Miscegenashing

Thinkin thinkin always thinkin ... it's a curse and a blessing.

A white ash on a black cigar is wonderfully attractive to me. I googled white ash and read somewhere that it means magnesium in the soil, and also tastier tobacco. I haven't tested that part. Have to go back thru the reviews I have on my android app and see if I find a correlation there. I also like the looks of black ash on a tan cigar. Dunno what makes it black; let's figure less magnesium. You've got to suppose how much magnesium means how dark or light the grey.

Wait on a minute -- Then there are some cigars which sport a tiger striped ash. What the heck? Does that mean a mix of leaves from mag rich soil with other leaves from mag poor dirt? Is it one leaf laying down one color then the adjacent leaf laying down the other?

Kuzi, can we pick your brain on this one?

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kuzi16

dark ash is, generally speaking, an indication of iron rich soil.

i think the tiger stripe has more to do with how you smoke than the minerals.

Magnesium does have some flavor effects but it more about the structural strength of the leaf. this is commonly seen in the ash. too much magnesium is a more flaky ash. too little Magnesium and there is not proper leaf and root development.

Magnesium is the key to good pH in soil. good pH, good tobacco.

dsayles

kuzi16:
dark ash is, generally speaking, an indication of iron rich soil.

i think the tiger stripe has more to do with how you smoke than the minerals.

Magnesium does have some flavor effects but it more about the structural strength of the leaf. this is commonly seen in the ash. too much magnesium is a more flaky ash. too little Magnesium and there is not proper leaf and root development.

Magnesium is the key to good pH in soil. good pH, good tobacco.

kuzi16 is there anything do not know. This day foward you will be seated with the cigar gods.

webmost

kuzi16:
i think the tiger stripe has more to do with how you smoke than the minerals.

How so? What could I do which would produce a tiger stripe ash? Glad to experiment.

I am no Newton, but I do like his fig cookies.

kuzi16

dsayles:
kuzi16 is there anything do not know.

I assure you there is.

i just play it off well.

dsayles:
This day foward you will be seated with the cigar gods.

i dont deserve it i assure you.
My trip to Nicaragua really brought me down to earth. i may know a bit for a consumer but as far as being in the industry goes i know nothing.

kuzi16

webmost:
kuzi16:
i think the tiger stripe has more to do with how you smoke than the minerals.

How so? What could I do which would produce a tiger stripe ash? Glad to experiment.

I am no Newton, but I do like his fig cookies.

not too sure. probably with the intensity of heat during the puff in comparison to the heat during the resting period.

rzaman

During the cigar boom in 90's white ash used to be considered as the sign of excellence. The color of ash has nothing to do with flavor and aroma. It simply represent the minerals in the soil.

Then I have been told by couple cigar makers in Nicaragua that white ash represents the use of more fertilizer and the black ash represent less fertilizer.

During my visit to Robina and other tobacco farms in Pinar del Rio, I asked the same question to Cuban cigar makers and the tobacco farmers and the answer was:

white ash means the soil has more phosphorus and calcium.

Gray ash means the soil has more magnesium.

Black ash means the soil has more phosphorus than calcium.

So what color represent the higher quality tobaccos? Most of the people I asked in Nicaragua and Cuba answered- gray which represent more balanced soil and provides better flavor, aroma and sweetness to the tobaccos.

marineatbn03

Kuzi and Rip, legends

webmost

This picture shows an acceptable smoke, a Cortez Brazilian wrapped cigar, sporting a long white ash, nestling in a stogie rack which I bent from baling wire and mounted aboard Biffy Bullfrog the KLR650, with an Angry Orchard hard ginger apple cider in the bottle cage bolted to the other front of her clutch side bark buster. I ought to point out also that at this very moment Roller Girl Heather Graham was baring her bazoomz in the movie Boogie Nights on the TV atop the beer fridge. Yes, life in the man cave is very satisfactory, thank you.

At any rate, my longest ashes have been white ones I think. Tight rolled cigars without cellophane feeling hard as a rock and producing white ash.

kuzi16

rzaman:

white ash means the soil has more phosphorus and calcium.

Gray ash means the soil has more magnesium.

Black ash means the soil has more phosphorus than calcium.

what i find most interesting about those elements in the soil is that most of them are added to regulate pH. i

rzaman:

So what color represent the higher quality tobaccos? Most of the people I asked in Nicaragua and Cuba answered- gray which represent more balanced soil and provides better flavor, aroma and sweetness to the tobaccos.

this makes so much sense it almost needs no explanation. its abot getting a good balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (for yield) and magnesium, calcium, and to a lesser degree sulfur for root and leaf stability. without the right mix it can lead to an endless combo of various minor issues that will make the tobacco sub-par.

fertilizer and the development of better methods of applying the fertilizer has come a long way.

rzaman

One of the interesting thing I learned in Pinar del Rio is- Cubans use mango seeds and salt to regulate the soil pH. I have some pictures. I will share them later with detail description of how they balance all the minerals for plantation of tobacco plants.

kuzi16:
rzaman:

white ash means the soil has more phosphorus and calcium.

Gray ash means the soil has more magnesium.

Black ash means the soil has more phosphorus than calcium.
what i find most interesting about those elements in the soil is that most of them are added to regulate pH. i
rzaman:

So what color represent the higher quality tobaccos? Most of the people I asked in Nicaragua and Cuba answered- gray which represent more balanced soil and provides better flavor, aroma and sweetness to the tobaccos.
this makes so much sense it almost needs no explanation. its abot getting a good balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (for yield) and magnesium, calcium, and to a lesser degree sulfur for root and leaf stability. without the right mix it can lead to an endless combo of various minor issues that will make the tobacco sub-par.

fertilizer and the development of better methods of applying the fertilizer has come a long way.