Cigar Sense Podcast

It all started with a frustrated cigar lover in 1996. Listen to the company story and learn about water activity, how Boveda tests and expands its technology. Tim Swail is Co-founder and Executive VP of Sales and Marketing. Brian Rice is Director of R&D. If you wish to learn more, visit https://bovedainc.com/ .  — This podcast is brought to you by Cigar Sense founders and paid members. With the fr...

We propose you another sensory exercise that will help develop your palate. We'll talk more about how to differentiate aromas from tastes and tactile perceptions. The exercise can be very easily done at home. It will help you identify and distinguish the various basic tastes. You'll also hear about the Sour-Bitter confusion, of which it is good to be aware. Enjoy the exercise and let us know if it...

In episode 18 of Cigar Sense Podcast, we propose you a sensory exercise that will help develop your palate. We'll talk about how to differentiate aromas from tastes and tactile perceptions. This is an exercise you can very easily do at home, it's a classic in sensory education. You'll also discover that there are some challenges when experimenting with a cigar. The aromas and tastes confusion amon...

The Cigar Lover's Virtual Seminars is a gathering of many thought-leaders and experts in the premium cigar world. We are bringing together the best in the field all around the common thread of consumer learning to maximize the cigar experience. Doesn't knowledge make us love our fine cigars even more and make our hobby so much more interesting and intriguing? The Cigar Lover's Virtual Seminars wil...

In this episode, we explore with Glynn Loope, founding Executive Director of Cigar Rights of America, .the world of cigar advocacy, the current regulation challenges, but also international collaborations, including what might grant to the premium cigars the recognition they deserve. How you can support the fight for our cigar rights: If you are a US citizen, please visit https://www.cigarrights.o...

Recommendation engines are widely popular today and they can be of different types. Generic, crowd-source affinity based or personalized. Some of them are more relevant and accurate than others. With the consumer benefits in mind, David Wells - co-founder, vp and cto of Cigar Sense - explains this all. --- This podcast is brought to you by Cigar Sense founders and paid members. With the free Cigar...

Claudio Sgroi is master blender and president at Mombacho Cigars. Together with Claudio, we reviewed the key processes of the premium cigar production to identify critical risks of defects which, when it comes to enjoying our cigars, translate into loss in flavor or off-flavors. Off-flavors, differently from those flavors that we simply do not like, are those perceptions that are connected to unde...

Sam Reuter is Director, Global Brand Ambassador and Head of Product Development and Strategic Innovation at Oettinger Davidoff AG. Davidoff was number two at worldwide level in 2018 based on consumers' choices. Sam explains how Davidoff: leverages innovative blends as a competitive advantage focuses on consumer experience and on the understanding of what consumers like invests in education for ret...

The European Union is often seen as a driving force leading the efforts to impose excessive regulations. But in reality, in the case of extreme smoking bans, it's quite the opposite. Listen to learn: what causes unnecessary draconian smoking bans in Europe (such as bans to smoke in the open air, not only in parks, but even in your own yard) what costs and consequences excessive smoking bans have o...

Benoit Pirard is a young Belgian bio-engineer. He lives in Nicaragua, where he learned all about tobacco at Mombacho Cigars. He now grows and ferments cigar tobacco for the premium industry. In this episode, we discuss: - what it means to grow tobacco in Condega, Nicaragua, and apply environmentally sustainable methods - the imperative elements that need to be found in cigar tobacco - the off-flav...

Franca interviews Scott Pearce, Executive Director of the Premium Cigar Association (PCA), which is the oldest and largest USA organization dedicated to advocating for premium tobacconists and hosts the world's largest premium cigar trade show every year. The association was formerly known as IPCPR. We discussed about: Where PCA originates and the state of affairs The strategic shift of expanding...

David Wells is co-founder, vice president and CTO of Cigar Sense. He is a computer engineer and an experienced business consultant, currently coaching clients in the understanding and adoption of the Scaled Agile Framework. Thanks to his passionate proselytizing for Agility, our baby, Cigar Sense, is a great example of an agile business. David is Franca's partner in business and in life. The point...

C'est notre premier épisode en français (sauf intro et outro)! Franca parle avec Patrick Nikiema du goût des consommateurs de cigares en Afrique, d'un projet pour un « puro » africain, mais aussi de DJ Arafat, du coupé-décalé, de la sape et de nombreux autres sujets intéressants. Patrick Nikiema, fondateur de Lyon Cigares, considère le monde comme une grande savane, au sein de laquelle il est un l...

Where are women different from men when it is about enjoying or choosing to buy a cigar? Franca discusses with Giulia Remorino Ibry. Italian, she has a philosophical and psychoanalytical background. She has professional experience as clinician, professor and in the courts for the psychological protection of minors. Next to conferences, workshops, publications and her daily psychotherapy work, she...

What could be the impact on the premium cigar industry if our handcrafted agricultural products were recognized globally as an intangible cultural heritage to be protected?   Would that lead to a more clear definition and protected status for premium cigars, through the voice of the wealth of knowledge and skills that are transmitted from one generation to the other?   And would the social and eco...

Cigar reviews : many don't make sense for consumers. Did you ever try to justify your friend reviewer with "we don't have the same palate" or even with "cigar samples are never the same"? Why are cigar ratings often useless to consumers? What consumer questions do cigar reviews need to answer?    What are the best tools to ensure that cigar reviews are objective and don't overlook the consumer exp...

Franca shares her inner-view on the real hack to finally be heard as a consumer, the secret to finally finding on the market those cigars that you have been desiring. What is sensory analysis, why is its importance growing and how is it organized? Who can benefit from it and what drives consumers to get to know the sensory aspects of premium cigars? You can learn more about sensory analysis at cig...

It's a concern for all fine cigar lovers: premium cigars may disappear from the earth. In addition to being active in grassroots movements for our cigar rights, what can be done to protect our cigars? What could be the impact on the premium cigar industry if our handcrafted agricultural products were recognized globally as an intangible cultural heritage to be protected?   Would that lead to a mor...

Franca shares her inner-view on the gourmet perspective. Necessity vs. luxury, abundance vs. scarcity, cultural exchanges and experience economy, connecting the sensory world to cigar knowledge, conforming vs. differentiating our palate, elitism, leisure and human rights. What happens if consumers are informed - not only about how fine cigars are produced, not only about their blends, not only abo...

In this short introductory podcast I want to share what you can expect from this show. I invite you to make it your show by providing your comments, suggestions and feedback. You can learn more about me at cigarsense.com . I hope you'll keep following my show. Connect with me: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn