I came home from work tonight looking forward to a nice smoke and a martini. Pulled an LVH (lonsdale size) out of the humi and got it going. About 10 puffs into it I put it down for good. I guess this brand just doesn't do it for me. Fifth one I've smoked, same reaction.

Next, I sparked up a Purisco maduro robusto. This is the second of these I've tried, loved the first one but this one just tastes blah. Four hits into it and it takes up residence in the ashtray next to the LVH. (sigh)

I sometimes find that if you hang in there with a cigar it gets much better as the flavors intensify. Sometimes though, things just don't change at all and it is a completely wasted smoking experience. Tonight I just don't have the patience.

Back to the humi's........hmmmmm.........

chris

I keep on trying until I know for sure I can't get anything through it. I usually break out the skewers and try and poke a hole through it. If that doesn't work I will put it down...

Man, you need to smoke better cigars!

I'm sure the Bad Frog or the Lone Wolf will make up for it. ;>)

Seriously, it could be something you've eaten, it could be you're getting a cold or having some allergy onset, both of which mess me up for tasting cigars. I don't know, some days I can't find one that tastes right, either.

I try to reserve judgement on a cigar at least until I am halfway through. I find that most cigars don't start tasting like they should until about 1/2 inch to an inch into the cigar and lots of them change flavor profile as you go through them.

BUT--some cigars just suck. (they are known as bohemians, bad frogs, lone wolfs, etc.)

Yeah, I really should smoke better cigars. Sometimes I do, sometimes I have to smoke what I have.

I agree that often a cigar doesn't take off till the second half but sometimes you can tell early on that it just isn't worth hanging in there.

After those two duds I smoked a wonderful Villazon Super Premium Second, a maduro robusto. These are great bang for the buck and very consistent. Currently I'm halfway through an El Credito Apprentice Rolled medium (got three bundles of these) and loving it as usual. One of the greatest low-dough cigars I've found yet. More like a La Gloria than the El Credito regular line by a long shot. Gotta love 'em!

chris

Interestingly I was discussing this very topic with a friend last night. We both agree that we don't like the first 1/4 to 1/2 inch of most cigars. For instance I love Gurkhas, every one of them. But I want to put it down during the first 1/2 inch of it, it just tastes bad, to me, but after that, man the goodness just rolls on in. However the super smokes tend to take off right from the start, like the Gurkha Legend, for example.

I've done this too, and I give up easily. If I spark one up, and for whatever reason, I'm not enjoying it, I put it down and go get another one. It may be from a perfectly fine brand/box and one that I enjoy, but from time to time, perhaps it's the day, or the particular stick, or my mood, or whatever, but hey, it's all about relaxing and enjoying a fine cigar, so why smoke one if it's not blowing your skirt up?

Agreed........since taste tends to be a very subjective thing, it stands to reason that it may very well be influenced by mood, circumstances, frame-of-mind, etc. I have smoked the same cigar that tasted great on some occasions, and I just left in the ashtray unsmoked on others. And if any type of cold, sinus infection, allergy, etc., is thrown into the pot, you never know what you may get, in terms of taste............Just my thoughts.............

I have tried a few of the Puriscos and didn't care for them. However the same company also makes the cumbre and colinas maduros, cheap cigars, which I really like. The colinas are described as dog rockets in the cibid description.

I've come to the realization that everyones taste is different and can change from time to time. Expensive cigars don't always mean you'll like 'em.

Most of the time I dont give up easy, I did have a really bad day a wihle back though. Lit up a juan lopez (isom) and tasted like sour grass, tried at it for about 5 mins, and couldn't take anymore. Went up and got a jose piedra cazadore, had about the same reaction and was like sucking through a cardboard tube, no resistance whatsoever. Went up and got a CAO black, had a bad cut as I couldn't find my real cutter that morning, started coming apart so I tossed it. Went and got another, finally got a decent gar with a decent cut. Didn't taste great but it tasted ok (loved the first one I had). So I decided lets bring out the big guns, its a nice day and I want to really enjoy a gar. Busted out a VSG beli and lit it. Had a sour awefull burnt taste to it. I couldn't believe it. Sucked on that thing for 10 mins, tried letting it go out and relighting after that, nothing could fix it. 10 buck gar, barely over an inch smoked and I dropped in in the ashtray with 3 other unsmoked gars.

Thats a bad day and after that I finally gave up.

But in most cases ill give a gar at least halfway unless its really bad.

Since I work hard to be able to afford cigars I work hard to enjoy the ones I have. I rarely give up on one because of taste ( and since I smoke some pretty cheap stuff, thats saying something) but if its an issue of contruction, I will ditch it a lot quicker. There's nothing worse than having to spend an hour trying to get your cigar to function properly so that you can relax.

on the same note, I bought a LGC series R that was pretty thrashed for about a buck at the local shop. It took some work to get through it all, but man oh man was that thing tasty