illinichaser wrote:Just a reply on the science side for ash color. White ash indicates more complete combustion(it is beaning more completely). Why its white could be the result of many factors from humidity, tobacco type, what is in the tobacco, etc. . As for how it effects the smoking of the cigar, as usual, the answer is it depends. .
Bottom line smoke what you like, and like what you smoke.
I am not positive, but I do believe, chemistry-wise, that soils very rich in nitrogen and phosphorous will produce a white-ashed tobacco.
tonygraz wrote:I've often wondered about the size/shape difference in cigar taste. I can understand the difference in shape and ring size, but the sometimes wide differences between a toro and a churchill of the "same" brand, blend and ring size really make me wonder if there isn't a bit of difference in the tobacco blend.
It can be a tweak to the blend to accommodate different vitolas, but I think that is much more prevalent when dealing with ring gauge versus length. With length, it's not that the fillers are altered, it's that the experience is different. When you've got three inches of churchill left, there's four inches of tars, oils, plant waxes, and resins that have accumulated in the remainder of the cigar, thus influencing the flavor profile immensely. A robusto of the same length has got two inches worth of that accumulated goop, and it tastes way different as a result.
When you go into different ring-gauges, not only are there more frequent tweaks to the blend, but the wrapper to filler ratio changes, and the differing shapes of sticks will all affect factors like draw, burn temperature, air/smoke mixture, all of which will again massively influence the experience and flavor profile.
Throwing another wrench in the works is storage. A stick that you just meh'ed at stored at 70% can be the cigar of your dreams at 65%.
Couple that with hundreds of brands and thousands of blends, and basically, we're all f*cked...doomed to pile up boxes forever in our futile attempt to try them all.