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Mold or Plume?

M

mr.mac

New Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
1,174
I just got in a box of JL Sel. #2 and when I opened them... AHHHHHHH....!!!!! They came from a very reputable vender and when I email them my concern last night here is their response...

Hi Michael,

The cigars are kept in a perfect environment and yours will be perfect to the touch. What you have is not mold. Mold is never white or grayish white. What you have is called plume and a sure sign cigars are absolutely perfectly humidified.

You are of course welcome to return them for a full refund but before you do, I kindly request that you read the following link:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cigars-2143/gre...ts-cigars-1.htm

With best regards

So here are the pics...

IMG_2518.jpg


IMG_2520.jpg


I have since wiped the "plume" off of the one and some specs on others, so they are plume free for the moment. Looked like mold to me... but hey what do I know. So lets hear what the experts have to say...

Oh.... the box is from Jun '07... which to my knowledge is not old enough to develop plume.?

HELP

mac
 
Mold, sorry bro...


edit to add....mold can be white so he is full of BS......but you could probably wipe it off and they will be fine if stored properly.
 
Mold. Plume (as far as I know) doesn't grow in clumps like that.
 
ddepaola said:
Mold, sorry bro...


edit to add....mold can be white so he is full of BS......but you could probably wipe it off and they will be fine if stored properly.
Click to expand...


Already done! Thanks for the feedback. Everything looks fine now... but I'm worried it will interfere with the taste and/or come back. Any thoughts on that?
 
Mold. Plume isn't three dimensional. If it's "fluffy", it's mold.

Will it come back? Hard to say. I'd get them out of the cab, gently wipe them down, dry box the lot for a couple of days, and not return them to the cab.

Will it affect the taste? Some guys say "brush 'em off and smoke 'em" but I just can't. Evey stick I've tried to smoke that was in that condition tasted like old gym socks to me. Eeeccchhh.......I just can't do it.

Try one and you tell us what you think. Were they mine, I'd probably end up pitching the ones showing mold.

Condolences - B.B.S.
 
I would take them up on the offer to return and or exchange.
 
I am no expert at all but..... it looks like mold to me. And it's not true about the color.... mold can be white or any variety of other colors. From my experience plume generally does not develop in one area of a cigar like in the pictures above. The oils, when a cigar is stored properly, tend to migrate evenly to the surface over time, which is what eventually results in plume. Plume also has no real substance. It appears crystaline, in a thin layer. Mold has substance to it.... almost like cotton or cobwebs. I had some Anejo Shark #77's, one of which developed mold days after I got them at my local B&M.(There actually may have been traces when I purchased them.) I took them back and they gave me the "old plume excuse." The problem was the "plume" had developed at the foot of the cigars and from everything I've ever read about the subject, plume does not develop at the foot of cigars, only on the wrapper.
 
So on this same topic. Plume is supposed to be an indication of age and quality storage, oils that produce the Plume. . What is the average age that one would tend to see Plume if it was Plume?

Box code indicates these are from 07, so that would tend to verify the false claims of Plume I would think..
 
botl43 said:
So on this same topic. Plume is supposed to be an indication of age and quality storage, oils that produce the Plume. . What is the average age that one would tend to see Plume if it was Plume?

Box code indicates these are from 07, so that would tend to verify the false claims of Plume I would think..
Click to expand...
Good question!

Age is certainly a component but IMO it has more to do with storage conditions. However, some tobacco will generate plume a lot faster than others.

mr.mac, mold is distinct whereas, plume is not. Meaning, you don't often see plume by just looking down at the stick, as you will mold. Sometimes it requires that you hold
the stick up to the light.

Brian
 
Infinity said:
botl43 said:
So on this same topic. Plume is supposed to be an indication of age and quality storage, oils that produce the Plume. . What is the average age that one would tend to see Plume if it was Plume?

Box code indicates these are from 07, so that would tend to verify the false claims of Plume I would think..
Click to expand...
Good question!

Age is certainly a component but IMO it has more to do with storage conditions. However, some tobacco will generate plume a lot faster than others.

mr.mac, mold is distinct whereas, plume is not. Meaning, you don't often see plume by just looking down at the stick, as you will mold. Sometimes it requires that you hold
the stick up to the light.

Brian
Click to expand...

This is a good question and one I have wondered about. Are there any rules of thumb for the time it takes the different tobaccos to generate plume? Would Ligero and Maduro generate plume quicker due to the higher oil content?

MrMac I have been reading a good deal about mold vs plume lately and have read that plume is lightly spread across the entire cigar and not concentrated in a specific area like that in your pics........sorry bro.

I'm curious..........did he see these pics before responding to you?
 
Mold.

Plume is barely visible sparkly crystalline beads practically embedded in the wrapper, not three-dimensional fuzz like dried shave cream. From my experience, plume occurs rarely...either I am consuming my sticks too quickly, or I am smoking cheap stuff which lacks the oil to generate plume.

Too bad we can't know who the vendor is so we can avoid shenanigans like his. :whistling:
 
Yeah, "plume" is a dusty coating sort of like dried rosin. It's dried oils from the leaf, much like dried tree sap on a pine. If you see something funky growing "out" of a cigar, and you wonder "Is it bloom?... or mold." I'm sorry, it's always mold. Best thing to do is decide is how many you want to throw out and if there's one that looks mostly clean you want to try and smoke. If it tastes like your yard-mowing sneakers, it's moldy too. Keep throwing out sticks.

Mold grows because things get too wet and too warm. I had a short bout when my wife decided we were spending too much on electricity and needed to set the thermostat up to 85 during the middle of Texas Summer. The ole Coolidor was cresting up in the low 80s and I started getting ammonia scent (another hint to start looking). Turned out I had some old wet wrapper trimmings that were starting to go.

This time of year is a good one to manage your collection as its easier to keep things drier. If you have a mold problem it's easier to isolate. Bottom line, take everyting good that's left, and find an old-fashioned deep-freezer that gets like -20F or lower and freeze your cigars in there for about three or four days. That will kill the mold and beetle larvae as well, though the mold spores will re-emerge if you end up storing them above the 70x70 recommended ceiling.

Tomorrow I celebrate a month from surgery with a cigar! Woohoo!
 
rule of thumb when looking at mold vs. plume. when you scratch it off, plume should just flake off the wrapper. mold should take a small piece of the wrapper with it since it grow with the cigar whereas plume grown on the outside.

and by the fuzzy look, i would presume mold mate.
 
Mold. If you have the option for return, take it. Mold can be induced by manipulating the storage conditions. But that ain't it.

Wilkey
 
haha -- I can't believe the vendor would try to claim that is plume. Some vendors are displaying either amazing ignorance or amazing avarice these days.

It's MOLD. Get your money back. Sadly, I bet they'll try to resell those cigars to some poor sap. Eventually someone will buy the "plume" line.
 
mr.mac said:
Hi Michael,

The cigars are kept in a perfect environment and yours will be perfect to the touch. What you have is not mold. Mold is never white or grayish white. What you have is called plume and a sure sign cigars are absolutely perfectly humidified.

You are of course welcome to return them for a full refund but before you do, I kindly request that you read the following link:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cigars-2143/gre...ts-cigars-1.htm

With best regards
Click to expand...

Show the idiots this:

http://www.vitolas.net/displayimage.php?pos=-927

Unreal. Also PM me the name of the vendor, if you would, so that I never deal with them. I hope it's not who I think it might be (based on some other people who have received moldy cigars, and this line from them).
 
I would be interested to know which vendor this was also. I was at a store across the border on the weekend. Half of the smokes they had looked just like this.

I didn't have the heart to tell the guy that half of his smokes had mold. I looked at the humidity monitor and it showed 66%, so I'm not sure what the cause was. But I was offended by the condition of the cigars.

I sent an email to the main company's website, but don't have any response yet. I wonder if it is the same company I was looking at compared to these. Please let me know by PM if possible.

Cheers,
Chris
 
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