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Cigar Color

stephen_hannibalstephen_hannibal Posts: 4,317 ✭
in Cigar 101
OK so this is showing my inexperience, but do cigars change color while aging? I'm not talking drastically mind you but I've noticed some of my sticks are slightly darker than when I first got them.
Is this an issues or am I just paranoid?

Comments

  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    if you have a different batch then the color may be a bit different, i mean it is a natural product.

    to tell the truth, i never noticed it.
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  • camgfscamgfs Posts: 968 ✭

    Cigars changing color?


    The only thing I know that will change the color of a cigar, and possibly damage it is direct sunlight. Are your sticks in a glass top humidor or a cabinet humidor with glass doors? If they are, move the humidor. That sunlight will heat up your humi and cause a load of problems for you.



  • stephen_hannibalstephen_hannibal Posts: 4,317 ✭
    None of my Humis are glass top... it's just some of the sticks are getting darker.
  • ViseronViseron Posts: 35
    Are they in the celophane? It could just be the oils from the cigars getting put on the celophane wrappers.
  • stephen_hannibalstephen_hannibal Posts: 4,317 ✭
    You know I never thought about that....
  • Hawk55Hawk55 Posts: 846 ✭
    Excellent point...oil will make the cello darker and Ihave noticed that on mine...basically attributed it to oil.
  • ViseronViseron Posts: 35
    I don't know how long it would take to actually make a differance, but that's the only thing that popped into my head when I was thinking about it.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    i had some cello in my car from a cigar that i bought fresh from the shop... the cellophane has been there about a year (i dont know why i never clean that one compartment) it is now a deep yellow. this leads me to think that cellophane colors with age on its own, not by steeling oils from cigars.
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  • camgfscamgfs Posts: 968 ✭
    kuzi16:
    i had some cello in my car from a cigar that i bought fresh from the shop... the cellophane has been there about a year (i dont know why i never clean that one compartment) it is now a deep yellow. this leads me to think that cellophane colors with age on its own, not by steeling oils from cigars.

    Almost any plastic will age poorly, and clear plastics will change color, but that is due mostly to the sun and heat, neither of which should be a problem in the humi. Oils and age are both a factor, but the sun will speed both of those up, ruining the cigar and the cello.

  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    cellophane is not "plastic" at all.

    however i do agree that age and heat will yellow cellophane a bit as well. this saw no sun. only heat. if cellophane actually stole oils from cigars then the cigar companies would not put cellophane on the cigars. cellophane was actually designed to repel liquids (oils) rather than absorb them. i think age and heat are a much larger factor than oils.
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • camgfscamgfs Posts: 968 ✭

    I guess I mispoke/typed

    The cello does not steal any oils from the cigar. The oils in the cigar will 'leak' over time. This is a fact of aging. Those oils will deposit on the cello, and can actually be cleaned off of the cello, if someone was **** enought to do it, heheheh. The well aged cigar will look 'oilier' and may even have bloom, which I think is dried oils (looks like white powder, but unlike mould it can be wiped off the cigar). This act of leaking oil will stain the cello from the inside, but this will not harm the cigar at all, as the oils will have leaked anyway.

    The sun and heat will cause yellowing, but also drying and make the cello very brittle

    Since the outside leaf of a cigar is far less porous than a paper lined cigarette, for example, it can take years for these tobacco oils to leak. Not something you would observe in just a few months.

  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    i see what you are saying now. the oil will touch the side of the cellophane, and be deposited there. in theory you are right, the cello could be cleaned off but after that amount of time the cello would be yellow anyway.

    so is it really taking the color from the oil?
    kinda makes me wanna press some aged tobacco for "tobacco oil" just to see the color of it.

    i wonder if the maduro process changes the color of the oils?

    i wonder if tobacco oil would be good for cooking....


    to far?


    camgfs:
    The well aged cigar will look 'oilier' and may even have bloom, which I think is dried oils (looks like white powder, but unlike mould it can be wiped off the cigar).
    bloom (or plume) is crystalized (sp?) oils on the surface of a cigar.
    ... and for clarification, mold can be wiped off of a cigar as well (according to the august 7, 2009 cigar.com podcast and personal experience).
    Plume will almost sparkle and is evenly distributed on a cigar and look two dimensional (no depth in relation to the surface of the cigar). mold will be patchy and have some depth to it because it has a bit of structure to it. after the mold is brushed off there can often be a discoloration left in its place.
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • nightmaremike31nightmaremike31 Posts: 718 ✭✭✭
    kuzi16:
    i wonder if tobacco oil would be good for cooking....


    to far?

    You just brought a whole new meaning to the term "smokey flavor". I think you really might be on to something. That would be like a full blown meal, that had the flavor infusions of really good cigars... (drooling)
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    my wife and i (we own a chocolate business) have been toying with the idea of a tobacco truffle.


    ...well i have. she doesnt know about that yet.

    also in the works:
    chocolate stout truffle
    eggnog truffle
    blueberry muffin truffle
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    kuzi16:
    my wife and i (we own a chocolate business) have been toying with the idea of a tobacco truffle.


    ...well i have. she doesnt know about that yet.

    also in the works:
    chocolate stout truffle
    eggnog truffle
    blueberry muffin truffle
    You could make a nice little sampler box and call it the Truffle Shuffle. That's actually a serious idea, Goonies reference not withstanding. :)
  • nightmaremike31nightmaremike31 Posts: 718 ✭✭✭
    kuzi16:
    my wife and i (we own a chocolate business) have been toying with the idea of a tobacco truffle.


    ...well i have. she doesnt know about that yet.

    also in the works:
    chocolate stout truffle
    eggnog truffle
    blueberry muffin truffle

    ... a chocolate stout truffle...

    as in stout like a beer? ... (still drooling)

    a chocolate with stout beer qualities?
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    nightmaremike31:
    kuzi16:
    my wife and i (we own a chocolate business) have been toying with the idea of a tobacco truffle.


    ...well i have. she doesnt know about that yet.

    also in the works:
    chocolate stout truffle
    eggnog truffle
    blueberry muffin truffle

    ... a chocolate stout truffle...

    as in stout like a beer? ... (still drooling)

    a chocolate with stout beer qualities?
    exactly
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • T. GervaisT. Gervais Posts: 239
    kuzi16:
    nightmaremike31:
    kuzi16:
    my wife and i (we own a chocolate business) have been toying with the idea of a tobacco truffle.


    ...well i have. she doesnt know about that yet.

    also in the works:
    chocolate stout truffle
    eggnog truffle
    blueberry muffin truffle

    ... a chocolate stout truffle...

    as in stout like a beer? ... (still drooling)

    a chocolate with stout beer qualities?
    exactly
    Most stouts are brewed with chocolate malts (barley malts, not milkshakes) so a stout usually has chocolate qualities already. I have a feeling if you try this, it will taste pretty good, and not as unnatural as some might think.
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