DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I’m not an NC smoker… I haven’t had any in quite some time that really did anything for me (aside from NC Davis). This should be a fun experiment. :banger


Thanks to jonumberone (Dom) for granting my wish for such an exercise in the NC MAW.


Here are the cigars:


http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0376.jpg

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Cigar #1:

Pre-draw is super chocolatey…

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0378.jpg

1st/3rd:

Lighting it… I’m used to habanos… typically aged or mild. Therefore, I like to push a LOT of smoke out of my nose… gotta be careful during this tasting run.

The flavors here are pretty tasty, though I can’t quite discern them. Bitterness on the back of the tongue as well, but not bad. This cigar is fairly strong and, to my palate, the flavors are a bit muddled by that strength. Ash is a couple shades lighter than coal… hahaha… very dark. I’m trying to sip this and it is not making much difference.

The benefit to this blind run is that, considering I don’t smoke NCs, I have no idea of profiles or what’s out there. I couldn’t guess what any of these are if I had to.

I am getting some chocolate out of the first third. As an aside, the ash doesn’t like the cigar and continually succeeds in escaping it.

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0379.jpg


2nd/3rd :

By ‘muddled’ I mean… imagine if you took rainbow sherbet, vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream and mixed them all up. You know you’re eating something cold, like I know I’m smoking a cigar. Every now and then some flavor pops in. That’s this cigar.

I feel like I’m having an incredibly hard time picking out flavors. In the interest of full disclosure, this is my second cigar of the day… perhaps that has something to do with it. I also seem to be getting that acidy/bittery aftertaste on the tongue characteristic of ever time I try to enjoy an NC. It tastes like my mouth is made of yuck. Don’t misunderstand, though… the smoke itself is good. The palate-coating ‘flavor’, however, not so much. On the sides of my tongue on the back it’s that same feeling as when you eat a lemon.

I gotta say, I’m kinda enjoying this. Especially now as I’m noticing the overall bitterness slipping away after the halfway point (aside from the back/sides of the tongue thing that’s still there and noticeable… especially when I’m not actively smoking it).
I’m going into this with a fully open mind… as I said, it’s been quite a while for me and NCs… if there’s a band on it, though, I may try to tie it in with things I’ve heard in passing about them as some of my friends I get together with weekly smoke NC’s pretty much exclusively.

At this point, the cigar seems to be mellowing out a bit, but there’s still spice to it… something meaty about it… definitely stronger than what I’m used to smoking. That ‘back of the tongue bitterness’ is still present and driving me nuts when I’m not actively smoking it.

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0380.jpg


3rd/3rd:

Burn is perfect, construction is great and the draw is effortless. I do smoke by habit, though, in the sense that I keep trying to push large volumes of smoke out my nose. My nose burns.

The smoke itself, however, still tastes pretty good aside from the spice and bitter. Still, though, I’m not pinpointing anything specific… the chocolate vanished some time back. I don’t necessarily dislike it, though… it’s just hard to explain.

It’s now taking on a bit of a sawdust-y profile… reminds me of woodworking. I do love the size, though… this is comparable to what I typically go to in that regard.

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0381.jpg


In closing, I’ve definitely smoked worse cigars. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it... wouldn't really seek them out. While at times the smoke itself was good, it’s hard to get past the lingering bitterness, muddled flavors, the not-so-pleasant aftertaste and its strength. From now on, I will make these testing cigars my first cigar of the day so I might have a fresher palate.

Rating out of 100: 65

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

This is going to be fun. That tongue coating nastyness is the biggest reason I switched to Habanos, I find it is worst in Honduran leaf, then lesser in Dominican, and finally pretty rare in Nicaraguan smokes. Do you find it kind of metallic?
I mentioned it a while back in this thread:

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I did not get any 'metallic' out of it, per se, but it was acrid.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Hehe...I like this thread. Looking forward to seeing the rest of these from Mr. BTT himself :D

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Ohhhh... Dom's here. What did I smoke? :D

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

When are we going to find out what you smoked?

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Dan
You smoked a Viaje Platino Lancero

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1285701207

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Oh? Sweet... I've been hearing a lot about these Viaje things. Thanks for the opportunity to try one!

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Of the regular production Viaje line the Platino is my least favorite.
I enjoy them but like the Oro and 50/50 better.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

These threads are fun. Look forward to following it.

Thanks to Dan and Dom.....

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

+1

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Turnabout is fun play! Thank you for doing this, Dom!

Dan and Clayton, I don't know what kind of NCs you're getting "tongue-coating nastiness" out of. :confused: This has never been an issue for me.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

This was Dan's wish. He wanted it :D

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

This should be fun to watch!! :tu

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

From another thread
The topic of tasters and supertasters comes up now and then on different boards. The short and long of it is that everyone has a different amount of tastebuds, and that some people with a much higher amount than the average, "supertasters" can pick up certain traces of bitterness or sourness that others simply can't taste. I don't know whether or not I qualify for this status or not, but I do know that I often pick up funky flavors that are unpleasant to me in cigars that a lot of people enjoy without mentioning it. Whether or not that is due to something objective like the supertaster thing, or something entirely subjective such as personal taste, is another story.
I was just happy to hear that I'm not the only one that finds that "tongue coating nastiness" as a hallmark of certain NCs. When I was a newb, I simply wrote it off as part of the cigar smoking experience and powered through it. Now that I know that a cigar doesn't have to taste like you're sucking on a quarter, I stick to my CCs and the handful of Premium NCs that don't have that aftertaste. If I get a cigar that maintains that taste for more than a minute, I pitch it and find something else. Interestingly, I have never tasted it in a CC. I'm not saying I haven't had my share of nasty flavors in a handful of much too young or improperly stored CCs, but I've never had anything with this particular cloying aftertaste from The Island.
/threadjack

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Here's another really interesting article on the ability to taste bitterness.

"PTC tasters may be more sensitive than non-tasters to compounds in tobacco and vegetables in the cabbage family."

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

And how, exactly, does that not make you awesome for providing?

Sorry, Dom, it's too late. You're cool. ;s :su

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Interesting info, Clayton- thanks. The NC brands you mention are ones that don't really get much mouth time from me.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Thank you for that article. It claims that 75% of people CAN taste PTC, while 25% cannot on average. So to me that would mean the majority of people are tasters(?) That doesn't make sense nor does it go in line with all of the other peer reviewed information on tasting.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I think that the two categories are similar but not completely related, the PTC taster/non-taster test is used to find out whether or not you have the particular genes that allow you to taste that chemical and other closely related ones, whereas if I understand it right, the non-taster, taster and supertaster categories of the other article refer to the concentration of tastebuds you have on your tongue and therefore how sensitive your sense of taste is to all flavors. That article breaks breaks the distribution down as 25% non-tasters, 50% tasters and 25% supertasters, so that trend basically just follows the bell curve.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Looking forward to watching this thread. Thanks for taking one for the team Dan. :tu

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

According to the first article:

It is only those who "have a much denser distribution of taste buds than medium and nontasters." And that amount is 25% which falls in line with all of the research and articles I have found. If you question which one you are personally, do either of the two tests that the first article recommends.


I don't want to continue to thread jack Dball's thread. If you want to discuss it more, let's start a new thread or PM. I am fascinated by the sense of taste. And to add to it, some will tell you that no matter how many tastebuds you have, if your sinuses are messed up, you won't "taste" anything.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Haha, I think we're both right, but that means that one of the articles has some inaccuracies. One states that 25% of people are supertasters and that a positive on the PTC test means that you are a supertaster, whereas the other states that 75% test positive for PTC, so either more people are supertasters than the first claims, or the PTC test is either unrelated, or only differentiates between non-tasters and "oher" tasters, lumping tasters and supertasters together. :confused:
I think I've muddled up your thread enough for now Dan, you had better hurry up and smoke another NC:r:r

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Well, I don't expect Dom sent crap.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Never heard this reason for it before, but it is one of the main reasons I also smoke primarily CCs now. I seem to also notice it much more when it is there now that I am not smoking NCs very often. I have gotten it from Tatuaje, especially the newer blends/lines but never from any Padron, Oliva or Fuente product. Explains my preferences there. Interestingly, I also sometimes get it from espresso, especially when it is cheap espresso - one of the reasons I avoid most retail coffee places here in the states. When I still smoked them, I would also get it from some brands of cigarettes, but not all.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Cigar #2

This beast looks maduro and is 50rg x 6 7/8” (read: nowhere near anything I smoke size-wise).


http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0382.jpg

1st/3rd:

Prelight draw shows perfect construction, great draw and no flavors to really write home about. Lighting it up… smoke really isn’t too strong, which is good. That said, I just found out that it’s not a good idea to push all the smoke out my nose.

Out the nose, however, when I look past the fire ants in my nostrils, I do get a very woody flavor that’s agreeable. No real bitterness or anything as of yet… the smoke is a good flavor. I just sneezed thanks to my fire ant friends.

There’s something fruity in the aftertaste of this cigar which is very pleasant… like some sweet stewed fruit. This is a decent cigar so far… the size is a bit much, but I think the reason I resist cigars of this size is because I like change. I’ve had some cigars that chance frequently throughout the smoking of it. This experience primarily occurred with CCs… NC’s could have decent flavors, but didn’t really change drastically enough to keep me interested. Perhaps it’s ADD…

As another note, I’m pairing this with coffee… now I’m going to grab some Pellegrino as well.

2nd/3rd:

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0384.jpg


That tasty fruitiness is so far in the background it might as well not even be there... the predominant flavor now is back to the woodiness, but there is also a sweetness. I’m really enjoying this cigar and, oddly, I believe this would be a good cigar with some age on it. The reason I find that odd is that I haven’t really seen many NCs that benefit from age. I know that’s an unscientific and likely unfair blanket statement, but I’ve had 02 Anejos and just didn’t dig them (and this was when I was smoking NCs predominantly).

After the half, I’m getting a little… something. How’s that for specific, eh? This cigar has some of that muddled-ness I noticed in the last cigar, either that or my palate is just weak. That’s just as likely. Still, though, I’m enjoying it.

I have gotten no bitterness from this cigar, in fact, there’s been a sweet undertone (at times an overtone) throughout the entirety of this stick.

3rd/3rd:

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0386.jpg


Not really pulling many particular flavors at this point, but still enjoying it. I’m really curious to find out what this is. There a little glue-type taste in the distant background… not enough to make this a bad cigar by any stretch. Strength is definitely picking up at this point, which is typical.

I have picked up the habit lately of finding stems in cigars and tearing them out, often to the detriment of the cigar, but it’s a habit I can’t seem to break. I’ve been holding off on this cigar, but I couldn’t hold off anymore:

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0387.jpg


Now, it’s simply become a cigar. I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly up to this point… now though, it’s getting a bit rough. At this point, I’m calling the game. The strength at this point is much more than I enjoy.

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0388.jpg


I’d rate this cigar an 89 and am curious as to what it is.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Dan you smoked a Los Blancos Nine Toro

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1285870274

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Dan, your rating # on #2 took me by surprise. Based on the text of your review, I was expecting smaller digits.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I felt the same way.
Maybe he didn't want to come out and say I smoke dog rockets :D

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I thought I gave it a pretty positive review... I mentioned about 5 times how much I was enjoying it.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I'll have to try one of these sticks. If it's an NC and Dan likes it, it must be pretty good.:tu

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Cigar #3

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0402.jpg

This cigar is a f***ing beast. 52 RG, over 6” long. The people I meet with weekly would get a huge kick out of me smoking something so uncharacteristically large…

1st/3rd:

Pre light draw is pretty much too easy… this thing is like a straw. A really, really fat straw. Lighting it and starting out, I’m really not getting anything from this flavor-wise at the very beginning. Just smoke. Blech… at this point I wonder if I’ll even be able to finish this thing. It’s the flavor of burning leaves being sucked through a big, fat straw.

Oh god… this is bad. I swear I just got chlorine, like I accidently got water in my mouth at a YMCA pool.

If it weren’t for the awful flavors that occasionally appear, there would be none.

2nd/3rd:

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0403.jpg

I figure this can’t get much worse, so I decided to pair it with a nice tall cup of bleach. The burning in my gullet and the feeling of corroding esophageal lining and stomach tissue offsets the pungent, acrid smoke this atrocity spews forth.

I am wondering if the Mr. Yuk sticker is on the box this came from. Smoking this makes me feel like Kermit in the “Sad Kermit – Hurt” video (look that up on youtube at your own risk… if you have a truly demented sense of humor, you may laugh quite a bit. I’d almost call it NSFW, but it is a muppet, after all…).

My throat feels like I swallowed a pitchfork. I don’t hate myself enough to finish this.

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/CIMG0404.jpg


Score: -5,452,805,013 out of 10. This should be used as a method of torture… it tastes like unbridled sorrow.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I could not stop laughing.....but the end picture finished it off perfectly....

Thanks Dan...:r

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Great thread DBall! I will be following it closely.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I could not stop laughing. I'm sorry your misery brings me such joy. Keep the blind reviews coming. :D

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Rofl...

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Perhaps I spoke too soon. :r

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I don't think he sent 'crap', I just think everyone's tastes are different. Mine, clearly, are not in line with people who enjoy that last cigar... ;)

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I don't know, man... I know you're having fun with language and presentation here, but that one sounded tres harsh. As I try new (to me) things, I occasionally encounter a stick that does little or nothing for me, but I really can't recall the last time I had anything that made me want to bleach my mouth! :D

I'm contemplating pleading with you to accept a second blind bundle from me, for fear of NCs being too narrowly represented (no offense, Dom!). I have some things I'm pretty confident you'll enjoy and find appreciable flavors in... after a suitable break for you, of course. ;)

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

The last picture says it all:r

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Now that's a funny ass fakin review right there Dan! :r Wondering now what the hell it was that you smoked? Or didn't. :)

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Dude... Hal, I tried! :r:r:r

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

I'm still laughing :r

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Dan

You smoked an Illusione Epernay Le Monde

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1286403284

I wish I had known you smaller cigars.
Shame on me for not doing my research.:)

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Enjoying this thread very much!! :D

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Wow... that surprises me.

I really actually like Illusiones (the MK specifically... I got a 5er of them a while back and smoked my second to last one a couple months ago... absolutely loved it).

I'm truly astonished that I didn't like that. I wonder if I would've liked it better knowing what it was up front... that's why I love these blind tasting things. Seems to get pretty honest without the bands.

As for you sending me RG cigars I like, no worries... I am doing this to get out of my comfort zone. Anyway, the majority of cigars you got in my BTT I sent you were, as Chicken calls them, "number 2 pencils". ;)

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

This looks like a great thread, nice to see some opinions when there is no pre judgment.

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

check these threads, too, then. I'm on my fourth round of hosting Blind Taste Tests.

Blind Taste Test Thread #1

Blind Taste Test Thread #2

Blind Taste Test Thread #3

The 4th one, in progress, is here:

Blind Taste Test Thread #4

:tu

Re: DBall smoking blind NCs...
 

Why do they always pick on you? Or do you bring this upon yourself? haha