Cigars and mold

Professor Twain · June 11, 2007

Wilkey, I understand that the two hypotheses are different. :-)

But since Rob has already stated that he can induce Bloom in any cigar by using simple storage maneuvers (?Rob, even in 2006 Guantanameros?)--for me, this blows the idea out of the water that Bloom is of any importance in selecting cigars.

We don't have any evidence that Bloom is consistently associated with superior cigar flavor. If Bloom is not reliably associated with superior flavor in cigars, then drawing alternative hypotheses about the path explaining the Bloom-Superior Flavor relationship is not going to be very productive or interesting.

I am interested in seeing the microscopic analyses, though.

Ginseng · June 11, 2007

» Wilkey, I understand that the two hypotheses are different. :-)

»

» But since Rob has already stated that he can induce Bloom in any cigar by

» using simple storage maneuvers (?Rob, even in 2006 Guantanameros?)--for

» me, this blows the idea out of the water that Bloom is of any importance

» in selecting cigars.

»

» We don't have any evidence that Bloom is consistently associated with

» superior cigar flavor. If Bloom is not reliably associated with superior

» flavor in cigars, then drawing alternative hypotheses about the path

» explaining the Bloom-Superior Flavor relationship is not going to be very

» productive or interesting.

»

» I am interested in seeing the microscopic analyses, though.

Reasonable points.

Well let's look at it then from the perspective of what bloom could indicate then. Although I've highlighted the "quality" explanation of bloom inducement, the other more sinister route that Rob demonstrated is the environmental stressor route. Based on this observation and ideas of my own, I suspect that there may be more than one route to achieving the superficial appearance of bloom. However, that does not mean that the entire underlying mechanism is the same or that in both cases bloom tells us the same thing about the cigars that it appears upon (if indeed it tells us anything at all).

As for data, in fact we don't have anything other than scattered accounts, apocryphal, half remembered occurrences stripped of their context and thus any idea of the quality of those accounts. This is almost no data at all. But, the question remains and that in itself begs for its answering. Of course the productiveness or interest of this musing is not a given for all, or perhaps even most. However, it's a wondering that persists and, absent of any efforts at all to explore it, will remain merely lore and fodder for future navel gazing...and that, I find even less productive.

Wilkeyerely

kjellfrick · June 11, 2007

» As for data, in fact we don't have anything other than scattered accounts,

» apocryphal, half remembered occurrences stripped of their context and thus

» any idea of the quality of those accounts. This is almost no data at all.

» But, the question remains and that in itself begs for its answering. Of

» course the productiveness or interest of this musing is not a given for

» all, or perhaps even most. However, it's a wondering that persists and,

» absent of any efforts at all to explore it, will remain merely lore and

» fodder for future navel gazing...and that, I find even less productive.

»

» Wilkeyerely

Rob's findings should be fairly easy to replicate in a controlled fashion, but to investigate the occurrence of bloom in more controlled and stable condition would require more patience and resources than I have, at least. Maybe it's a task fitted to you guys with temp controlled humidors? ;-)

I'll se if I get around to taking some microscope photos on bloom. Heck, I'll better check if I have any cigars with plume at all before I start putting the stuff together... :-|

El Presidente · June 11, 2007

»

» Reasonable points.

»

» Well let's look at it then from the perspective of what bloom could

» indicate then. Although I've highlighted the "quality" explanation of

» bloom inducement, the other more sinister route that Rob demonstrated is

» the environmental stressor route. Based on this observation and ideas of

» my own, I suspect that there may be more than one route to achieving the

» superficial appearance of bloom. However, that does not mean that the

» entire underlying mechanism is the same or that in both cases bloom tells

» us the same thing about the cigars that it appears upon (if indeed it

» tells us anything at all).