Burn line indicates quality

[Ciscojohansson]

Yesterday at a cigar dinner, a very knowledgeable guy told me that the burn line of the cigar indicates the quality of the tobacco.He said the the dark line between the ash and the wrapper (the very edge of the wrapper) of my Upmann showed bad fermentation or aging of the tobacco, and that the (in comparison) small and clean line between the ash and wrapper of his NC was a sign of quality. I have never heard this line of reasoning before, although I have been told that the color of the ash has meaning. 

So does anyone know if this is true and if so, what makes the burn line different between the cuban and NC?

 

[MooseAMuffin]

Never heard of this either. I've heard an even burn shows good construction, but I'm not an expert. Also, I've heard the color of the ash is a sign. Was told if it should be a lighter gray as a darker grey indicates it burned hot(might be smoking too fast). But that seems to be more along the lines of the person smoking rather than a cigar quality indication.

[Fuzz]

The burn line indicates which end of the cigar is lit. As for that other tidbit of information, it also indicates which end the pretentious git is on.

[Hookmaker]

Try and light half of the foot only and check out the burn line after a minute ?

[Bagman]

Burn light has a lot to do with your storage conditions.

The color of the ash has noting to do with how hot the cigar got.  It has to do with the minerals in the soil.  . Magnesium burns white.  Lack of magnesium burns a darker gray.   The lack of magnesium in cuban soil means that cubans burn darker than non-cubans.  Some believe you can tell the origin of the cigar by the color of the ash.   Though I've had a few cubans burn slightly white.

 

[cfc1016]

The propensity of a wanker to offer unsolicited, critical advice, is an inverse function of the quality of the advice. 

That’s axiomatic. 

[PigFish]

In these cases, I dawn from my collection a Partagas Chicos, light it, smile.... and say... "brother, you have no eff'n clue, do you?"

It is pretty sad, when even a cup of coffee becomes pretentious.

Me, the sooner I found out my neighbor had little taste; likely never an original thought either, I stopped trusting any form of trend. Break your own ground. Life is too short to engage with ignorant people!

Cheers! -the Pig

[lipher]

Assuming an proper lighting, i would say and even burn line indicates a properly constructed cigar and consistent humidity of the tobaccos throughout. Burn line to me is important to have consistent flavor also. If you smoked short fillers based on scraps you know keeping a straight burn line is not easy. I tend to rotate while smoking to keep the "top" even As i write this the dpg 2018 15th anniversary has the ugliest ash that i could remember, in contrast to the very white ash of the 03 DD i smoked last week or any cc or nc ive smoked in the last couple months.
Certainly an interesting a topic... looking forward to what others have to contribute here.

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[Fugu]

What Fuzz sais, short and sweet.

The burn line indicates - well, burn.

Influenced by a lot of factors, 'quality' - whatever that should mean in this context - being none of them. Moisture and a rich wrapper (and binder), i.e. rich in contents, "oiliness", hygroscopicity, are the ones impacting most. Need to be 'cooked out' of the wrapper before the actual combustion takes place (same process as smoldering of moist wood in the stove). The easier the combustibility, the finer the line. So, quite often it is a simple function of age.

[Ciscojohansson]

Hey guys, just want to say that I really appreciate all the answers. The statement surprised me, I had never heard it before and the clear difference between the two cigars was notable. Mine had a rather large and clearly black burn line, and the other cigar had a razor thin burn line. Fugus claim "The easier the combustibility, the finer the line" seems reasonable. 

[luv2fly]

I don't care if it burns pink, green, purple, or an off shade of whatever the hell other colors in the spectrum as long as I enjoy the cigar.  (I would be confused by these colors but ultimately assume I was losing my mind and move on)

Guess I have no idea what a quality cigar is.....

[SigmundChurchill]

A lot of people smoking NC’s will tell you why their cigar is better than the Cuban cigar you are smoking.  

It starts with the representatives from these NC cigar companies.  NC cigar smokers go to these cigar dinners and conventions, where speakers from the NC cigar companies come as a special guest lecturer.  The representative’s job is to sell his company’s NC cigars, but the problem for them is that Cuban cigars are the gold standard.  So part of the lecture always involves how “today”, non Cuban cigars are as good, if not better, than Cuban cigars.  They give all kinds of BS reasons why NC’s are superior, and they will bring up nonsense like the ash, or the burn, etc.  Some of the people buy into it, and go out in the real world and spread this “knowledge” around.  It is probably somewhat of an effective tactic, but anyone with the palate of a billy goat will tell you that the Cuban cigar tastes better.  And when it comes down to it, taste is the whole reason for smoking the cigar in the first place.

Occasionally, there will be a grain of truth to what they are saying, like when they cite Cuban construction issues.  But lets be real here.  Even a poorly constructed Cuban cigar still tastes better than a perfectly constructed piece of shit.

[wineguy]

59 minutes ago, SigmundChurchill said:

A lot of people smoking NC’s will tell you why their cigar is better than the Cuban cigar you are smoking.  

It starts with the representatives from these NC cigar companies.  NC cigar smokers go to these cigar dinners and conventions, where speakers from the NC cigar companies come as a special guest lecturer.  The representative’s job is to sell his company’s NC cigars, but the problem for them is that Cuban cigars are the gold standard.  So part of the lecture always involves how “today”, non Cuban cigars are as good, if not better, than Cuban cigars.  They give all kinds of BS reasons why NC’s are superior, and they will bring up nonsense like the ash, or the burn, etc.  Some of the people buy into it, and go out in the real world and spread this “knowledge” around.  It is probably somewhat of an effective tactic, but anyone with the palate of a billy goat will tell you that the Cuban cigar tastes better.  And when it comes down to it, taste is the whole reason for smoking the cigar in the first place.

Occasionally, there will be a grain of truth to what they are saying, like when they cite Cuban construction issues.  But lets be real here.  Even a poorly constructed Cuban cigar still tastes better than a perfectly constructed piece of shit.

I had a guy recently tell me very definitively that all CC are machine made and none are hand rolled.  I just looked at him and said "oh really"  and moved on to speak to someone else.

[cfc1016]

1 hour ago, SigmundChurchill said:

anyone with the palate of a billy goat will tell you that the Cuban cigar tastes better.  And when it comes down to it, taste is the whole reason for smoking the cigar in the first place.

That’s basically what it boils down to for me. 

I don’t remember the last time i smoked an NC that didn’t leave my mouth tasting like someone had violated it. Sure there are some crappy CCs, but a crappy NC will cost me ~$15. F that. I’d rather buy a $60 box of jlp brevas...

[Colt45]

Burn characteristics (not necessarily burn line per se) can certainly be considered part of the overall "quality" of any cigar. I'm one who believes ash color is more a product of combustion than anything else.

[NSXCIGAR]

1 hour ago, SenorPerfecto said:

I’m not going to say that this sounds like another cigar related old wives tale...

I wouldn't even give it that much credence. Just a cockamamie theory. 

There are obviously many factors that contribute to the burning of a cigar--leaf strain, leaf processing, leaf selection, rolling technique, vitola, filer length, storage conditions, smoking environment. It's impossible to know whether any of these or a combination of several are in play affecting the burn of a particular cigar. Several factors can be controlled but obviously leaf strain and processing are pretty much uncontrollable. I suppose one can know their roller and their blending and control environmental conditions but it's impossible to know all of the factors contributing to any given cigar's burn.

[Narhcoc]

1 hour ago, SigmundChurchill said:

Even a poorly constructed Cuban cigar still tastes better than a perfectly constructed piece of shit.

You’re setting bar awfully low.  Funny how this thread started by calling the man who made the  claim, “pretentious”, yet now it’s just turned into a bashing of NC’s.  

There are many reasons to smoke CC’s, just as there are many reasons to smoke NC’s.  Everyone has their own reasons for smoking either, but it simply comes down to smoke what you like and cast the others aside. 

[ayepatz]

Hmm. I had two CCs today - a Sancho Panza Molino from Aug 98, and an El Laguito Party E2 from Dec 15. 

Both had slightly uneven burn lines. 

Should I immediately trade the rest in for some NCs with a razor-sharp burn line?

Or does the “tastes like heaven v tastes like a dirty ashtray” rule apply here?

I’m confused...?

 

[NSXCIGAR]

4 minutes ago, ayepatz said:

Should I immediately trade the rest in for some NCs with a razor-sharp burn line?

Not sure how this myth of perfectly burning NCs has the legs that it does. I have encountered plenty of NCs that have construction and burn issues. Yes, NCs have better consistency overall than CCs today, but I don't think it's ever been better to the degree that the NC propagandists suggest.

[Colt45]

54 minutes ago, Narhcoc said:

Funny how this thread started by calling the man who made the  claim, “pretentious”, yet now it’s just turned into a bashing of NC’s. 

Par for the course. The bashing out of hand from either side is suspect. It's pretty much the same as politics or religion.....

I don't get my panties in a bunch when someone makes a negative comment about Cuban cigars.

[joeypots]

Guy sounds like an asshole to me. 

[ayepatz]

1 hour ago, Narhcoc said:

You’re setting bar awfully low.  Funny how this thread started by calling the man who made the  claim, “pretentious”, yet now it’s just turned into a bashing of NC’s.  

There are many reasons to smoke CC’s, just as there are many reasons to smoke NC’s.  Everyone has their own reasons for smoking either, but it simply comes down to smoke what you like and cast the others aside. 

Taste is subjective, I completely agree. One man’s chalk is another man’s cheese, and all that.

However, I don’t think you should expect a completely balanced response on a website called Friends of Habanos. ?

[LLC]

I’m sure there are probably many things that affect the burn. Number one probably how it was rolled, I’ve seen plenty of wonky burn lines from poor construction. Also, how even you light it and which way the winds blowing. So many variables. I don’t need it razor sharp I just don’t want a cigar to tunnel or canoe.


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[Silverstix]

I think it’s ironic to make the claim that “Cubans are better” in the same thread which calls out the pretentious nature of some bozo spewing BS at some cocktail party. Smoke what you like, like what you smoke. End of story. Personally *I* prefer the taste of Cuban cigars most of the time, but there are also times when I’m just in the mood for an NC like an Oliva, Illusione, or Warped. Nobody can tell you what you like


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[Colt45]

I think Cisco's question was pretty straightforward.....