pink ash

[Ken Gargett]

i know some of the responses i'll get but i swear this is true.

been non stop on planes and at tastings and wineries of late. managed to sneak an hour or so pre dinner last night at brown brothers to have a cigar and a beer in their garden (reading david ellis's 'line of vision' - the best courtroom thriller i've read bar none, a cracker).

the cigar was a 2003 LE hoyo pyramide - a really lovely cigar.

BUT, the last third exhibited quite decidedly pink ash. i wondered if the colour of the band had bled but not at all. wrapper was absolutely as per usual and no sign of anything untoward.

but it was pink ash (no pink elephants seen - i'm serious).

anyone seen anything like this?

[anacostiakat]

No.

[tmac77]

Ken,

It's all that acid you did back in the day. Were you by any chance listening to 'Have a Cigar' by Pink Floyd at the time? This could have triggered a flashback. If not then the only other possible cause would be the light reflecting back off your shiney new hello kitty ashtray onto your cigar.

[Ken Gargett]

i knew what i'd cop but i am absolutely serious. it was very bizarre. yet the cigar was terrific and nothing wrong at all.

it was only the colouring on the outside of the ash - didn't go all through it.

[tmac77]

Kidding aside, a real mystery Ken. I have never seen or heard of the phenomenon before.

Was it your Viagra ... or does that make your ash look blue? Kidding back on again

[CigarB]

Ken - I read a review of a Trinidad Fundadores and the reviewr noted a faint pink hue to the ash. Haven't heard about it much and have never seen it for myself, but it seems you're not alone.

[Smallclub]

Never seen a pink ash but I have had yellowish ("mustard" yellow) ashes on several occasions. I guess there is a simple chemical explanation to this phenomena…

[laficion]

Ken, could there have been some wine that fell on your ash or absorbed someway

during the night ? Other then being somehow in contact with a red liquid, I have no Idea

Good luck on your mysterious quest.

[Peter11216]

anyone seen anything like this?

I haven't. Wonder if it is due to a higher than normal mineral content. Iron might reveal itself as a little red, while with the normal colour of the ash, white (from phosphorous, magnesium, is that right?), would yield a pink hue. Other than iron, I can't think of anything off hand that would be red.

Not knowing any chemistry, I would guess that it can't be from dying of any kind, because dye probably doesn't maintain its colour after burning. But I have no solid idea about this.

Very interesting.

Best,

Pete

[Colt45]

KG, can't ever recall pink ash, but as Smallclub, have witnessed yellowish ash on a few occassions. I never really gave it much thought, just

considered it an element of combustion. My one thought with your case would be the cigar's age / oil content, but I've no idea.

[cigcars]

*The only layperson's guess I can make from here is that maybe the factory workers in Cuba may have accidently spilled or dropped some *medicine *chemical *food powder *iodine, etc., etc. SOMETHING into the cigar mould compound and didn't stop production?? Just some figurin' on the possibility of what could account for the strange color.

[benjaminbbush]

An here I thought you could not smoke those bubble gum cigars from the corner store. I shall have to try this.

In all seriousness, this is very interesting. Hope someone has a plausible answer.

[cigcars]

An here I thought you could not smoke those bubble gum cigars from the corner store. I shall have to try this.

[Matt Day]

have had yellow ash to i wonder is it qanything to do with a slight sulphur content ?

[davidl]

Ken - I'll take a double of whatever you're smoking :-)

[kcheek]

Sorry Ken, never have seen that before.

I did have a cigar turn completely white one time as I smoked it though.

[jacksfull]

High iron content in the leaf?

[vivalanation734]

I experienced the same thing on a PLPC a few months back. Caught me off guard.

[CoryOllis]

I'm guessing a mineral was the culprit.