08-27-2008, 02:03 PM
Last one covered taste.. well the balance involved with taste. This time I thought I would cover the senses again, but lay it out a bit more covering all around:
Traditionally speaking, there are five physiological Human Senses: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste, and Smell. Each Human Sense plays a critical role in the way we experience the environment we live in, our lives, and our time. The enjoyment of luxury Tobacco is an organoleptic delicacy (I love spell check), a sensory delight: just like the enjoyment of fine wine, great food, a beautiful view, your favorite music, or even a hot bath.
Some Tobacconists consider Sight the âintroductory senseâ, since it is typically the first sense we use when selecting our cigars and pipe tobaccos. Through sight we can determine the color, size, shape and exterior consistency of a cigar and its wrapper. Our vision clearly helps us assess the quality and construction of cigars and pipe tobaccos before any other Human Sense is employed. A true understanding of Sight involves knowing its limitations as well: cigars and tobaccos can be beautiful and perfect to the eye and still be void of any other merit.
After the selection of your tobacco, the importance of Sight actually increases. Seeing and monitoring the cigar, ash, or pipe is critical to maintaining the proper burn, pace, and ash-free clothing (we've all been there!)
Ultimately, Sight is useful on many levels, but perhaps the most important gift of Sight is its effect on our body, mind, and soul. For reasons that date back to the dawn of man, the sight of fire and smoke have a hypnotic and soothing effect on humans. To lovers of luxury tobacco, there is nothing so relaxing as the sight of smoke wafting up into the air; as if your tension and worries are being carried away with it. Ahhh....
As for Hearing with regards to cigars and pipe tobaccos, what you donât Hear matters most. Aside from the sounds of good conversation, few sounds are associated with cigar and pipe smoking. Even the âsoundâ of freshness is silent. But, there are a few distinct sounds occasionally heard from tobacco that tell us something important.
A slight âRustlingâ sound (as if fabric were rubbing together) may be heard when you squeeze a perfectly conditioned cigar. This soft sound is produced by the filler being shifted or moved. It can be heard in cigars that have been sitting and aging motionless for a long time. As long as the wrapper is not producing this sound, the cigar should be in excellent condition, and may even benefit from a slight 'massage 'to redistribute and awaken the tobacco.
A âCrackingâ or âCracklingâ sound is produced when you squeeze a cigar or pipe tobacco that is too dry. Depending on the extent of dryness, both the wrapper and filler of a cigar may make a Cracking or Crackling sound. Dry cigars need immediate attention and should not be smoked.
Traditionally speaking, there are five physiological Human Senses: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste, and Smell. Each Human Sense plays a critical role in the way we experience the environment we live in, our lives, and our time. The enjoyment of luxury Tobacco is an organoleptic delicacy (I love spell check), a sensory delight: just like the enjoyment of fine wine, great food, a beautiful view, your favorite music, or even a hot bath.
Some Tobacconists consider Sight the âintroductory senseâ, since it is typically the first sense we use when selecting our cigars and pipe tobaccos. Through sight we can determine the color, size, shape and exterior consistency of a cigar and its wrapper. Our vision clearly helps us assess the quality and construction of cigars and pipe tobaccos before any other Human Sense is employed. A true understanding of Sight involves knowing its limitations as well: cigars and tobaccos can be beautiful and perfect to the eye and still be void of any other merit.
After the selection of your tobacco, the importance of Sight actually increases. Seeing and monitoring the cigar, ash, or pipe is critical to maintaining the proper burn, pace, and ash-free clothing (we've all been there!)
Ultimately, Sight is useful on many levels, but perhaps the most important gift of Sight is its effect on our body, mind, and soul. For reasons that date back to the dawn of man, the sight of fire and smoke have a hypnotic and soothing effect on humans. To lovers of luxury tobacco, there is nothing so relaxing as the sight of smoke wafting up into the air; as if your tension and worries are being carried away with it. Ahhh....
As for Hearing with regards to cigars and pipe tobaccos, what you donât Hear matters most. Aside from the sounds of good conversation, few sounds are associated with cigar and pipe smoking. Even the âsoundâ of freshness is silent. But, there are a few distinct sounds occasionally heard from tobacco that tell us something important.
A slight âRustlingâ sound (as if fabric were rubbing together) may be heard when you squeeze a perfectly conditioned cigar. This soft sound is produced by the filler being shifted or moved. It can be heard in cigars that have been sitting and aging motionless for a long time. As long as the wrapper is not producing this sound, the cigar should be in excellent condition, and may even benefit from a slight 'massage 'to redistribute and awaken the tobacco.
A âCrackingâ or âCracklingâ sound is produced when you squeeze a cigar or pipe tobacco that is too dry. Depending on the extent of dryness, both the wrapper and filler of a cigar may make a Cracking or Crackling sound. Dry cigars need immediate attention and should not be smoked.
There is a lot to say about Touch. First, it is the physical sensation of feeling. The way a cigar or pipe feels in the hand is paramount. With our hands we can sense whether a cigar or pipe tobacco is at the proper humidity. We can even use our fingers to determine the silkiness of a cigar wrapper as well as the firmness, construction, and much more. But the key to understanding Touch, is realizing that it is not limited to the hands:
[size=2]We feel with our mouth, tongue, and nose as well. So 'Touch' can relate to all our senses we use for cigars. Like.. we taste spice, but we also feel it on the tounge - we smell it, but in some cases we feel it in our noses. [/size]
Taste, also known as Gustation, is the Human Sense which drives our appetite and protects us from ingesting poisons. We Taste with sensory organs [that detect chemicals] called Taste Buds which are located on our tongue.
Our Taste Buds are limited to sensing only five distinct Tastes:
Salt, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, & Umami.
Salt, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, & Umami.
It is important to note that we have Taste Buds spread all over our tongues to differentiate the five Tastes, but we perceive these Tastes to have a more localized effect. For instance, we perceive Sourness on the outer sides of our tongue, Bitterness on the back, Sweetness and Saltiness on the tip, and Umami throughout.
For those that didn't know ---- Umami is often defined as Savory (Savoury), or Sabroso in Spanish. For many people Umami has a mouth watering effect and creates a tantalizing sensation all over the tongue: it has also been described as âDeliciousnessâ. Cigar Makers use the word Sabroso to describe the perfect balance of Saltiness, Bitterness, Sourness, and Sweetness in tobacco: that synergistic balance creates a sensation that transcends the potential of each individual Taste, and creates something more extraordinary and complete: that is Umami.
Smell, also know as Olfaction, is the Human Sense contained in the nasal cavity that detects microscopic molecules released by substances like food, smoke, flowers, and wine. Our Olfactory nerve cells can detect thousands of different âSmellsâ that our sense of Taste cannot. Without our sense of Smell, it would be difficult for our Palate (sense of Taste) to distinguish between an orange and coffee, or chocolate and vanilla. Ultimately, Smell is the sense that reveals the extraordinary qualities of great tobacco, food, wine, and even air. If you donât believe this, try smoking a cigar with a cold, or cotton stuffed up your nose; just for fun.
We Smell in two distinct ways which effects the way we perceive the substance: Retronasally and Orthonasally. Thanks to the connection between our mouth and our sinuses, we can sense odors that originate from substances in our mouth: this is called Retronasal Olfaction, and it is particularly critical to the process of eating and Gustation. Orthonasal Olfaction involves smelling odors that travel through our nose to the Olfactory nerves. Ultimately, those Smells delivered through the nose (Orthonasal) are stronger and more pronounced than those delivered through the mouth (Retronasal). This little known fact explains why many connoisseurs of tobacco frequently waft their cigar or pipe directly under their nose. Orthonasal Olfaction is the key to experiencing the complexities and true aroma qualities of great smoke. --- side note-- Ever had a cigar taste great while vacationing, but smoking it after a stressed day at work and it not seem the same? Smell is linked to your memory. Thus a positive situation + a cigar can equal a very memorable and happy thought. A negative day + same cigar might not play out as you 'remembered' it. Smell can trigger the emotions or memory.
**deep breath**
My fingers hurt now, and I'm out of my choice beverage. My Nestor Miranda Special Selection is glowing nicely...and hopefully some of stuff above 'helps' understand a bit more about the thing we all love so much. CG
For those that didn't know ---- Umami is often defined as Savory (Savoury), or Sabroso in Spanish. For many people Umami has a mouth watering effect and creates a tantalizing sensation all over the tongue: it has also been described as âDeliciousnessâ. Cigar Makers use the word Sabroso to describe the perfect balance of Saltiness, Bitterness, Sourness, and Sweetness in tobacco: that synergistic balance creates a sensation that transcends the potential of each individual Taste, and creates something more extraordinary and complete: that is Umami.
Smell, also know as Olfaction, is the Human Sense contained in the nasal cavity that detects microscopic molecules released by substances like food, smoke, flowers, and wine. Our Olfactory nerve cells can detect thousands of different âSmellsâ that our sense of Taste cannot. Without our sense of Smell, it would be difficult for our Palate (sense of Taste) to distinguish between an orange and coffee, or chocolate and vanilla. Ultimately, Smell is the sense that reveals the extraordinary qualities of great tobacco, food, wine, and even air. If you donât believe this, try smoking a cigar with a cold, or cotton stuffed up your nose; just for fun.
We Smell in two distinct ways which effects the way we perceive the substance: Retronasally and Orthonasally. Thanks to the connection between our mouth and our sinuses, we can sense odors that originate from substances in our mouth: this is called Retronasal Olfaction, and it is particularly critical to the process of eating and Gustation. Orthonasal Olfaction involves smelling odors that travel through our nose to the Olfactory nerves. Ultimately, those Smells delivered through the nose (Orthonasal) are stronger and more pronounced than those delivered through the mouth (Retronasal). This little known fact explains why many connoisseurs of tobacco frequently waft their cigar or pipe directly under their nose. Orthonasal Olfaction is the key to experiencing the complexities and true aroma qualities of great smoke. --- side note-- Ever had a cigar taste great while vacationing, but smoking it after a stressed day at work and it not seem the same? Smell is linked to your memory. Thus a positive situation + a cigar can equal a very memorable and happy thought. A negative day + same cigar might not play out as you 'remembered' it. Smell can trigger the emotions or memory.
**deep breath**
My fingers hurt now, and I'm out of my choice beverage. My Nestor Miranda Special Selection is glowing nicely...and hopefully some of stuff above 'helps' understand a bit more about the thing we all love so much. CG
jk tank