Ever Wondered Plume Or Mold

[massphatness]

Originally Posted by pnoon

If what you see are in "patches", it is more likely mold. Plume, for the most part, will be evenly distributed.

QFT - and upon close inspection, mold will appear fuzzy while plume looks more crystalline. Plume is a direct result of the migration of oils to the surface and is unlikely to occur in patches.

[chippewastud79]

Originally Posted by alfredo_buscatti

I got a box of Anejo, and all the cigars that I've smoked had plume, about a dozen small patches per cigar.

As plume tells you that the cigar is at its optimal readiness for smoking, is there, then, any rush to smoke the cigars?

I would imagine no, as the cigars will continue to plume, and following that logic, become more and more optimally aged to smoke.

Or in the case you described, likely adding more mold.

[alfredo_buscatti]

Originally Posted by pnoon

If what you see are in "patches", it is more likely mold. Plume, for the most part, will be evenly distributed.

Also, I have never heard that plume tells you that the cigar is at its optimal readiness for smoking. Where did you hear/read that? To the best of my knowledge, the appearance of plume means nothing as to when a cigar should be smoked.

My cheap magnifying glass doesn't tell me the truth. Looking at the mold, I guess, thinking it was plume, I thought it was crystalline, and thus not mold. Having gotten your feedback, it looks fuzzy, like mold. In any case as it's not evenly distributed across the cigar, it must be mold.

If I wipe the cigars down with 95% ethanol, will it not only remove the mold but also inhibit its tendency to grow a second time?

I was told that plume meant optimal smoking readiness by a long-time cigar lover-he really loves cigars, especially those that are F+ strength. He used to sub for my local B&M owner. I'm surprised he was wrong; then again, he told me this at least 5 years ago, and my memory might be misleading me.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by alfredo_buscatti

If I wipe the cigars down with 95% ethanol, will it not only remove the mold but also inhibit its tendency to grow a second time?

That's a bit overkill. While it will kill that colony, it might also change the flavor of the cigar.

Simply wiping the mold off with a paper towel and then lowering the humidity in your humidor, along with a few days of dryboxing for the cigars you wiped down should take care of it.

[alfredo_buscatti]

T.G., I take it that I'm to wipe the cigars down with a paper towel that is not too moist with water?

[T.G]

I've always used either a dry or just barely moistened paper towel. Just enough moisture to pick up stuff on the surface, but not enough moisture to make the capa (wrapper) of the cigar wet or even damp.

Don't press down too hard, the capa is fragile and can be easily damaged. Also, always wipe toward the foot as wiping towards the head could cause you to catch a section of the capa where it overlaps and result in a tear.

If the mold isn't severe, you can sometimes also just wipe it off with your finger.

[alfredo_buscatti]

T.G., thanks for your input; I've never done this before.

Which leads me to my next question: even after I remove the mold, there will probably be some left. Although I can work on segregating these cigars from other cigars in my humidor, do I just maintain vigilance as regards it spreading to cigars that are adjacent to them?

[T.G]

It doesn't hurt to keep an eye on them, but mold spores are basically everywhere in the air naturally already, so the easiest way to inhibit their growth is to keep the moisture down below the level at which they can grow, so if that box of cigars were mine, I'd leave both it (lid open) and the cigars out of the humidor for a day or so, then see how moist they are, if they still seem very moist, then a bit longer. Then make sure my humidor is operating at 65%RH or less, and put them in.

[alfredo_buscatti]

T.G. I got 90% of the mold off with a fingernail. Thanks!

I'm digging up this thread simply because I don't think we need a new one. So I was hanging with a pal last night. He shows me this cigar:



What say ye? Plume or Mold???

[Chainsaw13]

Mold

The bigger white spots are mold to me. But what about that light white sheen? Is that mold too, or just impurities from the water used for active humidification?

[Chainsaw13]

Based on my experience, it looks to be too thick to me for it to be plume, especially up by the cap end. But then again I could be wrong. The spots definitely look like mold.

[dwoodward]

Originally Posted by kickerb

I'm digging up this thread simply because I don't think we need a new one. So I was hanging with a pal last night. He shows me this cigar:



What say ye? Plume or Mold???

Looks like half the cigars at my local B&M.... Seriously...

thanks for the info!

[44stampede]

Originally Posted by kickerb

I'm digging up this thread simply because I don't think we need a new one. So I was hanging with a pal last night. He shows me this cigar:



What say ye? Plume or Mold???

I would say that it's 99% mold on this bad boy...

Mold isnt bad its just extra flavour its like smoking a fine blue cheese.

Same goes for beetles.

[ApexAZ]

Might produce a good trip? Or clear out a sinus infection!

[BlindedByScience]

I'd posted this in another forum I frequent; seems pertanant. A guy had asked about (gasp) using a dilute bleach solution to wipe moldy cigars with....

Here's my reply:

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 really 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.

JMHO, YMMV, AFIK, OMG BBQ, etc......B.B.S.

My local B&M swears up and down that this is plume. Thoughts?