Cigar Flavor Wheel: Tasting Notes, Defined

How do you use a cigar flavor wheel?

Start broad, then narrow. Ask which family the taste belongs to first: is it woody, sweet, spicy? Then look at the notes in that family and pick the closest one.

Don't hunt for every note in one cigar. Two or three clear ones per third is a good tasting. The rest is noise you talked yourself into.

Log what you find in the tasting journal. It uses the same note list, so the words mean the same thing next time.

Flavor is mostly smell

Your tongue reads five basic tastes. Everything else, cedar, cocoa, raisin, comes through the nose. Some of that smell arrives from the back of the mouth, up into the nasal passage. That route is called retronasal smell.

With a cigar, retrohaling pushes smoke out through the nose and sends far more aroma past those receptors. Go gently. A little smoke is plenty.

Every cigar tasting note, defined

49 notes in 10 families. The definitions are ours, written to describe what you'd notice, not to sound poetic.

Earth family

The ground floor of most cigars. Dark, dry, a little dusty.

Soil: Turned garden dirt after rain. Damp, dark and slightly sweet. The most common base note in darker cigars.
Mineral: Wet stone or chalk. Less a taste than a clean, flinty edge on the finish.
Hay: Dry cut grass that has sat in the sun. Light, dusty and a touch sweet, common in the first third.
Mushroom: Fresh mushrooms or forest floor. Savory and damp, darker than plain soil.
Peat: Smoky, boggy earth, the way an Islay whisky smells. Heavier and smokier than soil.

Wood family

Cedar first, then the heavier woods and the char that comes with heat.

Cedar: Pencil shavings or the inside of a humidor. Dry, aromatic and a little sharp. Often the first note people can name.
Oak: Barrel wood. Rounder and drier than cedar, with a faint vanilla edge.
Campfire: Wood smoke from an open fire. Shows up when the burn runs hot or the cigar is relit.
Toast: Bread pulled from the toaster a few seconds late. Dry, browned and slightly bitter.
Sawdust: Fresh-cut lumber. Raw, woody and a bit flat. Common in young or very dry cigars.

Spice family

Heat and prickle, mostly felt on the tongue and in the nose.

Black pepper: Cracked peppercorns. A prickle on the tongue and a sting through the nose on the retrohale.
Red pepper: Chili flake heat. Sharper and hotter than black pepper, felt at the back of the throat.
Cinnamon: Warm and sweet-spicy, like a cinnamon stick, not red-hot candy. Usually a light touch.
Nutmeg: Holiday spice. Warm, woody and soft, often mixed in with cream or sweet notes.
Clove: Numbing, medicinal warmth. A little goes a long way and it lingers on the finish.
Anise: Licorice or fennel seed. Sweet, cool and herbal at once.

Sweet family

Natural sugars in the leaf. Strongest in darker, longer-fermented wrappers.

Honey: Floral sweetness with a slightly waxy feel. Lighter than molasses.
Caramel: Cooked sugar with a buttery edge. Round and smooth, never sharp.
Molasses: Dark, thick sweetness with a bitter backbone. Common in maduro wrappers.
Brown sugar: Sweetness with a hint of caramel and earth. Softer than molasses.
Vanilla: Soft, creamy sweetness that smells more than it tastes. Often sits next to oak or cream.

Nut family

Roasted, oily and mellow. Usually a mid-palate note.

Almond: Toasted almond. Mild, slightly sweet and a touch bitter on the finish.
Cashew: Buttery and soft. The creamiest of the nut notes.
Peanut: Roasted peanuts or peanut shells. Savory and dry, a little earthy.
Walnut: Woody and tannic, with the faint bitterness of the skin.
Chestnut: Roasted chestnuts. Sweet, starchy and warm.

Coffee and cocoa family

Roasted, bitter-sweet and deep. The signature of many darker blends.

Espresso: Dark-roast coffee. Bitter, roasted and concentrated, felt at the back of the palate.
Café au lait: Coffee softened with milk. Roasted, but smooth and mellow.
Dark chocolate: Bittersweet cocoa with a dry finish. Rich, not sugary.
Milk chocolate: Sweet and creamy cocoa. Softer and rounder than dark chocolate.
Cocoa powder: Dry, dusty, unsweetened cocoa. Earthy and slightly chalky.

Fruit family

Mostly dried fruit, sweet and tangy. Fresh fruit is rare and delicate.

Raisin: Concentrated, sticky dried-grape sweetness with a little tang.
Fig: Dried fig. Jammy, earthy and seedy-sweet.
Dried cherry: Tart, dark fruit. A bright, sour edge inside the sweetness.
Citrus peel: Orange or lemon zest. Bright, oily and a little bitter. Lifts a heavy blend.
Plum: Dark stone fruit, sweet and slightly tart, like a prune but fresher.
Date: Very sweet, honeyed dried fruit with a toffee-like depth.

Floral and herbal family

Light, aromatic, easy to miss. Mostly found through the nose.

Floral: A general flower smell, like a vase of fresh flowers. Light and perfumed.
Black tea: Brewed tea leaves. Dry, slightly tannic and a little malty.
Mint: A cool lift on the palate or in the nose. Subtle, never toothpaste.
Herbal: Dried kitchen herbs such as thyme or sage. Green, savory and dry.
Grass: Fresh green grass, greener than hay. Can point to a young or under-aged leaf.

Leather and savory family

Rich, savory and animal. Heavier blends lean this way.

Leather: A worn leather jacket or saddle. Dry, rich and slightly tannic.
Barnyard: Stable, hay and animal. Funky, earthy and divisive. Some love it.
Savory: Meaty, brothy depth, the taste called umami. Fills the mouth more than it sharpens it.
Salt: A salty tang on the lips or tongue. Makes sweet notes taste sweeter.

Cream and bread family

Soft texture as much as taste. Common in milder, lighter-wrapped cigars.

Cream: Smooth, soft and round on the palate. As much a texture as a flavor.
Butter: Rich and slick, like melted butter. Coats the mouth.
Fresh bread: Warm yeasted dough or a bakery smell. Softer and less browned than toast.

Notes are comparisons, not ingredients

Nobody adds espresso to a traditional cigar. "Espresso" means the smoke reminds a taster of espresso. Fermentation, ageing and the leaf itself make those impressions.

Why do toast, coffee and roasted nuts sit near each other on so many wheels? In food, all three get their browned flavor from the same chemistry, the Maillard reaction. They share a family resemblance, so tasters reach for them together.

Strength and body aren't flavors at all. They're how hard the cigar hits and how heavy it feels. See strength vs body for the difference.

Tasting note questions people ask

What is a cigar flavor wheel?

A cigar flavor wheel is a chart that groups tasting notes into families, like earth, wood and spice, so you can move from a vague impression to a specific word. The idea comes from wine, where the aroma wheel was developed at UC Davis in 1984.

What are the most common cigar tasting notes?

Cedar, leather, earth, coffee, cocoa, black pepper and some kind of nut turn up again and again. They are a good starting vocabulary before you hunt for the rarer fruit and floral notes.

Why can't I taste the notes other people describe?

Most flavor is smell, and much of a cigar's aroma reaches you through the back of the nose. Try a slow retrohale, and compare with a real reference, like a cedar pencil or a square of dark chocolate, before you light up.

Do cigars have chocolate or coffee added?

Traditional cigars do not. The tobacco leaf, its fermentation and its age produce those impressions. Infused or flavored cigars are a separate category, and they say so on the label.

Where the tasting science comes from

Retronasal smell, Wikipedia
Aroma wheel (Ann C. Noble, UC Davis, 1984), Wikipedia
Maillard reaction, Wikipedia

Cigar flavor wheel

Pick a family