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2005 Opus X Chili Pepper

moki said:
BigJake, Phil did the cigar hand off to me tonight, and I looked at it for a bit under less than idea lighting in Shanghai 1930.

I don't think it's mold. I'm not sure what it is, it's interesting, you can only see the whiteness at an angle, head-on you don't see it. I did notice that the wrapper is a bit blistered, but other than that, these are rather unique looking cigars.

I'll post after I get to look at it under a loupe, but I apologize to you for the false alarm. I'm not certain yet exactly what is going on, but it does not appear to be mold.
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That's the only way the whiteness showed up on the chili, when I took a picture with the flash on from an angle....that's why this all seems to be a bit puzzling. Thanks for checking it out, look forward to seeing what is come up with. :thumbs:
 
Ah, the plot thickens... Maybe it's just a slow day, but I'm anxious to hear the conclusion of this.
 
Sent you a PM Moki. I am to lazy to investigate what I sent you but I am sure you will know exactly what I am talking about. Alas, I am saying its probably not mold as I remember pictures like that which shouldn't be mold unless Fuente has a habit of keeping moldy cigars in their stash boxes. And I would bank on the fact they don't as mold can spread like tobacco beetles.
 
Here's a picture of the Opus X Perfecxion No.2 cigar from the 2005 Opus 22 set that BigJake sent me to examine:

bigjake_cigar.jpg


(click here for a super hires version of the above photo)

From the initial pictures in the thread that were posted here, I was concerned that there might be mold (and not plume) on the Chili Pepper that he smoked and reviewed.

faux_chili_mold.jpg


I was incorrect; this is not mold... so you can rest easy, BigJake.

The initial pictures looked like nascent surface mold, because of the distribution, though it was a bit hard to tell from the photos. Out of focus photos can make things look fuzzy that are not.

So why do I know this is not mold?

-- It doesn't rub off at all
-- There are no 3D "stalks" growing up from the white-ish areas

Here is an example of mold. Note the difference in character between the pictures there, and the cigar pictured above.

So what is it?

It doesn't look like plume I've witnessed on Opus X cigars before, and the cigars are also not really old enough for plume to likely occur. Note I said likely; it really depends on the characteristics of the wrapper of the cigar. Also note that although these cigars are from 2005, the wrapper that Fuente uses on Opus X cigars is usually at least 4-5 years old at the time of rolling.

So let's take a closer look at the wrapper:

bigjake_cigar_closeup.jpg


Definitely not mold, but is it plume? One interesting thing is that it only appears white-ish at certain angles. That to me means we're dealing with a 3D-ish crystalized substance.

The wrapper is somewhat unusual in that it appears to be blistered. My guess is that the wrapper used for this cigar blistered, and emitted oil from said blisters in a rather unique way.

My final (albeit incomplete) conclusion is that this is technically plume, but that the oils have been forced to the surface by the micro-blistering wrapper in a manner that is slightly different from the way plume will normally occur. In other words, the oils "erupted" through the blistering wrapper, as opposed to seeping through normally.

All in all a very interesting case, thanks for giving me the chance to check it out, BigJake.

EDIT: Added it to Vitolas.net
 
Good work Rock Star! Seriously, who needs that other guy anyway? This thread was informative and actually very fun to read. We've got references to stripper glitter, some peer pressure on Jake to post more photos of his beautiful fiance in bed, some info on plume vs. mold...

CP at its absolute finest.
 
Nice job Moki! :) I wish my camera could take pictures like that! :(

Thanks for the informative view and analysis! I'm sure this will be a great reference for the future. Now go smoke the chit out of that Perf #2!
 
BigJake6904 said:
Nice job Moki! :) I wish my camera could take pictures like that! :(

Thanks for the informative view and analysis! I'm sure this will be a great reference for the future. Now go smoke the chit out of that Perf #2!
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Very gracious of you, thanks. I will smoke it soon! :D
 
tsmckenney said:
Good work Rock Star! Seriously, who needs that other guy anyway? This thread was informative and actually very fun to read. We've got references to stripper glitter, some peer pressure on Jake to post more photos of his beautiful fiance in bed, some info on plume vs. mold...

CP at its absolute finest.
Click to expand...

Yeah...but what about cello on vs cello off? How was it stored? How should it have been stored? Cello on / in coffin, cello on / out of coffin, cello off / in coffin, cello off / out of coffin...AGGGGHGGHHGGHHH!!!

:laugh:


Nice work, Andrew.
 
Store your cigars the way you receive them from the manufacturer, only taking out any humidipaks that might be present first. IMHO.
 
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