Guide
Cigar journal template: what to write down after every smoke
6 min read
A cigar journal turns “I think I liked that one” into knowing what you like and why. It does not need to be long: the right eight or nine fields, filled in within a few minutes of finishing, are worth more than a page of prose. Here is a template you can copy into a notebook, a note app or a spreadsheet.
Why keep a cigar journal
- Memory fades fast. After a dozen cigars the names blur together; after fifty, so do the flavors.
- Patterns appear. Notes show which wrappers, countries and flavor families you rate highly, which tells you what to buy next.
- Your palate gets sharper. Having to write down a flavor makes you look for it, and naming it gets easier each time.
- Shopping gets easier. Your own record of what a cigar cost, where you bought it and whether you would buy it again.
The template
| Field | What to write | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Cigar | Brand, line and size (vitola), e.g. robusto 5 × 50 | The same line tastes different in different sizes |
| Wrapper and origin | Connecticut, Habano, Maduro…; country | The wrapper drives much of the flavor; see the wrapper guide |
| Date and setting | Where, time of day, what you ate | A cigar after dinner and one at noon are not the same cigar |
| Drink | What you drank with it | Pairings can lift or flatten a cigar |
| Draw and burn | Draw: tight, balanced, easy. Burn: even, needed touch-ups, uneven | Construction problems explain many bad experiences |
| Flavors by third | Two or three flavor families per third | Shows how the cigar develops; three words beat ten |
| Strength | Mild, medium, full: how it felt to you | Your own tolerance, not the label |
| Rating | 1–5 or 1–10, and one sentence why | The rating plus flavors is what builds a profile |
| Buy again? | Yes, no, maybe; price and shop | The practical bottom line |
Cigar
- What to write
- Brand, line and size (vitola), e.g. robusto 5 × 50
- Why it matters
- The same line tastes different in different sizes
Wrapper and origin
- What to write
- Connecticut, Habano, Maduro…; country
- Why it matters
- The wrapper drives much of the flavor; see the wrapper guide
Date and setting
- What to write
- Where, time of day, what you ate
- Why it matters
- A cigar after dinner and one at noon are not the same cigar
Drink
- What to write
- What you drank with it
- Why it matters
- Pairings can lift or flatten a cigar
Draw and burn
- What to write
- Draw: tight, balanced, easy. Burn: even, needed touch-ups, uneven
- Why it matters
- Construction problems explain many bad experiences
Flavors by third
- What to write
- Two or three flavor families per third
- Why it matters
- Shows how the cigar develops; three words beat ten
Strength
- What to write
- Mild, medium, full: how it felt to you
- Why it matters
- Your own tolerance, not the label
Rating
- What to write
- 1–5 or 1–10, and one sentence why
- Why it matters
- The rating plus flavors is what builds a profile
Buy again?
- What to write
- Yes, no, maybe; price and shop
- Why it matters
- The practical bottom line
Keep the vocabulary short. The twelve families in the cigar flavor profile guide, wood, soil, leather, toast, coffee, chocolate, nut, sweet, cream, fruit, grass and pepper, cover nearly every note you will meet.
A filled-in example
- Cigar: Macanudo Café Hyde Park, 5½ × 49
- Wrapper and origin: Connecticut Shade; Dominican Republic
- Date and setting: Saturday afternoon on the terrace, after lunch
- Drink: black coffee
- Draw and burn: balanced draw; even burn, no touch-ups
- First third: cream, nut. Second: cream, wood. Final: wood, a little toast
- Strength: mild
- Rating: 3/5. Smooth and pleasant, but nothing changed much; good with coffee
- Buy again? Maybe, as a morning cigar
Tips that keep the habit alive
- Write during the cigar, not the next day. A note per third takes ten seconds; the overall verdict a minute at the end.
- Photograph the band. It saves typing and settles arguments about which line it was.
- Do not wait for an expert vocabulary. “Woody, a bit sweet” is a perfectly good note.
- Rate consistently. Decide what a 3 means for you and stick to it; the comparison between your own ratings is what counts.
- Look back every ten cigars. Which flavor families keep showing up in your top-rated ones? That is your profile.
Paper, spreadsheet or app
A notebook is pleasant and needs no battery; a spreadsheet lets you sort and average. A journal app does the analysis for you. aficio follows this same template: scan the band to fill in the cigar, tap flavor families third by third while you smoke, note draw, burn and drink, and rate at the end. The ratings build a twelve-axis flavor profile and give every cigar in the catalog a match % against your taste. For a comparison of the options, see the best cigar journal apps.
Questions
- What should I write in a cigar journal?
- The cigar and size, the wrapper, when and with what drink you smoked it, how the draw and burn were, two or three flavors per third, how strong it felt, a rating with one sentence why, and whether you would buy it again.
- How do you describe cigar flavors as a beginner?
- Start with broad families instead of specific notes: wood, soil, leather, toast, coffee, chocolate, nut, sweet, cream, fruit, grass and pepper. Name the family first; the specific note comes with practice.
- Is there an app for a cigar journal?
- Yes, several. aficio follows the same fields as this template, adds band scanning and turns your ratings into a flavor profile; the guide to cigar journal apps compares the main options honestly.