THE MULTI-SENSORY ORCHESTRA
BY REINHARD POHOREC
Delicate strings, a mellow oboe, accompanied by earthy tones of the cellos and contrabasses: like a brightly aromatic Connecticut Shade from Ecuador caressing the senses, peppery pungent filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, lavishly dressed in the lively piquancy from a Mata Fina Maduro wrapper, accented by a crescendo of Ligero or with gentle notes of Dominican Seco leaves.
A cigar is never just a cigar. It is a holistic experience, tickling all your sensory receptors, a mythical moment of indulgence and contemplation. The experience starts with perception through our senses. These senses are magnificent tools, gifted to us from birth. Yet they mostly run unconsciously in the background of the everyday noise – like a system program of a laptop that must ensure the overall performance without pushing itself into the foreground like a pop-up window.
Like every complex apparatus, the sensory system is delicately intertwined and interconnected, the instruments of our multi-sensory orchestra. Just like a perfect cigar, only when these individual components are perfectly conducted, the delightful symphony of human perception will unfold.
"Just like a perfect cigar, only when these individual components are perfectly conducted, the delightful symphony of human perception will unfold."
Whether we like it or not, we constantly encounter a wide variety of environmental stimuli which our five sensory organs take in: eyes, skin, ears, nose, and mouth. Littered with receptors that translate all those triggers into "nervous" stimuli, they forward the information to the central nervous system. The brain finally registers the input as optical, haptic, acoustic, olfactory, or gustatory impressions. Only in combination with already stored previous experiences, or rather memories thereof, do they become sensory perceptions. In other words, the complex interweaving of current triggers together with all collected information of the past finally stages the spectacle of perception.
Although the triggers are registered separately via different sensory channels, they merge into a holistic overall experience. The concept of multisensory is based on this principle. Just think of the last cigar you enjoyed: it was not just the taste and aroma that sparked your interest, but the nuanced interplay of shape, color, the surface structure, the feel of the wrapper, the elegant dress and oily sheen, all the way to the surrounding elements of lighting and sound.
Through the correlation of these sensations with certain product parameters, we develop preferences or aversions. We conceive sympathies or antipathies for individual experiences, like a cigar. That's why “tastes and tastes differ," as we all know: “Chacun à son gout.”
As a matter of consequence, your sensory system is right, for your personal enjoyment. Much more important than right or wrong is that we actively and explicitly turn to the impressions of our perception again and again.
We should consciously ask ourselves questions such as: what wonderful images and colors does a silky, soft wrapper implicate? What scents and tastes characterize a particular blend? What sounds do I hear when I take a smoldering puff on a particular vitola? What haptic elements does a certain wrapper give me?
All triggers of a cigar are directed to the sensory areas of our brain depending on the transmission speed, capacity, stimulus threshold, and adapted perception. There they must be processed, categorized, and stored. The messenger substance serotonin plays a vital role in this process; hence, we develop emotional ties to the products. We learn to appreciate or develop dislikes; we build desires, longings, and lasting memories.
The more attentive we become to our orchestra and its finely tuned instruments, the more richly we can experience and enjoy the symphony. Conscious experience is as much a gift as it is a challenge to be constantly rehearsed, and rediscovered.
Like an instrument that wants to be tried and played every day. Like fine woodwinds, gentle violins, or epic timpani beats. Listen, watch, smell, taste, and feel the diversity, in the ensemble of each cigar. Because a cigar is never just a cigar.
With best regards and spirits,
light 'em up!
Reinhard Pohorec