Crystals Ahoy...

[craig61a]

I just got a box of GH & Co. Dark Plug with a 286 date code with veins of crystallization running through it like I’ve never seen before... pretty cool. Looks like something from the bakery case at Caribou.

I looked at the surface with a 10X loupe. Little tiny crystalline structures.

 

[seldom]

an interesting thread in a cigar forum that seems to discount the idea of plume totally. FOH Mould Study

 

[olkofri]

Delicious mould! S'ok, penicillium is good for you.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I don't believe that is plume.

 

[augiebd]

Delicious mould! S'ok, penicillium is good for you.

Unless allergies to Red Virginias are genetically linked to penicillin allergies.

 

[anotherbob]

an interesting thread in a cigar forum that seems to discount the idea of plume totally. FOH Mould Study

at my local the owner said plume was a type of mold that just wouldn't harm you. I have no idea if that is really the case but it makes sense. As you there are different types of mold and some will really ruin your day or life and others are just sort of there. The theory it's plume if you can wipe it off might just mean it's a mold that can be easily removed because it doesn't penetrate through the cigar and is only mostly superficial. Who knows just a stray thought.

 

[mikestanley]

I wish I could remember the explanation of what that is. It seems to be something that occurs in African Virginias. I've been told it's nothing to worry about.
Mike S.

 

[olkofri]

at my local the owner said plume was a type of mold that just wouldn't harm you

That's arrantly incorrect.

Plume is NOT mould. Never, ever, whatsoever. Plume are sugar crystals, not fungi.

 

[BROBS]

Yes looks like sugar dust, not mold.

 

[BROBS]

That’s not mold...

This is mold:

 

[condorlover1]

+1 @olkofri and Brobs

 

[craig61a]

Actually, not sugars at all, crystallized oils.

The oils are in suspension in the cellular structure of the leaf. As the leaf ages, the ph of the leaf changes, and the oils accumulate and crystallize. The slower this process, the more evenly the accumulation spreads out.

 

[rushx9]

I've read a lot of the back and forth here and elsewhere, but my take is if it's fuzzy, slimey, colored, stinky, or circular patches, it's no good. If it's crystalline, wipes off like powdered sugar, and dissolves into an oily transparent residue on your fingers, it's the mystery precipitate we refer to as sugar or plume. It's definitely not actual sugar, and it may be a by product of fermenting VAs (colony of yeasts and bacteria), but I've never seen mold vanish into oily residue when touched.

 

[didimauw]

That's beautiful crystals u got there!

And isn't cheese mold anyways?

 

[craig61a]

That's beautiful crystals u got there!

Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so localized and copious...

 

[SpookedPiper]

Ok, ok....I will help settle this dispute. Send some this way and I will run it through my bat cave computer while confirming with Dr. McCoy and get back with you promptly!

 

[SpookedPiper]

Share or it didn't happen!

 

[olkofri]

I also offer professional testing: but do note that you have to send at least 1 oz and that the sample will be incinerated/destroyed during testing. ?

 

[gervais]

A jewellers loupe will reveal what you need to know. Sugar-like crystal = OK / spider-web looking fuzzy white shit = don't smoke it!!!!

 

[SpookedPiper]

Also, please enjoy and let us know how it smokes!