Mold vs Plume
I'm not sure about all of you, but i am tired of seeing people online posting incorrect information on the difference between mold and plume on a cigar.
It happens all the time, even to people who are considered "knowledgeable"
I will leave the name of the blog out (as to not embarrass anyone that may be viewing), but there is a blog out there that posted this picture:
The words in the caption are close to correct. Plume on your cigars shows that your humidor is doing its job. (if you have plume) your cigars might be amazing. The big issue here is that the arrows are pointing to a big ol' spot of mold.
Too many people get this wrong. There is a ton of bad information out there. There are also so few cases of actual plume, and so many people that wish they had it, that there is excitement driven by hope any time any bit of white shows up.
The best way you can properly identify both plume and mold is to become very familiar with both.
Lets start with mold.
Mold can be blue, gray, yellow, green, and (most commonly confused with plume) white. There are rumors out there that mold cannot be white. But this is 100% wrong.
Mold is alive. It tends to start in one spot and branches out from there. The very small stalks grow up or out and have spores on the end that will spread from there. Often times mold will look like webbing, or fuzz, or if you break out the magnifying glass, little tiny Dr. Seuss trees:
here is a great example of this within the foot of a cigar:
Because of how it grows and expands, it will be splotchy and uneven. It will also look three dimensional.
Mold, when on the wrapper, will look like it is on top of the wrapper not like it is part of it.
Lets get a few examples of mold and what gives it away as mold
in the following picture, even though the white covers the entire cigar it is splotchy and spotty. This is not plume because plume is evenly distributed.
In the next picture there is a good example of the spotty nature of mold on the top cigar and a good example of the fuzzy or web-like structure of mold on the bottom cigar:
This next picture is an example of how mold can spread from one cigar to another and aslo how it spreads on one cigar. If you look at the spots you can see that it looks more solid white in the center than on the edges of the splotches.
this next picture is a difficult one. Because of the relative uniformity of the white, some might say that it is plume. However if you look close you can see that there is structure to it. There is a webbing and it appears to be on top of the wrapper. This is mold.
Plume is the oils within a cigar surfacing and crystallizing. Oils tend to do this in a uniform fashion. Since it is a crystal and it is uniform over the entire wrapper it will uniformly sparkle gently. Think of it this way, when it is very cold out and it has snowed when you look out into a field that is lit by the moon, the snow will sparkle uniformly. This concept is what a cigar with plume will look like under light. Of course it wont be as intense and it will be tobacco colored but it will have a sparkle to it. In lower light it will look more like a haze or dust. The dust will actually look like it is part of the cigar's wrapper, not like it is sitting on top of it.
The following is a close up picture of plume on a cigar, notice the sparkle and lack of 3D structure:
this next picture is taken under lower light. The haze is uniform over the entire cigar:
this next picture shows plume in its most common form. It is uniform and very light. It is almost unnoticeable.
please please please, learn the difference between mold and plume before you post pictures and say how awesome your cigar is because its covered in awesome plume when your cigar looks like this:
It happens all the time, even to people who are considered "knowledgeable"
I will leave the name of the blog out (as to not embarrass anyone that may be viewing), but there is a blog out there that posted this picture:
The words in the caption are close to correct. Plume on your cigars shows that your humidor is doing its job. (if you have plume) your cigars might be amazing. The big issue here is that the arrows are pointing to a big ol' spot of mold.
Too many people get this wrong. There is a ton of bad information out there. There are also so few cases of actual plume, and so many people that wish they had it, that there is excitement driven by hope any time any bit of white shows up.
The best way you can properly identify both plume and mold is to become very familiar with both.
Lets start with mold.
Mold can be blue, gray, yellow, green, and (most commonly confused with plume) white. There are rumors out there that mold cannot be white. But this is 100% wrong.
Mold is alive. It tends to start in one spot and branches out from there. The very small stalks grow up or out and have spores on the end that will spread from there. Often times mold will look like webbing, or fuzz, or if you break out the magnifying glass, little tiny Dr. Seuss trees:
here is a great example of this within the foot of a cigar:
Because of how it grows and expands, it will be splotchy and uneven. It will also look three dimensional.
Mold, when on the wrapper, will look like it is on top of the wrapper not like it is part of it.
Lets get a few examples of mold and what gives it away as mold
in the following picture, even though the white covers the entire cigar it is splotchy and spotty. This is not plume because plume is evenly distributed.
In the next picture there is a good example of the spotty nature of mold on the top cigar and a good example of the fuzzy or web-like structure of mold on the bottom cigar:
This next picture is an example of how mold can spread from one cigar to another and aslo how it spreads on one cigar. If you look at the spots you can see that it looks more solid white in the center than on the edges of the splotches.
this next picture is a difficult one. Because of the relative uniformity of the white, some might say that it is plume. However if you look close you can see that there is structure to it. There is a webbing and it appears to be on top of the wrapper. This is mold.
Plume is the oils within a cigar surfacing and crystallizing. Oils tend to do this in a uniform fashion. Since it is a crystal and it is uniform over the entire wrapper it will uniformly sparkle gently. Think of it this way, when it is very cold out and it has snowed when you look out into a field that is lit by the moon, the snow will sparkle uniformly. This concept is what a cigar with plume will look like under light. Of course it wont be as intense and it will be tobacco colored but it will have a sparkle to it. In lower light it will look more like a haze or dust. The dust will actually look like it is part of the cigar's wrapper, not like it is sitting on top of it.
The following is a close up picture of plume on a cigar, notice the sparkle and lack of 3D structure:
this next picture is taken under lower light. The haze is uniform over the entire cigar:
this next picture shows plume in its most common form. It is uniform and very light. It is almost unnoticeable.
please please please, learn the difference between mold and plume before you post pictures and say how awesome your cigar is because its covered in awesome plume when your cigar looks like this:
4
Comments
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
1) in the cigar world "plume" and "bloom" are the same thing. i just prefer the word "plume"
of course i have ever only seen it on 4 cigars ever.
Another myth or misunderstanding I'd love to hear your opinion on... I hear all the time, plume can be wiped off, mold cannot... Well, I'd agree that green/blue mold stains the wrapper, but the white splotchy mold you see in those pictures comes right off and I believe this is what that myth is confused with. I've only had some vintage upmann's I bought, and a couple old LGC's I found have plume, and it's not something that wipes off. Its almost like a film of sorts, and it's part of the wrapper or in the wrapper in a way. It's much easier to see in flash pictures as well or in the light to the naked eye. Lcpeel/Isaac had some great examples a while back.
This info is from Cigar Aficionado: "Physical appearance aside, the easiest way to determine what's growing on your cigars is to apply the "rub test." Using your finger, try to rub the material off. If it flakes off it's plume, if it doesn't it's mold. And if it's plume, rub the rest off your cigar, light up and enjoy."
I don't think this is too sound of advice... as mentioned above mold CAN BE rubbed off (Although I do not know if plume will "flake" off differently). And why the hell would you rub all of it (the plume) off before smoking?? Sounds like they're just asking for a damaged wrapper.
Thanks for the concise thread, Kuzi. It's always good to re-read this info. I am sometimes amazed at what gets mistaken for plume, i.e. the dr. seuss trees (Lol!). However, I'm sure there is confusion for a reason... I have never seen a moldy cigar that I would say could pass for plume, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.
I would say, if you run into a cigar (either in a B&M or the bottom of your humidor) that you cannot tell mold Vs. plume, use context clues!! If the humidor feels too humid or the cigar is in a damp corner, I'd bet mold. Have the cigars been in a secluded, undisturbed location? or do they get handled and shuffled frequently? Moving them around sure will not help plume form.
It's even more frustrating when you walk into a shop, see moldy cigars and point it out to the owner, thinking you're being helpful only to have them say: "no, that's plume. It means they're well aged." No, it's mold, and it means you may be over humidifying your sticks or have poor air circulation. It also means it's probably going to spread...soon.
I will add that just because your cigar has a few spots of mold doesn't mean you should throw it away. Wipe it off and if you're the cautious type, seperate it from the rest of your cigars. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the B.S. that if you see a spot of mold on the outside of your cigar the inside is full of it. Next time you were going to throw away a cigar bc of mold just take it and cut it open and inspect it.
Anyone who has kept cigars for long periods of time has had mold. If I threw away every cigar I had that one little spot of mold showed up on I'd have been out hundreds of dollars of cigars. That being said if it was covered completely I would chuck it. but a couple of spots. Just put your big girl panties on ...