That link to the cigars was interesting. It all looked like obvious mould to me and I was surprised there was any other offered explanation for it. I wouldn't smoke any of those cigars. They're mouldy!
In aged pipe tobacco, I've only ever considered the presence of crystallized sugars as being what people thought of as "good" or as a visual indicator of well aged tobacco... primarily in flakes.
Frankly, I had no idea that people also considered a blanket of white or other colour of fuzz/haze/fog/whatnot (or anything other than an obvious crystalline -sugar- presence) as a potential positive thing. To me, it was always mould.
How could anything not sugar like in appearance (glinting like crystals, which to my eye, most moulds do not share this property) not be some kind of mould?
What do people think it is?
I mean, other than some kind of unspecific "plume" or "bloom," which obviously, doesn't say much. I simply never looked up the word plume. Mould, being not dissimilar to a feather like substance makes a hell of a lot of sense now. I just figured you were all yammering on about sugar crystals whenever those words got tossed around!