Cigar Rating Experiment – Part XV

A bundle of Flor de Oliva Gold Toro cigars have now been aging in a properly maintained humidor for 11 months, while a bundle of "Brand B" cigars were added six months ago. These cigars are being taste tested as part of an ongoing experiment to determine how aging, in addition to other factors, affect the taste and enjoyment of cigars. Since the Flor de Oliva Gold cigar is mild-to-medium in flavor and strength, the drink chosen to accompany the cigar was a Warsteiner Premium Verum. One of the benefits of smoking a milder cigar is that they will not overpower most accompanying libations, like a German beer. Compared to the tests conducted several months ago, the flavor of these cigars have really mellowed. There was not a huge change since last month, but the taste was just good enough to rate it as a low 4, as opposed to a high 3 ½. The end of July will mark one year of aging these cigars, and the test will be concluded.

The "Brand B" cigars have been inconsistent, not only within the same bundle, but also within a second test bundle. "Brand B" cigars are less expensive than the Flor de Oliva's, and as a brand, are not comparable in the consistency of flavor or quality of construction (not the best choice for an aging experiment, but they do illustrate other points). For the price, at least some of the cigars in both of the "Brand B" bundles can be considered bargains. However, after considering the bad to mediocre cigars in both bundles, I would conclude that it is worth paying a higher price for cigar brands that are more consistent. Stay tuned for our next and final installment in this series of cigar taste tests (with an ending that might not compare with the final episode of the Sopran…).

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^{Illustration: 2007 © Gary Manelski Licensed to About.com, Inc.}

Here are the results of previous taste tests,

• Part I – Right Out of the Package (no aging)



• Part II – Aged One Week



• Part III – Aged Two Weeks



• Part IV – Aged Three Weeks



• Part V – Aged Four Weeks



• Part VI – Aged Two Months



• Part VII – Aged Three Months



• Part VIII – Aged Four Months



• Part IX – Aged Five Months



• Part X – Aged Six Months



• Part XI – Aged Seven Months



• Part XII – Aged Eight Months



• Part XIII – Aged Nine Months



• Part XIV – Aged Ten Months