The sour taste in cigars

Talking about the sour taste in cigars might evoke some mixed reactions among cigar lovers. This is why we want to write more specifically about this taste.

Why and how do we sense the sour taste?

The sour?taste,?like sweet, bitter, salty and savory (umami), is a basic taste. It was first found in ancient fish: it is necessary for the fish survival to sense acidity in the ocean. For primates, sensing acidity in fruits was (and for a few still is) a way to check if they were safe to eat. For us, the eating and drinking behaviors evolved overtime and today more people tend to like food and drinks with some sourness. It seems that this is due to the fact that, as we are no longer able to produce vitamin C (ascorbic acid), liking acidic foods acts as a reminder for us to take some.

There is strong agreement among the?scientific community?that the sour taste response results from an acid compound reaching the taste receptor cells and releasing hydrogen ions inside the cells. The sour taste is not only sensed on the sides of the tongue, as the?debunked tongue myth?used to say.

The sour taste in cigars

The extent to which we can perceive the sour taste, in cigars and in any other product, depends on our own sensitivity and on the intensity of the sour stimulus. While it is normally not an off-flavor in cigars, when in excess and resulting in an unbalanced cigar, it may represent some undesired outcomes from the tobacco processing, for example the fermentation.

Many cigar lovers may get used to sensing off-flavors in cigars, without being able to connect them to defects in the production process. When an unbalanced cigar is liked, the popular term to describe the situation is “personal preference”, which leaves room for all sorts of expressions of personal taste.

On the contrary, we may simply not like a cigar that displays a little bit of sourness, even if this is in perfect balance with other descriptors. Just like some of us like the lambic, the gueuze or some red ales and others hate them.

Although you might say you never came across a sour cigar, sourness is found in approximately 40% of the premium cigars (over 2000) profiled thanks to the Cigar Sense panel.

For the seekers among you,?here are the tobaccos?that presented sourness and at which levels. Despite some presence of the sour taste, most of the cigars containing these tobaccos are rather balanced and recommendable to our members based on their personal preferences.

Some confusions

Another important aspect of the cigar tasting is the confusion of many people in differentiating aromas, such as citrus, from the sour taste. This is important, especially if the smoker has high sensitivity for sourness and likes citrus fruits...

Another frequent confusion is the?sour-bitter phenomenon.

Some exercises

At this point you might ask yourself: how do I train to recognize the sour taste from the citrus aroma and from the bitter taste? Here are a few very easy exercises, as a refresher for our seekers:

1. how to differentiate aromas from tastes
2. how to differentiate different tastes

Next steps

You can easily find the cigars that present the appropriate level of sourness for you. Here is the link to?log-in or sign-up for free.