quick question on black ash. today i smoked an ISOM that has been in the humi for a while....it was a monte tubos habana {gifted to me by my buddy low} thanks greg:} it burned a bit uneven and had a dark black ash with a littel grey in it. i only ask if anyone has had this before because i have never seen it before. Does it have something to do with the fact that it is an ISOM? taste was great! it was a great cigar just wondering??

jamesconnors

the isom's i smoke tend to have a dark firm ash. (no pun implied)

It has to do with the magnesium content in the soil...if I remember correctly without doing a search,(this has been discussed here before), Cuba has more of it than say, the Dom. Rep., or Nicaragua, etc...

A black or very dark gray ash is a good indicator of a true ISOM...

Good for you!

Ok, I had it bass-ackwards...

I had to do a search on the CA site...hope I don't get slapped for posting this, but it answers the question:

Tip of the Week

Q: Some cigars have bright white ashes, others are almost a charcoal gray. What determines the color of a cigar's ash?
A: The magnesium content of the tobacco.

High magnesium yields a white--and flaky--ash, low magnesium a grayer one. As for taste, it's generally considered more desirable to have high magnesium, and thus a white ash, but that's by no means a firm rule. Some of Cuba's great cigars often have very dark gray ashes.

Along with magnesium content,the way the tobacco is cured adds flavor characteristics. X

Kind of like beef jerky?

hey thanks guys!!!and thanks Lowman for the cigar!!

well you know E when i say guys i mean people man and women alike!

yeah...I've always been the kind of girl that's just one of the guys...no prob...

I smoked a Cuban HdM Demitasse (thanks to jamesconnors) last night, and it had a dark, dark grey ash (almost black). It tasted pretty darn good.

J

What in the hell does magnetism have to do with cigars? Other than the fact that I’m strangely drawn to them 😉 I feel like ferrous in “ferrous Buler’s day off” whenever I’m around a smoke shop…

Robby --- it's just one of the mirco-nutrients essential to plant life ... or any life, for that matter.

About Nutrients

Nutrients are divided into two main groups: non-mineral and mineral.

Non-Mineral Nutrients:

The Non-Mineral Nutrients are hydrogen, oxygen, & carbon.

These nutrients are found in the air and water.

In a process called photosynthesis ("doing things with light"), plants use energy from the sun to change carbon dioxide and water into starches and sugars. These starches and sugars are the plant's food.

Since plants get carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from the air and water, there is little farmers and gardeners can do to control how much of these nutrients a plant can use.

Mineral Nutrients:

The 13 mineral nutrients, which come from the soil, are dissolved in water and absorbed through a plant's roots. There are not always enough of these nutrients in the soil for a plant to grow healthy. This is why many farmers and gardeners use fertilizers to add the nutrients to the soil.

The mineral nutrients are divided into two groups:
macro nutrients and micro nutrients.

Macro nutrients

Macro nutrients can be broken into two more groups:
primary and secondary nutrients.

The primary nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These major nutrients usually are lacking from the soil first because plants use large amounts for their growth and survival.

The secondary nutrients are calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. There are usually enough of these nutrients in the soil so fertilization is not always needed. Also, large amounts of Calcium and Magnesium are added when lime is applied to acidic soils. Sulfur is usually found in sufficient amounts from the slow decomposition of soil organic matter, an important reason for not throwing out grass clippings and leaves.

Micro nutrients

Micro nutrients are those elements essential for plant growth which are needed in only very small (micro) quantities . These elements are sometimes called minor elements or trace elements. The micro nutrients are boron, copper, iron, chloride, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. Recycling organic matter such as grass clippings and tree leaves is an excellent way of providing micro nutrients (as well as macro nutrients) to growing plants.

There ... your horticulture lesson for the day ...

nutrients? Do they grind the magnets up and add them to water? I don't get it?

Slim, it was a play on wordz! Magnesium/Magnetism… Then further, magnetism and being “drawn to smoke shops”… And finally, Ferrous vs. Feris Buhler? Ferrous like iron, which is drawn to magnets. Sorry, I tend to confuse folks with attempts at sidewayz humor. Thanks for your explanation though! Very through!!

So, Ferrous Buhler, do you have trouble walking past refrigerators?

Barry

hehehehe "Chick Magnet" 🙂

... oh ... I get it now ... LOL!!!

... it thought you just misspelled it ... 😉

I'm sure glad nobody said something silly and immature like "When you go black you never go back".

"There ... your horticulture lesson for the day ... "

the only horticulture i'm familiar with was when i took a hooker to the opera...but i digress....