How to Taste Cigar Notes with a Simple Step-by-Step Method

The method has twelve steps. Most steps come from the two cited guides, and step 10 is our way of combining them.

1. Look at the wrapper. The Cigar Authority says a wrapper can look veiny, oily or toothy, and toothy means a bumpy texture. The guide adds that a toothy wrapper often signals good things to come.
2. Press it gently. A good cigar feels firm, with only slight give near the foot. Squeezing hard can crack the wrapper or the binder.
3. Cut the cap. The Cigar Authority lists a bullet cut, a V-cut or a guillotine cut.
4. Smell the foot. Hold the open end under your nose before you light it. The Cigar Authority says "there is much more you can identify through smell rather than taste."
5. Take a cold draw. Take a pull on the unlit cigar before you light it.
6. Toast the foot. Let the flame barely touch the tobacco and rotate the cigar until the foot glows red. With a torch, the guide puts this at about 15 seconds or less.
7. Puff slowly. The Cigar Authority recommends 2 to 3 puffs per minute because overheating masks subtle flavors. Our smoking guide suggests about one puff per minute. The right pace varies by cigar and by smoker, and a slower pace keeps the burn cooler.
8. Hold and chew the smoke. Keep the smoke in your mouth and gently chew it. Cigar smoke stays in the mouth and is not inhaled into the lungs, as our page on whether you inhale cigars explains.
9. Exhale slowly. Let the smoke wash over your palate on its way out.
10. Name a flavor group first. Ask whether the smoke leans earthy, woody and leathery, or sweet, spicy and nutty. Narrow it down to a single word later.
11. Notice the finish. The finish is the flavor left after the smoke is gone. The Cigar Authority says it can be short or long, and preferences vary.
12. Let it go out on its own. Rest the cigar in the ashtray when you are done. The Cigar Authority says not to smash it out.

Retrohaling means pushing a little smoke out through your nose, and it is optional. The Cigar Authority describes it this way: with smoke in your mouth, let it drift toward the back of your throat, breathe through your nose, and push the smoke out. The guide states plainly that this does not mean inhaling.

The first few tries may feel like pepper. The Cigar Authority says that with practice, retrohaling can reveal flavors such as chocolate or subtle sweetness.

Skip it until the twelve steps above feel natural, and skip it entirely if the pepper sting is all you get. Our smoking guide's section on retrohaling as a brief advanced move covers the technique and notes that many seasoned smokers never retrohale.

The two guides name three things that affect what you taste: smell, heat and variety. Each has a fix you can use on the next cigar you smoke.

Smell does much of the work. Northwoods Humidors says much of what we perceive as flavor comes from smell, so the aroma adds to the taste. If you skip smelling the foot, you skip the step The Cigar Authority says lets you identify more than taste does.

Heat hides flavor. A cigar puffed too often runs hot, and The Cigar Authority says overheating masks subtle flavors. If the smoke runs hot, come back at a slower pace.

A palate builds through variety. Northwoods Humidors recommends smoking a variety of cigars and paying attention to the flavors and sensations you notice.

When no flavor word comes to mind, The Cigar Authority suggests noting which part of your tongue reacts. Each area lines up with a basic taste:

Part of the tongue	Taste The Cigar Authority links to it
Tip	Sweet
Sides	Salty
Farther back	Sour
Back of the mouth	Bitter

Northwoods Humidors sorts common cigar flavor notes into two groups: earthy, woody and leathery in one, and sweet, spicy and nutty in the other.

Neither source publishes a full flavor wheel or an official list of categories. The two groups are enough to start. Once you can place a puff in one group, try to pick the single word in it that fits best.

Flavors can shift during a smoke, so a cigar may taste different at the start than at the end, according to Northwoods Humidors. Taste near the start and again later, and compare the two.

Drinks can help too. Northwoods Humidors says pairing a cigar with a spirit such as Scotch or bourbon can highlight complementary flavors.

Flavor comes from the leaves in the cigar, where they grew, and how the cigar was stored. Northwoods Humidors breaks it down by component:

Factor	What Northwoods Humidors reports
Wrapper	Adds subtle nuances and a large part of the taste profile
Filler	Supplies most of the flavor
Binder	Mainly affects structure and burn, plus some flavor
Growing region	Soil, climate and growing practices shape flavor
Age and storage	Can change taste, which is why the article recommends a humidor
Time of day	Can change how a cigar tastes to you

On region, the article says Cuban cigars are often full-bodied and Nicaraguan tobaccos often taste spicy and sweet. For more on why one brand differs from another, including leaf origin, fermentation and rolling style, read why cigar brands taste different. Wrapper leaf types have their own cigar wrappers guide.

Strength is a separate measure from flavor. Northwoods Humidors defines strength as nicotine content and says a cigar can be full-flavored yet mild, or the reverse. Our cigar strength guide explains mild, medium and full strength and how strength, body and flavor differ.

Size plays a part as well. Length changes how long a cigar burns and how its flavor develops, which our comparison of long vs short cigars covers.

A tasting log turns one-off impressions into notes you can compare across cigars. Record these details:

• The cigar and how it was stored
• The time of day you smoked it
• Your puff pace, and whether the smoke ever turned hot
• What you smelled at the foot and on the cold draw
• The flavor group you noticed early and the one you noticed later
• Which part of your tongue reacted
• Whether the finish was short or long

We offer a free Humidor Tracker where you can log your collection and rate each smoke. Northwoods Humidors says storage can change taste, so record how each cigar was stored in your own log.

To taste the flavors in a cigar, smell the foot, take a cold draw, puff slowly, and hold and chew the smoke before naming a broad flavor group. The Cigar Authority describes the smell, cold draw, slow-puff and chew steps, and Northwoods Humidors supplies the two flavor groups. Naming a group first is our suggested way to combine them. We have not run tasting trials of our own.

The two sources differ on puff pace. The Cigar Authority suggests 2 to 3 puffs per minute, and our smoking guide suggests about one. If a cigar still runs hot at the faster pace, slow down toward one puff a minute. Storage conditions can also change taste, which is why Northwoods Humidors recommends a humidor. For your next cigar, follow the twelve steps of how to taste cigar notes and write down one flavor group while you smoke it, then rate the cigar in the Humidor Tracker.