moki
el Presidente
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2003
- Messages
- 9,418
The Evil Dr. Moki's Group Blind Taste Test #2
Well, I ain't always right but I've never been wrong.
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song.
Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Summary
Ten brave souls have been chosen to receive eleven unbanded cigars of various origins, price points, and quality. The cigars will be naked (stripped of any bands/cedar), in individual numbered plastic baggies. The participants have paid $100 each to join in the group blind taste test, which nominally covers the cigars, and shipping... some cigars will be worth more than $10 each, some will be worth less.
Video of the Group Blind Taste Test #2 cigars (QuickTime required)
They will then smoke these cigars in numerical order at the rate of 1 cigar every 5 days (on average), and PM their blind review write-ups to me, adhering to the "Review Guidelines" (see below).
I will then format, collate, and tally the results, and post them to this thread once I have received all reviews for a particular cigar.
The Participants
The following brave and adventurous souls will be participating in this blind taste test:
√ ELittle - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8855 - paid!
√ insight - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8862 - paid!
√ Kingantz - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8879 - paid!
√ bfisher88 - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8886 - paid!
√ enerjay - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8893 - paid
√ Napa_Smokes - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8909 - paid!
√ jfields - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8916 - paid!
√ grateful1 - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8923 - paid!
√ BlindedByScience - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8930 - paid!
√ Seanholio - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8947 - paid!
I will note when payment has been received for each participant above.
√ = cigars have been received in good order.
The Goal
The journey is the reward! The goal here is to enjoy some fine cigars, and see what the blind reviewers think of said cigars when the are unencumbered by their preconceptions. I will also see if we can extrapolate any trends in terms of what cigars were the most liked, whether cost, origin, etc. has anything to do with enjoyment, etc.
The Reviews
Once you receive your cigars, start smoking! Some participants may only be able to smoke on weekends, so smoke 1 or 2 each weekend if that's the case.
Do not post your reviews in this thread! Instead, PM your blind tasting reviews to me, and ensure they adhere to the "Review Guidelines" (see below).
Since the reviews will be PM'd to me, you can smoke them as quickly as you like. If you know you will be away/busy at some point during the test, just smoke and review a few ahead of time, no worries.
Just please do not hold the test group up, because I will not post cigar reviews until all 10 have been received by me. I want to do it this way so that I can format the reviews to be consistent, as well as summarize the results in a meaningful way.
I would like to post a new cigar blind review at least every 3rd day from the start of the test.
Review Guidelines
What you're reviewing is the taste of the cigar. I have not clipped these cigars (to avoid accidental damage), but please do not examine the wrapper, measure the cigar, compare it to other cigars, look up vitolas, etc. I realize the temptation is great, but just light the cigar up and smoke it, so as not to bias the test.
As was stated, this blind taste test is going to be more about taste/enjoyment than anything else. If you want to guess what the cigar is, you certainly can, but that's tangental to the goals of the blind taste test.
Instead, I'd like you to rate from 1-10 your enjoyment of each cigar in 1/3rds, as well as write up your overall experience with the cigar. To that end, each review that is submitted to me via PM must contain the following:
Cigar #: the number of the cigar you smoked
First 1/3rd: 1-10, 10 being the best... how good was the first 1/3rd of this cigar?
Middle 1/3rd: 1-10, 10 being the best... how good was the middle 1/3rd of this cigar?
Final 1/3rd: 1-10, 10 being the best... how good was the final 1/3rd of this cigar?
Summary: be as long or as short as you like, describing what you tasted when you smoked the cigar, your impressions of it, etc.
Price: how much do you think this cigar sells for?
So that we're all on the same page, here are some general guidelines on the 1-10 ratings above:
10 - sublime, flawless, the best cigar I've ever smoked, I'd throw my brother under a bus for another one
9 - fantastic cigar, I would compromise my morals to obtain more
8 - excellent cigar, I would stock up on these cigars to ensure I have a constant supply
7 - good cigar, I'd buy more of these cigars and smoke them regularly
6 - pretty good cigar, I'd smoke it if it was given to me, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it
5 - okay cigar, enjoyable enough, but nothing special
4 - not my thing; it didn't make me want to barf, but I didn't enjoy it either
3 - not a good cigar, I'd sooner not smoke a cigar at all than smoke this cigar
2 - no thanks... I'd rather lick an ashtray than smoke this cigar again
1 - vomit... I'd rather lick an ashtray that my friend vomited in than smoke this cigar again
I will total up the average of each of the 1/3rd ratings to get your final X/10 rating for each cigar.
Review Schedule
To keep this blind taste test moving along, here are the target dates for having each cigar smoked and a review that adheres to the "Review Guidlines" sent to me via PM by. Remember that you can "smoke ahead" and submit reviews to me via PM prior to these dates if you want or need to, so ensure that you're not lagging behind.
The cigars were well packed, you don't need to let them "rest" in your humidor before starting to smoke 'em!
Cigar #1 -- La Flor Dominicana Coronado Corona Especial (2008) -- Rating: 5.5/10 -- reviewed on Friday, February 6th - (√ 10/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #2 -- Pepin Garcia "My Father" Robusto (2008) -- Rating: 5.8/10 -- reviewed on Wednesday, February 11th - (√ 10/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #3 -- Cuesta-Rey Stanford's Cameroon Reserve Churchill No.1 (2008) -- Rating 6.7/10 -- reviewed on Monday, February 16th - (√ 10/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #4 -- AF 858 Natural (2008) -- Rating: 5.4/10 -- reviewed on Saturday, February 21st - (√ 9/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #5 -- Bolivar Gold Medal (2007) -- Rating: 6.9/10 -- reviewed on Thursday, February 26th - (√ 10/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #6 -- Davidoff Millennium Blend Lancero (2008) -- Rating: 7.24/10 -- reviewed on Tuesday, March 3rd - (√ 9/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #7 -- Padrón 3000 Natural (2008) -- Rating: 4.5/10 -- reviewed on Sunday, March 8th - (√ 7/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #8 -- OR AF King B (2005) -- Raiting: 5.6/10 -- reviewed on Friday, March 13th - (√ 8/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #9 -- Juan Lopez Obus RE France (2005) -- Rating: 6.1/10 --reviewed on Wednesday, March 18th - (√ 9/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #10 -- AF Añejo No.46 (2008) -- Rating: 7.6/10 -- reviewed on Monday, March 23rd - (√ 9/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
Cigar #11 -- Pepin Garcia "My Father" Robusto (2008) -- Rating: 5.7/10 -- reviewed on Saturday, March 28th - (√ 9/10:ELittle, insight, Kingantz, bfisher88, enerjay, Napa_Smokes, jfields, grateful1, BlindedByScience, Seanholio)
I added an extra cigar in... though I stated that we'd be doing 10 cigars in this blind taste test, I decided to make it 11. I don't think anyone will complain.
Final Ratings
1) Rating: 7.60/10 -- AF Añejo No.46 (2008)
2) Rating: 7.24/10 -- Davidoff Millennium Blend Lancero (2008)
3) Rating: 6.90/10 -- Bolivar Gold Medal (2007)
4) Rating: 6.70/10 -- Cuesta-Rey Stanford's Cameroon Reserve Churchill No.1 (2008)
5) Rating: 6.10/10 -- Juan Lopez Obus RE France (2005)
6) Rating: 5.80/10 -- Pepin Garcia "My Father" Robusto (2008) (#2)
7) Rating: 5.70/10 -- Pepin Garcia "My Father" Robusto (2008) (#11)
8) Rating: 5.60/10 -- OR AF King B (2005)
9) Rating: 5.50/10 -- La Flor Dominicana Coronado Corona Especial (2008)
10) Rating: 5.40/10 -- AF 858 Natural (2008)
11) Rating: 4.50/10 -- Padrón 3000 Natural (2008)
Enjoy!
This blind taste test is meant to be fun and educational, both for participants, and for onlookers. I leave you with the following links, which are chock-full of advice that you may choose to take to heart or ignore at your leisure:
Cigar Tasting 101 -- some notes on how to taste cigars, as well as a "tasting wheel" that may assist you in verbalizing taste profiles
What affects the taste of a cigar? -- my unabashedly biased opinions on what can affect the taste of a cigar... with copious links to external information sources
That's it... let's get it on!
Well, I ain't always right but I've never been wrong.
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song.
Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Summary
Ten brave souls have been chosen to receive eleven unbanded cigars of various origins, price points, and quality. The cigars will be naked (stripped of any bands/cedar), in individual numbered plastic baggies. The participants have paid $100 each to join in the group blind taste test, which nominally covers the cigars, and shipping... some cigars will be worth more than $10 each, some will be worth less.
Video of the Group Blind Taste Test #2 cigars (QuickTime required)
They will then smoke these cigars in numerical order at the rate of 1 cigar every 5 days (on average), and PM their blind review write-ups to me, adhering to the "Review Guidelines" (see below).
I will then format, collate, and tally the results, and post them to this thread once I have received all reviews for a particular cigar.
The Participants
The following brave and adventurous souls will be participating in this blind taste test:
√ ELittle - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8855 - paid!
√ insight - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8862 - paid!
√ Kingantz - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8879 - paid!
√ bfisher88 - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8886 - paid!
√ enerjay - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8893 - paid
√ Napa_Smokes - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8909 - paid!
√ jfields - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8916 - paid!
√ grateful1 - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8923 - paid!
√ BlindedByScience - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8930 - paid!
√ Seanholio - DC# 0306 2400 0000 6841 8947 - paid!
I will note when payment has been received for each participant above.
√ = cigars have been received in good order.
The Goal
The journey is the reward! The goal here is to enjoy some fine cigars, and see what the blind reviewers think of said cigars when the are unencumbered by their preconceptions. I will also see if we can extrapolate any trends in terms of what cigars were the most liked, whether cost, origin, etc. has anything to do with enjoyment, etc.
The Reviews
Once you receive your cigars, start smoking! Some participants may only be able to smoke on weekends, so smoke 1 or 2 each weekend if that's the case.
Do not post your reviews in this thread! Instead, PM your blind tasting reviews to me, and ensure they adhere to the "Review Guidelines" (see below).
Since the reviews will be PM'd to me, you can smoke them as quickly as you like. If you know you will be away/busy at some point during the test, just smoke and review a few ahead of time, no worries.
Just please do not hold the test group up, because I will not post cigar reviews until all 10 have been received by me. I want to do it this way so that I can format the reviews to be consistent, as well as summarize the results in a meaningful way.
I would like to post a new cigar blind review at least every 3rd day from the start of the test.
Review Guidelines
What you're reviewing is the taste of the cigar. I have not clipped these cigars (to avoid accidental damage), but please do not examine the wrapper, measure the cigar, compare it to other cigars, look up vitolas, etc. I realize the temptation is great, but just light the cigar up and smoke it, so as not to bias the test.
As was stated, this blind taste test is going to be more about taste/enjoyment than anything else. If you want to guess what the cigar is, you certainly can, but that's tangental to the goals of the blind taste test.
Instead, I'd like you to rate from 1-10 your enjoyment of each cigar in 1/3rds, as well as write up your overall experience with the cigar. To that end, each review that is submitted to me via PM must contain the following:
Cigar #: the number of the cigar you smoked
First 1/3rd: 1-10, 10 being the best... how good was the first 1/3rd of this cigar?
Middle 1/3rd: 1-10, 10 being the best... how good was the middle 1/3rd of this cigar?
Final 1/3rd: 1-10, 10 being the best... how good was the final 1/3rd of this cigar?
Summary: be as long or as short as you like, describing what you tasted when you smoked the cigar, your impressions of it, etc.
Price: how much do you think this cigar sells for?
So that we're all on the same page, here are some general guidelines on the 1-10 ratings above:
10 - sublime, flawless, the best cigar I've ever smoked, I'd throw my brother under a bus for another one
9 - fantastic cigar, I would compromise my morals to obtain more
8 - excellent cigar, I would stock up on these cigars to ensure I have a constant supply
7 - good cigar, I'd buy more of these cigars and smoke them regularly
6 - pretty good cigar, I'd smoke it if it was given to me, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it
5 - okay cigar, enjoyable enough, but nothing special
4 - not my thing; it didn't make me want to barf, but I didn't enjoy it either
3 - not a good cigar, I'd sooner not smoke a cigar at all than smoke this cigar
2 - no thanks... I'd rather lick an ashtray than smoke this cigar again
1 - vomit... I'd rather lick an ashtray that my friend vomited in than smoke this cigar again
I will total up the average of each of the 1/3rd ratings to get your final X/10 rating for each cigar.
Review Schedule
To keep this blind taste test moving along, here are the target dates for having each cigar smoked and a review that adheres to the "Review Guidlines" sent to me via PM by. Remember that you can "smoke ahead" and submit reviews to me via PM prior to these dates if you want or need to, so ensure that you're not lagging behind.
The cigars were well packed, you don't need to let them "rest" in your humidor before starting to smoke 'em!
Cigar #1 -- La Flor Dominicana Coronado Corona Especial (2008) -- Rating: 5.5/10 -- reviewed on Friday, February 6th - (√ 10/10:
Cigar #2 -- Pepin Garcia "My Father" Robusto (2008) -- Rating: 5.8/10 -- reviewed on Wednesday, February 11th - (√ 10/10:
Cigar #3 -- Cuesta-Rey Stanford's Cameroon Reserve Churchill No.1 (2008) -- Rating 6.7/10 -- reviewed on Monday, February 16th - (√ 10/10:
Cigar #4 -- AF 858 Natural (2008) -- Rating: 5.4/10 -- reviewed on Saturday, February 21st - (√ 9/10:
Cigar #5 -- Bolivar Gold Medal (2007) -- Rating: 6.9/10 -- reviewed on Thursday, February 26th - (√ 10/10:
Cigar #6 -- Davidoff Millennium Blend Lancero (2008) -- Rating: 7.24/10 -- reviewed on Tuesday, March 3rd - (√ 9/10:
Cigar #7 -- Padrón 3000 Natural (2008) -- Rating: 4.5/10 -- reviewed on Sunday, March 8th - (√ 7/10:
Cigar #8 -- OR AF King B (2005) -- Raiting: 5.6/10 -- reviewed on Friday, March 13th - (√ 8/10:
Cigar #9 -- Juan Lopez Obus RE France (2005) -- Rating: 6.1/10 --reviewed on Wednesday, March 18th - (√ 9/10:
Cigar #10 -- AF Añejo No.46 (2008) -- Rating: 7.6/10 -- reviewed on Monday, March 23rd - (√ 9/10:
Cigar #11 -- Pepin Garcia "My Father" Robusto (2008) -- Rating: 5.7/10 -- reviewed on Saturday, March 28th - (√ 9/10:
I added an extra cigar in... though I stated that we'd be doing 10 cigars in this blind taste test, I decided to make it 11. I don't think anyone will complain.
Final Ratings
1) Rating: 7.60/10 -- AF Añejo No.46 (2008)
2) Rating: 7.24/10 -- Davidoff Millennium Blend Lancero (2008)
3) Rating: 6.90/10 -- Bolivar Gold Medal (2007)
4) Rating: 6.70/10 -- Cuesta-Rey Stanford's Cameroon Reserve Churchill No.1 (2008)
5) Rating: 6.10/10 -- Juan Lopez Obus RE France (2005)
6) Rating: 5.80/10 -- Pepin Garcia "My Father" Robusto (2008) (#2)
7) Rating: 5.70/10 -- Pepin Garcia "My Father" Robusto (2008) (#11)
8) Rating: 5.60/10 -- OR AF King B (2005)
9) Rating: 5.50/10 -- La Flor Dominicana Coronado Corona Especial (2008)
10) Rating: 5.40/10 -- AF 858 Natural (2008)
11) Rating: 4.50/10 -- Padrón 3000 Natural (2008)
Enjoy!
This blind taste test is meant to be fun and educational, both for participants, and for onlookers. I leave you with the following links, which are chock-full of advice that you may choose to take to heart or ignore at your leisure:
Cigar Tasting 101 -- some notes on how to taste cigars, as well as a "tasting wheel" that may assist you in verbalizing taste profiles
What affects the taste of a cigar? -- my unabashedly biased opinions on what can affect the taste of a cigar... with copious links to external information sources
That's it... let's get it on!
.
