Plume or mold?!?

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by tupacboy

blacklight if your not for sure

What purpose would a blacklight serve?
Posted via Mobile Device

[T.G]

Originally Posted by pnoon

What purpose would a blacklight serve?
Posted via Mobile Device

A number of molds, possibly all, will fluoresce when under UV from a blacklight, even if the colony isn't visible under normal light.

Learned this the "OMG! I've been breathing THAT? I am so out of here." way due to a former landlord that wouldn't properly maintain his properties.

I have no idea though if plume, certain capas or even the pectin will or won't fluoresce also.

[sikk50]

Learn something new everyday!

Originally Posted by T.G

A number of molds, possibly all, will fluoresce when under UV from a blacklight, even if the colony isn't visible under normal light.

Learned this the "OMG! I've been breathing THAT? I am so out of here." way due to a former landlord that wouldn't properly maintain his properties.

I have no idea though if plume, certain capas or even the pectin will or won't fluoresce also.

These didn't. I did speak with the same guy who sent me the e-mail. After a short conversation I have a replacement en route via his desk for a mold check before it hits my doorstep.

[Sonic04GT]

That looks disgusting. Maybe I'm just a pansy, but no way I would smoke those, especially considering even the slight possibility of negative effect on health.

I've placed 2-3 orders from FSS and haven't had any problems but I will definitely keep this in mind.

Saw these guys at Spec's Liquor :-/

[ApexAZ]

Originally Posted by VirginianTemplar

These didn't. I did speak with the same guy who sent me the e-mail. After a short conversation I have a replacement en route via his desk for a mold check before it hits my doorstep.

Glad to hear they worked it out for you!

[T.G]

Originally Posted by VirginianTemplar

These didn't. I did speak with the same guy who sent me the e-mail. After a short conversation I have a replacement en route via his desk for a mold check before it hits my doorstep.

Excellent that you got it worked out and are getting replacements.

Regarding the fluoresce, or lack thereof, from what I remember of what the inspector said at the time he did a walk though, was that dead mold doesn't fluoresce and that he thought most all mold did, certainly everything that he was interested in did, but wasn't 100% sure about stuff you might find growing on food. Also, he was using a rather high-powered UV light, it wasn't the run of the mill thing you would find at a hardware or electronics store, it might have had a wider or deeper spectrum than some of the other stuff.

[mash]

Originally Posted by T.G

A number of molds, possibly all, will fluoresce when under UV from a blacklight, even if the colony isn't visible under normal light.

Learned this the "OMG! I've been breathing THAT? I am so out of here." way due to a former landlord that wouldn't properly maintain his properties.

I have no idea though if plume, certain capas or even the pectin will or won't fluoresce also.

In this case, you don't need to go that far. Round patchy clumps with tentacles = mold.

[ktblunden]

Glad they're getting it cleared up, but I'm really disappointed that FSS jumps immediately to the "not mold, plume" defense even after being provided with photos that leave zero doubt it's mold. That's another strike for me against Famous and I'm pretty sure I'm just not going to order from them anymore.

[BlindedByScience]

I can't believe FSS would stick by such nonsense. Last time I order from them, to be sure.

Here's a post I made some time back in another forum. One guy actually suggested using dilute bleach to wipe mold off....

Seems topical to the subject at hand:

Guys, for the love of all things, this really is lots simpler than you are all trying to make it.

Bloom or plume or WTF ever you want to call it is due to the oils in the cigar seeping through the wrapper and crystallizing on the wrapper. It typically takes years for this process to occur and many cigars wont do this at all. If I dug every cigar I have in my cabinet out and went through them all (including some ISOM's from the 60's) my guess is that I might, and I do repeat might, find one or two that have plume. Maybe. Possibly. It's relatively uncommon, which makes a cigar that has it rare and interesting.

Mold is 99 times out 100 three dimensional...plume is not. Mold will usually wipe off with a moist cloth....plume will usually not but I have seen thin layers of crystallized oils that were affected by wiping. Mold shows up in (usually) hairy little spots...plume show up as a hard to see sheen, a thin film on the wrapper.

In the years that I've been smoking, each and every time someone posts pics and says "...is this mold or plume..." it has been without a doubt mold. Every time. If you find spots on your cigars and are asking yourself "...gee, is this mold or plume..." let me help you out: It's mold. I have yet to walk into a B&M and find cigars with plume on them, but I sure have seen some furry boxes of moldy cigars that the owner then proudly said were "nicely aged and covered with plume" and I walked right out, never to return, every time.

This is all pretty cut and dry. What to do about them is probably more open to opinion.

Wikipedia tells us that:

The important wording in there is that mold typically grows in multicellular filaments. Mold may show up as a spot here or there, but the chances are quite good that even when dealing with surface spots, the growth has penetrated the wrapper and is well into the cigar. Tobacco is easily penetrated by these types of fungal infections. If you see mold on the foot of the cigar, you're done. Period. The very core of the cigar has been permeated and you're pretty much screwed. Yes, you can sometimes wipe surface spots off with a damp rag (I've used distilled water in past efforts) but you have to ask yourself what's inside the cigar that you can't see. A tiny spot is one thing; a wrapper that has hairy blotches all over it is probably toast. It's a matter of degree but usually I don't bother. I have tried to "repair" a cigar with mold spots on it in the past and the result is like smoking a well used pair of gym socks. Eeeccch....no thank you.

Now, this whole business of dilute bleach wiping a cigar. Chlorine has highest electron affinity and the third highest electronegativity of all the elements, which is a hoity toity way to say it's one hell of a powerful oxidizer and has a particular affinity for organic materials. That's why it's such a great disinfectant. Now, sure, a capful of bleach in a gallon of water is probably drinkable. Most literature that I could find on storing water recommended two to three drops per liter, so a capful per gallon might be a little strong but is in the ballpark.. But there are a couple of things to consider here. Most bleach is formulated for laundry use, and as such, often times has more in it than Chlorine in it. This will vary from product to product but it's worth noting. But, if you put bleach in water I can promise you that you'll be able to taste it. Yes, Chlorine is very volatile and will out gas quickly, but what did it do to the fragile tobacco leaves until it did? I mean, if it's powerful enough to kill the surface mold on contact, wouldn't you think it would also be powerful to at least change the wrapper somewhat? You know, the part of the cigar that is the majority of the taste of the cigar? No thank you.

My $00.02 is that if you really want to wipe your cigar wrapper, a little distilled water should do the trick. Then, promptly smoke the darn thing. Even if you clean it up on the outside, you have no way to know how deeply impinged the mold is into the body of the cigar. I'm as cheap as the next guy, but when it comes to cigars with any amount of mold at all, they get pitched. Period.

The comments about Anejo's is interesting; for reasons I can't fully explain, they seem to be the most mold-prone wrappers I've ever dealt with. Having had a box of lovely 48's destroyed by mold, anymore I pull them out of the box and pull the cedar tubes and dry box them for a couple days. Then they go back in the cabinet. Seems to do the trick; no more hairy Anejo's since....

Cheers, guys - B.B.S.

[357]

I've run into a number of B&Ms that will swear up and down their fuzzy cigars are in bloom or covered in plume, not mold. It pisses me off that they are either ignorant of the truth or intentionally lying. It's not a difficult thing to discerne. Blotches, fuzzy, uneven distribution, all = MOLD. You can see it from across the room. White almost dust looking crystals with even distribution = plume.

[GodOfFire]

Originally Posted by 357

I've run into a number of B&Ms that will swear up and down their fuzzy cigars are in bloom or covered in plume, not mold. It pisses me off that they are either ignorant of the truth or intentionally lying. It's not a difficult thing to discerne. Blotches, fuzzy, uneven distribution, all = MOLD. You can see it from across the room. White almost dust looking crystals with even distribution = plume.

I have never ran into this. Although I can see it happening. I went into a liquor store once with a stand up humi. I thought I would grab a cigar for the evening. I stuck my hand it and they were literally wet like sponges. I told the clerk and he seemed to think thats how they were suppose to be. I just left disgusted.

[tupacboy]

Originally Posted by T.G

A number of molds, possibly all, will fluoresce when under UV from a blacklight, even if the colony isn't visible under normal light.

Learned this the "OMG! I've been breathing THAT? I am so out of here." way due to a former landlord that wouldn't properly maintain his properties.

I have no idea though if plume, certain capas or even the pectin will or won't fluoresce also.

Sorry I realized later i should have said this in my original black light post....

What he said.... and to answer his question plume does not fluorense...

[Texan in Mexico]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Good disucssion here:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...ighlight=plume

As the Admiral says just wipe it of and smoke 'em up!

Thanks for the foot note buddy...

Originally Posted by ktblunden

Glad they're getting it cleared up, but I'm really disappointed that FSS jumps immediately to the "not mold, plume" defense even after being provided with photos that leave zero doubt it's mold. That's another strike for me against Famous and I'm pretty sure I'm just not going to order from them anymore.

Just to follow up I got my replacement in yesterday. It was opened, inspected and even had a signed note saying as much. One of the cigars was missing the second band and the wrapper was different than the others. It was rougher looking in texture and the color different. Aside from that all was well. I smoked the ugly one last night so I didn't have to be seen with an ugly cigar.

Now all that remains is for them to get my returned sampler and get a refund for the replacement.