New article on the value of "Blind" cigar reviewing/rating

[Dr. Stogie Fresh]

A recent article published in the Stogie Fresh Cigar Journal has generated some great discussion recently. The article, titled: Great Expectations: What Do Blind Cigar Reviews Really Tell Us? challenges the common practice of using blind cigar reviews as a good method for helping us choose which cigars to buy.

Check it out when you have time. Let us know what you think.

Doc

[MikeD]

Very intresting article, Doc.

I tend to agree with the points made in the article.  This, to me, shows why most of CA's ratings are pretty much worthless.  The expectation of a certan cigar, or anything for that matter, is a part of the whole experience.

[Dr. Stogie Fresh]

Very intresting article, Doc.

I tend to agree with the points made in the article.  This, to me, shows why most of CA's ratings are pretty much worthless.  The expectation of a certan cigar, or anything for that matter, is a part of the whole experience.

Exactly! Further, I found I could never rely on a blind test that was done by someone other than me. Everyone's palate is different. Even my own palate is different from day to day; there are just too many factors that can influence my taste and experience of a cigar on any given day. And, If I had to blind taste every cigar myself before I bought it, I wouldn't be buying many cigars. It is impractical to  blind taste every cigar prior to purchasing it.

Blind reviewing is one of those things that sounds like the right thing to do, but in the end, it just doesn't pan out. With so little information on which to base one's judgement, how could one be sure that they have anything really meaningful and that their estimation of a cigar on any given day is due to the tobacco rather than indigestion? I would rather have more information, than less, to help me make my decisions.

That is one of the reasons for REVIEWS (as opposed to numerical ratings) with plenty of descriptions. You may not have the same palate as someone else, but it is useful to read their research and the story behind that cigar and how it was aged, what tobacco was used, and what interesting techniques were used in aging or rolling or storing, or whatever. It's even good to read their descriptions of the flavors and body of the cigar: this gives you a baseline on which to compare your own experiences. Whether you agree or disagree, at least you have a target to aim at. This just makes you a more informed consumer. Of course, like any consumer, you must decide which of the factors are most important to you, and which reviewers are the most knowledgeable and trustworthy. Nevertheless, having more information is always a good thing, in my opinion.

Doc

[Bungalowbill]

very interesting article, doc. a very worthy and complex subject...

i come down somewhere in the middle, but then i'm not the average taster... try this on for size: non-blind/blind tasting is where it's at. i'll try to explain...

i was trained to taste beer like they do in competitions, blind. you're not only looking for characteristics, the first order of business is to find any flaws. believe me, when your livelyhood is directly affected by your ability to pick up minute traces of compounds, it sharpens one's concentration, big time. the stakes are not just enjoyment. you make bad beer, many people potentially lose their jobs. it's a whole different ball game. like kurt russell once said, there's playing ball, and then there's playing ball for money.

of course this can eliminate all joy out of just kicking back and enjoying something. i had to struggle with that for quite a while... i mean, getting anal about the profile of a bud light at a barbeque, you can see how it could get ridiculous. the solution? find the ability to throw that switch in your head where you can just enjoy something for it's own sake, or click on the analysis computer in your palate.

once trained in beer tasting, i found i could adapt that skill to food and cigars quite easily, which makes me more of a snob than most, but at the same time i feel i really can appreciate when something hits a home run. imho, blind tasting is absolutely essential if you want to take your palate to the next level. believe me, you don't know your own blind spots and prejudices until you face 'em blind.

...at the same time it is absolutely not the end all be all.

as for cigars, i take pride in being able to smoke impartially, with labels and prior knowledge fully in play. i notice all the time that cigars vary stick to stick, even coming from the same box. there's an objective distance you turn on, even if only for an instant... an ability i did not fully have before i was trained in blind tasting. i usually analyze things only a few seconds out of a full smoke. the rest of the time i flip the mental switch and just enjoy, wallowing in fruit of so much labor and love.

[Mark]

For everyone interested in this topic, we have our own Blind tasting/review!  Signups are here: http://www.stogiechat.com/cigar-forum/view_topic.php?id=5866&forum_id=2

[Keith]

A 5:30am post on a Saturday you must be smoking meat, any cigars going yet?

[Mark]

A 5:30am post on a Saturday you must be smoking meat, any cigars going yet?

It's actually Sunday.

No cigars yet, been trying to catch some ZZZzzzz's in between feeding the fire.  Just about to grind some beans and make some coffee, so I'll probably have one then. 

[Dr. Stogie Fresh]

very interesting article, doc. a very worthy and complex subject...

i come down somewhere in the middle, but then i'm not the average taster... try this on for size: non-blind/blind tasting is where it's at. i'll try to explain...

i was trained to taste beer like they do in competitions, blind. you're not only looking for characteristics, the first order of business is to find any flaws. believe me, when your livelyhood is directly affected by your ability to pick up minute traces of compounds, it sharpens one's concentration, big time. the stakes are not just enjoyment. you make bad beer, many people potentially lose their jobs. it's a whole different ball game. like kurt russell once said, there's playing ball, and then there's playing ball for money.

of course this can eliminate all joy out of just kicking back and enjoying something. i had to struggle with that for quite a while... i mean, getting anal about the profile of a bud light at a barbeque, you can see how it could get ridiculous. the solution? find the ability to throw that switch in your head where you can just enjoy something for it's own sake, or click on the analysis computer in your palate.

once trained in beer tasting, i found i could adapt that skill to food and cigars quite easily, which makes me more of a snob than most, but at the same time i feel i really can appreciate when something hits a home run. imho, blind tasting is absolutely essential if you want to take your palate to the next level. believe me, you don't know your own blind spots and prejudices until you face 'em blind.

...at the same time it is absolutely not the end all be all.

as for cigars, i take pride in being able to smoke impartially, with labels and prior knowledge fully in play. i notice all the time that cigars vary stick to stick, even coming from the same box. there's an objective distance you turn on, even if only for an instant... an ability i did not fully have before i was trained in blind tasting. i usually analyze things only a few seconds out of a full smoke. the rest of the time i flip the mental switch and just enjoy, wallowing in fruit of so much labor and love.

Very nice points BB. And, I think we agree for the most part. Your thoughts about how blind tasting helps manufacturers with their blends is well taken. However, the article written by Rob is about the value of using blind tastings to help consumers buy cigars. Big difference.

Also, there is a second difference, which is worth noting. Brewing beer, once you have decided on the blend, is very consistent. That is, given that you have not allowed the beer to sit in the baking sun for a week, you are likely to get a very consistent product from bottle to bottle. Not so with cigars. With different rollers, and different bunchers, it is posslble to get very different construction, burn and tastes from cigars within the same batch. Not so with beer.

Rob did agree with you about the value of being able to train your palate when he said that blind tasting : "allows a cigar smoker to test their ability to recognize different types of tobaccos (e.g., different countries, different seeds) and to see if they can identify a cigar they have smoked before from memory."

These differences are quite important when trying to decide which cigars to buy. It's always better to have as much background information as possible: reading different reviews to see if there is consistency between them, and reading up on the story behind the cigars.

Doc

[MikeD]

What it really comes down to is that I don't buy cigars blindly, so why should they be reviewed blindly?  I buy them based on expectation, reputation and past experiences.

[fishhound]

What it really comes down to is that I don't buy cigars blindly, so why should they be reviewed blindly?  I buy them based on expectation, reputation and past experiences.

Nicely put Mike.