What's new
  • BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE

    Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over time BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.

Serious?

rick12string

Caught in the Crossfire
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
2,760
Location
South Carolina
Does anyone know what they dye them with? Some sort of food coloring I would think.
Do the dyes affect the flavor or add any additional health risks?
 
Rating - 100%
51   0   0
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
657
I think it is just food grade dye, should be flavorless and probably not too harmful. They also "cook" the wrappers sometimes making a kind of false maduro. Instead of letting them become ripe naturally. I think this involves a steaming process where the vapor cooks the dye in. I heard that is what Onyx does, but I am not sure that is true.
 

dpricenator

BoM March 08
Rating - 100%
175   0   3
Joined
Jul 25, 2007
Messages
14,899
Location
The OC
I would rather them be cooked than dyed. The R-4 maduro turned my fingers, lips and spit brown and had a wierd flavor. I like some of RPs stuff but in general it does not impress me.
 

rick12string

Caught in the Crossfire
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
2,760
Location
South Carolina
Try the MX2. Lick it and then rub it on your hand. It's like Sharpie and cigar rolled in to one! :)
I've been smoking sharpies? :wtf:

Just a thought with some of these cigars. If you wet it and get some color off it does that mean it's definitely dyed? Tea is a leaf and as far as I know is not dyed but if you put it in water the water turns dark. Isn’t it possible to get natural color to bleed out of a maduro by getting it wet?
 

rick12string

Caught in the Crossfire
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
2,760
Location
South Carolina
I would rather them be cooked than dyed. The R-4 maduro turned my fingers, lips and spit brown and had a wierd flavor. I like some of RPs stuff but in general it does not impress me.
I had a fiver of the R-4 mads, smoked one, didn't like it and gave the other 4 away to someone who thought they were OK. Not for me.

I smoked a Fusion maduro and it had a funny taste to it but I was told give them some time in the humi and that fades. Now I'm not so sure.

What about the 1990s and 92s, are they dyed?
 

rick12string

Caught in the Crossfire
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
2,760
Location
South Carolina
I think it is just food grade dye, should be flavorless and probably not too harmful. They also "cook" the wrappers sometimes making a kind of false maduro. Instead of letting them become ripe naturally. I think this involves a steaming process where the vapor cooks the dye in. I heard that is what Onyx does, but I am not sure that is true.
I've heard of them cooking or steaming them to darken the wrappers but I didn't know dye was involved in the process
 

rick12string

Caught in the Crossfire
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
2,760
Location
South Carolina
Try the MX2. Lick it and then rub it on your hand. It's like Sharpie and cigar rolled in to one! :)
I contacted CAO out of curiosity and got an e-mail from Jon Huber at CAO and this was his response:

The MX2 is not “dyed” nor are any of our cigars “dyed.”

Jon A. Huber
Director of Lifestyle Marketing
CAO International, Inc.
(615) 352-0587 [p]
(615) 353-0610 [f]
 
Rating - 100%
51   0   0
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
657
I've heard of them cooking or steaming them to darken the wrappers but I didn't know dye was involved in the process
The cooking process itself makes them darker and the dye is not neccasary, but I heard that the onyx is made with dye and then it is cooked on somehow, again I am not sure that is true, but I heard it from someone who should know.
 
Rating - 100%
43   0   0
Joined
Dec 15, 2007
Messages
1,465
Location
Omaha, NE
I had a fiver of the R-4 mads, smoked one, didn't like it and gave the other 4 away to someone who thought they were OK. Not for me.

I smoked a Fusion maduro and it had a funny taste to it but I was told give them some time in the humi and that fades. Now I'm not so sure.

What about the 1990s and 92s, are they dyed?
I haven't noticed any dye on '90s or '92s. I bought some RP Fumas that were almost certainly dyed. The OWR Maduro also appears to be dyed, but I don't know for sure.
 
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
369
Location
Pompton Lakes, NJ
I hate qouting "the university", but here goes.

Now it is time to introduce two other methods implemented to create Maduro wrappers. The first is "cooking," which more accurately described is actually steaming. In this process, the leaves are placed within a steam chamber for a period of 60-120 minutes and steamed at 180+ degrees Fahrenheit. The result is a very dark wrapper that is very consistent in color. Some hold in contempt this method, but actually this is the method that is most commonly used to create the wrappers used on most of the milder Maduro cigars. Although this is a much simpler and shorter process, the maker has to be vigilant, as it is possible to overcook the leaf resulting in a dull, flat-tasting wrapper with a silvery, gray appearance. The other alternative method is dying the leaves the desired dark brown color. This is done in a variety of ways - from sluices, vats, to even a machine that is snidely referred to as the "Madu-O-Matic" by those in the trade. This machine can "create" Maduro wrappers at a blazing pace and, typically, makers will add sugar to the molasses-like dye to sweeten the flavor of the leaf. This process is considered "cheating" by many in the industry, and is held in low regard by many traditional tobacco men. As a consumer, it is easy to detect whether your Maduro cigar is a faux, because most dyed Maduro cigars will actually leave a slight brown stain right on lip of the smoker.
 

bballbaby

Nov '08 BoM
Rating - 100%
183   0   0
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
6,460
Location
Ohio
There's a B&M that i frequent in Pittsburgh. They've got this line of cigars that are green, red, marroon , yellow and stragne colors to see on cigars. They aren't primary colors, but they are colors none the less. i never paid much attention to them, adn don't even know what brand they are, because i mean seriously, who's gonna smoke a marroon colored cigar?!?!

Anyhow, i'm gonna take a wild guess and say they wer definitley dyed that color...for some reason.
 
Top