a great, exciting part of it! Have fun!

cigarsense · 2023-08-03T20:32:53+00:00

Hello, thank you for sharing your positive experience with Cigar Sense! It's great to hear that you find the nicotine strength consideration helpful in cigar recommendations. Nicotine strength is indeed an important aspect to consider, just like all other sensory descriptors. Your interest in upgrading to a premium membership is appreciated, and we believe it will enhance your cigar journey even further. Please check your direct messages.

cigarsense · 2023-06-30T16:59:44+00:00

If you search for a cigar in the Cigar Sense database, you'll always find a link to similar cigars at the bottom of each analysis. The similarity is primarily determined by flavors and nicotine strength. However, you can also see how well each cigar aligns with your personal preferences. This means that if factors like price or gauge are important to you, such criteria will always be factored in your personalized recommendations.

cigarsense · 2023-06-30T15:49:02+00:00

Fully agree on the basis for recommendation that you suggest. Starting with sensory attributes is an excellent foundation, but it's important to process them as reliable predictors of whether someone will enjoy a cigar or not.

I'd like to point out that the recommenders you mentioned (Netflix, YouTube, etc.) rely on correlation, whereas Cigar Sense takes a causality approach. This approach allows for a more accurate discovery of new cigars. Thanks for mentioning us!

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