Irish Oak - Have I hit the Jackpot or Mold?

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jaq6q

Might Stick Around
Jul 5, 2015
75
1
Hello all,

hope you all are doing well.

Mold still confuses me, so please bear with me.
When I opened a year-old Peterson Irish Oak, I have found some strands with white spots/specks.


The one on the left is definitely plume. It looks more like sugar. But the one on the right with few specks, would you also say that's plume? Can you still get mold on plumed tobacco?


I also noticed that Dunhill's EMP had similar appearance when I first opened it about a year ago. However, I was told that it is a sign of quality tobacco, so I smoked right away back then.


I know that mold is 3D and it won't by shiny/twinkling when I put flashlight on it.

Those white spots looks 3D to me and would not twinkle.

Also the brown stuff in the picture can be smeared by the nail.
Or I may be overthinking, but better safe than sorry!

 

jaq6q

Might Stick Around
Jul 5, 2015
75
1


These look more like sugar cubes and brown sugars than mold when magnified.

Well that seems to solve the issue.

Thank you though for your time!

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,068
Carmel Valley, CA
Sorry don't have an opinion.
But it's not plume, though it could be bloom. Some blooms can form a plume, but that'a a bit rare. (Mixing up the terms is pretty common.)

 

alan73

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 26, 2017
666
653
Wisconsin
Keep us posted after smoking. Never seen a bloom or plume, or crystals for that matter. Looks like mold to me , on first glance

 

jaq6q

Might Stick Around
Jul 5, 2015
75
1
Thank you all for your thoughts!
Cortez - The picture of FVF in the link has the similar brown/yellow sugary powder except that FVF's seems to be flat on the flakes, while mine does not seem to be flat, but rather, stood (?) up. Thanks for the link!
alan73 - The typical hairy mold looks something like this.

(Taken from Presbyterian Mixture which I opened today... :( )


 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
So, mold looks like hair, but the sugars look like frosty little genital warts. OK, that's straightforward enough.

 

jvnshr

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
I also noticed that Dunhill's EMP had similar appearance when I first opened it about a year ago.
Same thing here. After keeping Dunhill EMP in a jar for some time, I also noticed similar things on few ribbons. I couldn't decide whether it was mold or bloom, threw away the ribbons and waited for a while again. If it had been mold it should have grown on other ribbons as well, nothing happened luckily. Long story short, I think you have bloom on your tobacco.

 

jaq6q

Might Stick Around
Jul 5, 2015
75
1
alan73 - Wow, that took me long to notice. I just noticed that I misread your post that you didn't see MOLD on tobacco, instead of the plume. I feel like my post has given an impression that I was disregarding alan73's opinion by saying "The typical mold would..." (which I did not). I am sorry and I appreciate every comments and thoughts!
deathmetal - Haha I guess so!
wyfbane - I am sure it would be a huge hit in the market! However, because I can't seem to grow a beard, I am a bit jealous that tobacco got its beard first.
jvnshr - Yes I put it in the jar. Just like you mentioned, my EMP has been fine ever since, so I think this one will be fine as well. Thanks!

 
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