Cigar Sense of Taste: Exploring the Connection with Our Sense of Smell

At the end of the post comes the most important part for a cigar smoker, how we connect the flavors in a cigar to foods, nature and drinks. It’s about the amygdala in the brain that connects flavors with memories and emotions.

Table of Contents

The Sense of Smell and Its Importance

Our sense of smell helps us decide what to eat or avoid, such as detecting spoiled or moldy food. How we perceive scents varies between individuals and can be shaped by past experiences.

How it Works

In the upper nasal cavity, olfactory cells dangle from the olfactory nerve and are surrounded by supportive cells and mucus. Smell particles, which are tiny gases, must dissolve in this mucus before activating the olfactory cells. Signals from these cells travel to the brain’s olfactory center, where smells are identified.

A Sensitive System

The olfactory system is delicate and can be affected by nasal swelling or injury. A cold may temporarily block your sense of smell, head trauma can sometimes cause permanent damage.

The Role of the Amygdala

The amygdala, part of the brain’s limbic system, processes emotions and links them to smells. It helps connect scents with memories and feelings, such as associating the smell of cookies with comfort and nostalgia. This emotional connection makes smell an essential part of our experiences.

It’s funny how you can sometimes draw parallels between the flavors in a cigar and certain dishes. I think it has to do with the amygdala. The flavors that are combined in a cigar hit the amygdala in similar ways as a scent can, even if it’s on a smaller scale. We take our thoughts to places we’ve been, flavors we associate with joy and emotions we’ve experienced. That’s why we explain the flavors in different ways.

Take chocolate as an example that most people like, chocolate induces endorphins and serotonin which give us happy feelings. I think the right combination in the cigar tricks the amygdala into thinking we are eating chocolate and draws parallels to chocolate cake. Chocolate is somthing most people have fond memories of. A feeling of pleasure and relaxation comes for most people when they feel a slightly chocolatey nuance.

Fruitiness often has a sweet flavor note and is often associated with summer. Fruitiness can trigger the amygdalas thoughts of great summer memories that many people have.

Hay and grass can trigger thoughts of childhood, summer meadows and vacations for many. All the flavors that you associate with those moments. Those thoughts might remind you of dark berries and the flavors come out more easily in a cigar because the brain automatically starts looking for them.

Why is the amygdala one of the most important parts of the brain for a cigar smoker?

By drawing parallels between flavors to good memories, it is easier to remember flavors. By remembering flavors, we train our taste buds and that way it is easier to find them in a cigar and enjoy them fully. Try the next time you smoke a chocolatey cigar to think of a good memory with friends or family you had, or a fruity sweet cigar to think of a happy summer memory, I think you will feel the flavors more prominently and in more nuances. It is fun to how you can develop and enjoy your cigar smoking more by training your brain and not just your taste buds.

You could say that the flavors of the cigar trigger memories thanks to the amygdala and make you search more for the positive moments you have experienced, and in that way, you search for those flavors in the cigar more intensely.