"What experiment," you may ask? This (from an old post):
I published that about four months into the experiment. I'm happy to report that (a) not only did we HAVE the willpower to see this thang through (there bein' three aged cigars left in the stash, as of yesterday) and (b) I got a second opinion from SN1 yesterday about the project. His verdict? Hard to tell, but the stick seemed more mellow... which meshes with my opinion, as well. The only way to really tell is to smoke two sticks back-to-back, one fresh outta the box and one aged. My bottom line is the project wasn't entirely without merit but it's also highly unlikely I'll ever repeat it. My palate just isn't that refined to notice any differences.Speaking of... I bought myself a box of Deep Dishes for Christmas and that box remains largely untouched, as I'm engaged in a lil experiment. I read somewhere that aging a cigar has much the same effect as aging fine wine... as in "the older, the better." That presupposes you keep the cigars properly humidified, of course, which I'm doing. So, we pulled one of the now three-month old Deep Dishes out of the humidor yesterday, fired it up, and I couldn't tell if it was any better or not. There may be two things in play here: (1) I haven't given the cigars enough time to age properly or (2) I just don't have an educated palate. As far as (1) goes... I'm not sure if I have the will power to let the cigars age for a year or more. And there ain't no fixin' (2). It is what it is.
I'm surprised that I let those cigars age for well over a year. Why? Simply because I'm not known for my will power... now or evah.
Refined palate and cigars don't seem to go in the same sentence, if you ask me. But then, I'm not a smoker and the only cigar smokers that I have been around, well, stink and were not very refined period. Someday, I will join you for a happy hour and we will see if there is a difference in your smoke.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting you enjoyed finally testing this experiment.
ReplyDeleteRefined palate and cigars don't seem to go in the same sentence, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteYou've obviously NOT followed any of the cigar links I've posted in the past, Lou. Cigar "critics" are just as stuffy with their language as wine critics, e.g., "strong hints of leather with chocolate and spice undertones" and other such crap. I CAN taste coffee and chocolate in some of the infused blends I smoke and definitely can testify that there are significant differences between the various non-infused blends. Up-market cigars are a whole 'nuther world compared to White Owls and Dutch Masters, just to name two cheap cigars. I'm not bein' a snob with that last, it's just true.
ss: I still have one of those aged sticks left, so we're not quite done. Yet.
Good on you for sticking it out!
ReplyDeleteIt was tough, Moogie.
ReplyDelete