Plume

[Fuzz]

11 minutes ago, PigFish said:

Do we need to start a poll. If offered two identical cigars, one moldy and one not, which do you take?

 

Can't I take both?

[Lucifer Morningstar]

I saw this on Youtube today: 

I'm no expert by any imagination - but I don't see any plume.

[Smallclub]

1 hour ago, SenorPerfecto said:

I'm sure there are people who consider mold desirable. We call them morons.

You don't know what you're talking about. Zino Davidoff was a moron in regard to cigars? Good one. And who is "we" exactly? The Fraternity Against Fongic Spores?

[PigFish]

1 hour ago, Fuzz said:

Can't I take both?

With an name like Fuzzy, I can understand your kinship to mold!!!

-tP

[PigFish]

1 hour ago, Lucifer Morningstar said:

I saw this on Youtube today: 

I'm no expert by any imagination - but I don't see any plume.

I think the name is wrong on the box... They are Corona cigars!!! -LOL

-Piggy

[Leopolis Semper Fidelis]

I'm not convinced that the crystal deposits on my Davidoff 80 Aniversario cigars were mould, especially as oily residue was deposited on the cedar overlay as well, and those stains are still there.  For these reasons, I'll continue to maintain that the mysterious bloom/plume was at work.  Does oil migration happen?  Does plume occur?  Are they good or neutral?  Who cares: they are/were there!  Incidentally, when the RyJ Celestiales Finos were marketed wrapped in cellophane, a box obtained way back when had the sleeves absolutely saturated with a gorgeous dark brown sheen and an exquisite bouquet.  I'm not suggesting oil transference took place, probably just tobacco-staining, but I thought I'd mention this anyhow.

[Fuzz]

11 minutes ago, Leopolis Semper Fidelis said:

I'm not convinced that the crystal deposits on my Davidoff 80 Aniversario cigars were mould, especially as oily residue was deposited on the cedar overlay as well, and those stains are still there.  For these reasons, I'll continue to maintain that the mysterious bloom/plume was at work.  Does oil migration happen?  Does plume occur?  Are they good or neutral?  Who cares: they are/were there!  Incidentally, when the RyJ Celestiales Finos were marketed wrapped in cellophane, a box obtained way back when had the sleeves absolutely saturated with a gorgeous dark brown sheen and an exquisite bouquet.  I'm not suggesting oil transference took place, probably just tobacco-staining, but I thought I'd mention this anyhow.

I don't know, mate. Ever seen an old piece of cellophane? They turn brown over time. Maybe you just like the look and smell of old cellophane!

[Leopolis Semper Fidelis]

On 5/12/2017 at 2:58 PM, Fuzz said:

I don't know, mate. Ever seen an old piece of cellophane? They turn brown over time. Maybe you just like the look and smell of old cellophane!

There is old cellophane and then there is old cellophane.  The pieces stained by Havanas have a pleasant bouquet (to me, at any rate) - as for the others, it depends on what they housed!

[BarryNY]

I received a few sealed boxes of recent Diplomaticos RE smokes in their cedar boxes.

There was some mold on a few of the sticks - mostly on the 2 sticks at the outer edges of the box.

My conclusion - it was the cedar box that must have had a high humidity content and caused the mold to grow on the cigars as opposed to the vendor's storage conditions as these were box code late fall 2015....and the vendor didn't have them all that long.

[Spanishcedar]

Since we're off topic, mold is mold and plume is something that adds character to the cigars presentation and possibly tasting experience.

Ivayla, back to your question, I've seen plume right out of some boxes that were just a couple years old and some of my sticks will start to show after a couple or three more years of resting around 65rh and some none at all. It's not something I have put effort into achieving. The oldest smokes that I have are only about 8-10 years old but I just pull them out, enjoy their show for a bit and then they are up in smoke! 

[Leopolis Semper Fidelis]

11 hours ago, Spanishcedar said:

Since we're off topic, mold is mold and plume is something that adds character to the cigars presentation and possibly tasting experience.

Ivayla, back to your question, I've seen plume right out of some boxes that were just a couple years old and some of my sticks will start to show after a couple or three more years of resting around 65rh and some none at all. It's not something I have put effort into achieving. The oldest smokes that I have are only about 8-10 years old but I just pull them out, enjoy their show for a bit and then they are up in smoke! 

I'm delighted that someone else has experienced plume/bloom on his cigars and knows it isn't mould.   I, too, didn't put effort into achieving it - but there it was!

[Shaunster]

Im still yet to hear why 'plume' is a good thing, everything I have heard says it is crystallizing of oils on the wrapper, now surely this would detract from the flavour rather than enhance it. 

[RijkdeGooier]

Lovely discussion as always. 

Sometimes plume does exist. It tastes a bit sweet like sugar.

It brings nothing to the smoking experience. 

[fabes]

On 5/13/2017 at 5:22 AM, BarryNY said:

I received a few sealed boxes of recent Diplomaticos RE smokes in their cedar boxes.

There was some mold on a few of the sticks - mostly on the 2 sticks at the outer edges of the box.

My conclusion - it was the cedar box that must have had a high humidity content and caused the mold to grow on the cigars as opposed to the vendor's storage conditions as these were box code late fall 2015....and the vendor didn't have them all that long.

Hmmm. Don't agree with this conclusion. If referring to the Paises Bajos RE, then I recall receiving sealed boxes almost immediately after being available. Some had mold, some did not. If you received your boxes fairly recently, then they would have had plenty of time for storage conditions to let mold flourish. It can grow rather quickly. Additionally, how do you think the cedar box got the high humidity? 

[Spanishcedar]

2 hours ago, SenorPerfecto said:

If you're looking at a cigar with a couple of years on it and you're seeing something unusual on the wrapper, don't be alarmed. Wipe it off and smoke it.

Well put, that's what this forum is all about, encouraging people to enjoy cigars!

[PigFish]

1 hour ago, fabes said:

Hmmm. Don't agree with this conclusion. If referring to the Paises Bajos RE, then I recall receiving sealed boxes almost immediately after being available. Some had mold, some did not. If you received your boxes fairly recently, then they would have had plenty of time for storage conditions to let mold flourish. It can grow rather quickly. Additionally, how do you think the cedar box got the high humidity? 

Gents... this is not a cigar 'centric' event.

Lets go back to a little science. We use what is referred to as Equilibrium Relative Humidity to establish an Equilibrium Moisture Content to condition a cigar. Now assuming that the box as a unit was stored at all, the likelihood of 'one object' in the box being out of ErH balance with the other contents is not likely.

The science here is pretty straight forward. Water does 'pick and choose' were it resides, it resides accordion to the substance and is visualized, or depicted via an isotherm. It resides based on a supportive ErH and migrates to maintain a balance, an equal ErH per the hygroscopic substance. There are charts on the net for water activity and mold. Some hygroscopic materials pick up water easily while others do not!

Look at it this way. If a 70 ErH (this is just an example) environment in a wood sheet were sufficient to cause mold in a 70 ErH cigar, we would not be using wood sheets to store cigars with now would we?

Wood can actually withstand complete submersion in liquid water. While I cannot prove it with an isotherm for wood verses tobacco (I am too lazy to do the research today), wood is likely far more resistant to water (vapor) uptake than tobacco. If a wet ingredient is going to mold another product, it is likely the tobacco that would be carrying the most water at least in the short term, at which case it will all begin to equalize given the moment the objects are housed together! IF the hygroscopicity of tobacco is greater than wood, and I believe it is, then the likely culprit is the cigar! Lumber is actually extremely resilient to mold growth unless it is dripping wet!

Cheers! -Piggy

[WoadyCypress]

I was watching reviews on the Trinidad Reyes the other day. One of the videos starred a younger gentleman in it. He mentioned receiving his Trinidad Reyes in a five pack and mentioned they had plume when they arrived...

Needless to say I immediately went to the next video.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[BarryNY]

On 5/15/2017 at 3:39 PM, fabes said:

Hmmm. Don't agree with this conclusion. If referring to the Paises Bajos RE, then I recall receiving sealed boxes almost immediately after being available. Some had mold, some did not. If you received your boxes fairly recently, then they would have had plenty of time for storage conditions to let mold flourish. It can grow rather quickly. Additionally, how do you think the cedar box got the high humidity? 

Yes it was the PE RE

[Leopolis Semper Fidelis]

On 5/16/2017 at 6:10 AM, SenorPerfecto said:

It's mold. It's always mold. You've got mold. Modly McMoldface. Mold.

But not when it's bloom/plume! 

[Guinnie]

I was having a look at some cigars at a tobacconist on the weekend and noticed mold on a few different cigars some with a few spots others covered with raised spores all over, i mentioned this to the guy behind the counter his response was that mold means that its being stored at the correct temp humidity