Tasting-note clichés, and what to write instead
Every word below is true of half the cigars you have smoked. That is the problem.
A note is useful when it distinguishes. Words that fit almost every cigar cost you nothing to write and give you nothing to read, which is why old notes so often turn out to be empty.
The four worst offenders
- Complex. Means "several things happened". Write which two.
- Balanced. A conclusion. Write what was in balance with what.
- Smooth. Usually means "did not hurt". Say whether that was the draw, the strength or the finish.
- Well-constructed. Only worth writing when it is not true.
What to write instead
Replace judgements with observations, and adjectives with comparisons:
- Not "complex" but "went from bread to black pepper around the halfway point".
- Not "balanced" but "sweetness held up against the pepper instead of disappearing".
- Not "smooth" but "no scratch at the back of the throat even in the last third".
- Not "earthy" but "like the smell of a garden centre" — silly, specific, and you will know exactly what you meant.
Do this: read your last five notes and cross out every word that could apply to any cigar. What is left is your actual record; if there is nothing left, that is worth knowing before you write the next fifty.
On flavour names generally
Naming flavours is a party trick with real limits: two people rarely agree, and your own vocabulary drifts. It is still worth doing, because reaching for a word forces you to pay attention — but the note that survives is the comparison, not the noun.
"Sweeter than the Padrón" beats "notes of dried fig" in five years, and takes less effort tonight.
The most useful sentence of all
"I would have paid twice this" or "I would not buy it again at this price" says more about a cigar than any flavour list, because it is a decision rather than a description — and decisions are what you go back to your notes for.
One field, and nothing to fill in for the sake of it
An entry in Ligero is the cigar, a score out of ten and a single note field — no boxes demanding an adjective for every category. What you type is what you actually noticed, which is the only part worth reading a year later.
Read next
Writing a tasting note you will still understand next year
Three sentences beat three paragraphs, if they are the right three.
Tasting & notesBody, strength and intensity are three different things
Weight in the mouth, nicotine in the blood, volume of flavour. Keep them apart and your notes get useful.
Buying & authenticityReading a cigar band
Brand, line, factory marks and the words that are there purely to sell.