That's not mold, it's plume!

[jluck]

One local B&M to me has some cigars with a white crystal type powder in the cellophane wrappers. I'm sure it was on the cigars too I really couldn't see clearly through the cellophane though.There temp and RH are always inconsistent and waaayyyy off. Oh yea....there prices are high too.

Does this sound like plume? or maybe another byproduct of neglect?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by macsauce13

I have never been into a B&M that acknowledged mold. NEVER. I just don't understand.

Originally Posted by ucla695

Exactly. They always say it's plume.

It really depends on the level of knowledge possessed by the staff. In a lot of instances, they simply don't know or have been instructed incorrectly by someone who doesn't know. Remember, at a number of B&M's, the staff are not as fanatical about their cigars as the members you find here.

I have seen B&M's take responsibility for moldy cigars that they weren't aware of.

I have also seen people who own extensive collections and have been smoking for years be rather proud of what they think is plume but is actually mold.

It's all about just knowing which is which.

[ucla695]

Originally Posted by T.G

It really depends on the level of knowledge possessed by the staff. In a lot of instances, they simply don't know or have been instructed incorrectly by someone who doesn't know. Remember, at a number of B&M's, the staff are not as fanatical about their cigars as the members you find here.

I have seen B&M's take responsibility for moldy cigars that they weren't aware of.

I have also seen people who own extensive collections and have been smoking for years be rather proud of what they think is plume but is actually mold.

It's all about just knowing which is which.

Yes, level of knowledge definitely plays a big part. It's also about being open to learning the difference between mold and plume. I stopped going to a local B&M because my buddies and I couldn't disabuse the owner of the notion that what he thought was plume was actually mold. He kept the walk-in at 75% and a good portion of his cigars were moldy. He didn't seem like a cigar enthusiast, so I imagine that played a big role too.

[neoflex]

Sadly I have found that most shops staff is just really lacking the knowledge to decipher the difference. Not their fault all the time just lack of training in which I blame the shop owners. I have even been in a shop where I was very friendly with the staff and saw the residue that some un-celloed sticks will sometimes get from being stored close to the humidification device and mentioned it to them. More often than not they would just have that bewildered look on their face as they tried to right it off as plume. Fortunately I was very friendly with them and was able to explain the difference and they did in fact move those sticks to the other side of the humidor which showed me they actually listened rather than try and shrug it off and probably researched to check what I mentioned to them. It is unsettling how common the scenario in the OPs post is in the industry.