April's C.A. Magazine

Vulchor

Review notes for a cigar (Avo Signature Churchill if you care)...

"...Delivers a progression of pencil lead, spice, and stony mineral flavors"

REALLY?!?!?!? F*CK YOU!!!! They have hit a new low. Pencil lead and stony minerals?? ALSO MIND YOU, after all that they still rated the *** an 87!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ENFIDL

Vulchor:

Review notes for a cigar (Avo Signature Churchill if you care)...

"...Delivers a progression of pencil lead, spice, and stony mineral flavors"

REALLY?!?!?!? F*CK YOU!!!! They have hit a new low. Pencil lead and stony minerals?? ALSO MIND YOU, after all that they still rated the *** an 87!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe they love the taste of pencil lead and stony minerals? lol

RoyalCigars

These CA guys are just pompous asses. I heard one cigar review where the flavor notes included marshmallows. I think these veteran reviewers should retire and let some new talent and palates have a go. Either way CA is just a lifestyle Mag with extra cigar adds.

-Regards and Long Ashes!

sightunseen

CA's tasting notes remind me of these people I once read in an article that were water "sommeliers." Really? You can taste the difference between Voss and Fiji water?

zoom6zoom

I remember seeing some show (Mythbusters maybe, or something on the Food Network?) where they had a "water sommellier" and he was recommending these different waters to people to go with different foods, and they were all slurping it up and agreeing about the taste differences.... and then the camera showed him in the alley behind the restaurant filling up all the bottles from the same garden hose. Funny as all hell.

Vulchor

The same way the Evian (spelled Naive backwards) is filled by a 350lb woman in a large bathtub in Scranton, Penn.

YankeeMan

Vulchor:

Review notes for a cigar (Avo Signature Churchill if you care)...

"...Delivers a progression of pencil lead, spice, and stony mineral flavors"

REALLY?!?!?!? F*CK YOU!!!! They have hit a new low. Pencil lead and stony minerals?? ALSO MIND YOU, after all that they still rated the *** an 87!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't hold back, it's not healthy! Say what you really mean!

kuzi16

i cant say i have tasted pencil lead in a cigar.

laker1963

I actually found that the Greycliff Professionals have a pencil lead taste. Now I have never eaten a pencil before, but like most people at one time or another used to hold a pencil in my mouth or just playing around with them during classes and I can say that the same taste I got then, is what I get when smoking the Professional. I had a box and traded most of them away to a BOTL here because I just couldn't shake that taste and the thought of pencil.
The comment about CA reviewers and pencil comments is exactly what keeps me from reviewing any sticks. My tastes are different from anyone else's so telling you what I taste won't really help you. I prefer to say I really liked a stick without picking out particular flavors.

ndhaon91

This is perhaps my biggest pet peeve with the cigar world.

I understand and appreciate that one could note sweetness, earth, must, fruit, nuts, wood (maybe even specifically cedar vs. oak), pepper, chocolate/cocoa, coffee, leather, etc. These are very broad flavor profiles.

But I just quietly think "bullshit" every time someone talks about tasting ultra-specific flavors which are often hard enough to correctly identify in food. It's just ridiculous to read a review that makes it sound like someone just smoked a full 7 course meal. Tasting coffee and creaminess is one thing. Tasting french roast coffee which then transitions into espresso? Sorry, not buying it. Similarly, it's one thing to say you get hints of dried fruit or citrus. It's another to say you specifically detect boysenberries in the first third, which then transitioned to raspberries.

I give ccom credit for not falling into this trap with most of their reviews.

skweekz

zoom6zoom:

I remember seeing some show (Mythbusters maybe, or something on the Food Network?) where they had a "water sommellier" and he was recommending these different waters to people to go with different foods, and they were all slurping it up and agreeing about the taste differences.... and then the camera showed him in the alley behind the restaurant filling up all the bottles from the same garden hose. Funny as all hell.

Epic

beatnic

My wife once commented to me that the taco I was eating was probably made with horse meat. I responded that I thought it was the best damn horse meat I ever had. Been feeding me ground round since. LOL

Ken Light

sightunseen:

CA's tasting notes remind me of these people I once read in an article that were water "sommeliers." Really? You can taste the difference between Voss and Fiji water?

I think this is what you're talking about, on YouTube. I don't know how to make it a real link, so just c&p. If someone wants to PM me how to, I"ll edit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qydjVbLJk

Also, CA is snobby and stupid, apparently. Pencils have graphite, not lead.

Finally, I've tasted marshmallow in a couple cigars before. A couple Macanudo's when I started smoking when I was 18 and more recently a 5 Vegas Classic torpedo a year or two back. I actually tasted the marshmallow the first time I tried a Macanudo and that's what kept me coming back for more. Only happened once or twice again, but I thought it was so good it was worth the pursuit.

dwayne3307

I buy CA anytime a new issue comes out and over the last 18 months or so I can probably count on one hand how many cigar reviews i've read in it. Even on this site I rarely read a review. My tastes are different from yours and vice versa, no way i'm gonna let what anyone says influence my decisions on what i want to smoke.

babsdpu

Pencil lead and stony minerals get used pretty heavily in wine tasting (not that I've ever experienced either). I guess if you trust the reviewer, you give them the benefit of the doubt that that is, in fact, what they are picking up...otherwise, I suppose they're just being a snob. Some cigars I smoke, I pick up hints of pine, which I've never heard or read in a review...but darn it, I know they're there!

skweekz

Ken Light:

I think this is what you're talking about, on YouTube. I don't know how to make it a real link, so just c&p. If someone wants to PM me how to, I"ll edit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qydjVbLJk

That's from Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t!

y2pascoe

If Cigar Aficionado reviewed a cigar and said it tasted like a lady, would you buy one?

Vulchor

Depends on the lady-----"sweet and moist, with a great appearance and complex".....ORRRRRR....."salty with burnt fish odor, the wrapper had many markings the draw was far too loose"

Ken Light

Vulchor:

the draw was far too loose"

LoL that's comedy gold right there!

docbp87

Never tasted pencil lead in a cigar, but it is actually a common adjective in wine tasting. Everyone knows what CA is at this point. That said, dumping on someone for being able to taste things in a cigar that you don't... stupid, pointless, perhaps even a sign of envy?

zoom6zoom

skweekz:

Ken Light:

I think this is what you're talking about, on YouTube. I don't know how to make it a real link, so just c&p. If someone wants to PM me how to, I"ll edit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qydjVbLJk

That's from Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t!

Yes, that was it! I should have remembered, that show is great. If you can find the entire segment it's worth watching.

Nick2021

RoyalCigars:

These CA guys are just pompous asses. I heard one cigar review where the flavor notes included marshmallows. I think these veteran reviewers should retire and let some new talent and palates have a go. Either way CA is just a lifestyle Mag with extra cigar adds.

-Regards and Long Ashes!

marshmellows...really???!!! Which cigar was that??!! If I have that marshmellow cigar and eat graham crackers at the same time, will it produce a "smore" flavor???

Krieg

ndhaon91:

This is perhaps my biggest pet peeve with the cigar world. I understand and appreciate that one could note sweetness, earth, must, fruit, nuts, wood (maybe even specifically cedar vs. oak), pepper, chocolate/cocoa, coffee, leather, etc. These are very broad flavor profiles. But I just quietly think "bullshit" every time someone talks about tasting ultra-specific flavors which are often hard enough to correctly identify in food. It's just ridiculous to read a review that makes it sound like someone just smoked a full 7 course meal. Tasting coffee and creaminess is one thing. Tasting french roast coffee which then transitions into espresso? Sorry, not buying it. Similarly, it's one thing to say you get hints of dried fruit or citrus. It's another to say you specifically detect boysenberries in the first third, which then transitioned to raspberries. I give ccom credit for not falling into this trap with most of their reviews.

I did taste a strong note of Chocolate once with a RP Vintage 1990 few years ago...I was shocked.

Amos Umwhat

Krieg:

ndhaon91:

This is perhaps my biggest pet peeve with the cigar world. I understand and appreciate that one could note sweetness, earth, must, fruit, nuts, wood (maybe even specifically cedar vs. oak), pepper, chocolate/cocoa, coffee, leather, etc. These are very broad flavor profiles. But I just quietly think "bullshit" every time someone talks about tasting ultra-specific flavors which are often hard enough to correctly identify in food. It's just ridiculous to read a review that makes it sound like someone just smoked a full 7 course meal. Tasting coffee and creaminess is one thing. Tasting french roast coffee which then transitions into espresso? Sorry, not buying it. Similarly, it's one thing to say you get hints of dried fruit or citrus. It's another to say you specifically detect boysenberries in the first third, which then transitioned to raspberries. I give ccom credit for not falling into this trap with most of their reviews.

I did taste a strong note of Chocolate once with a RP Vintage 1990 few years ago...I was shocked.

but could you tell if it was Godiva, or Toblerone?

jsnake

I have tasted said marshmellow in a cigar before. I know these reviews sound weird and all and I always thought CA was pompous jack wagons but the more experienced I get in trying to review a cigar and really take in the flavors and retrohale the more weird stuff I have picked up. One time I even had a burning camp fire flavor. How the hell does anyone know what a campfire taste like?

zoom6zoom

Better a campfire than a brush fire, I guess.

ndhaon91

Amos Umwhat:

Krieg:

ndhaon91:

This is perhaps my biggest pet peeve with the cigar world.

I understand and appreciate that one could note sweetness, earth, must, fruit, nuts, wood (maybe even specifically cedar vs. oak), pepper, chocolate/cocoa, coffee, leather, etc. These are very broad flavor profiles.

But I just quietly think "bullshit" every time someone talks about tasting ultra-specific flavors which are often hard enough to correctly identify in food. It's just ridiculous to read a review that makes it sound like someone just smoked a full 7 course meal. Tasting coffee and creaminess is one thing. Tasting french roast coffee which then transitions into espresso? Sorry, not buying it. Similarly, it's one thing to say you get hints of dried fruit or citrus. It's another to say you specifically detect boysenberries in the first third, which then transitioned to raspberries.

I give ccom credit for not falling into this trap with most of their reviews.

I did taste a strong note of Chocolate once with a RP Vintage 1990 few years ago...I was shocked.

but could you tell if it was Godiva, or Toblerone?

Exactly. General flavors are one thing, but I find ultra-specific reviews to be hysterical.