Plume or Mold?...
- Thread starter James84
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Hard to tell from those pics. Need more definition. If it looks crystally/sugary it's more than likely plume
For some reason I just can't get a good shot of it..but I do notice it sparkling in other areas under the light, but not in that specific area.
I'm going to say it's plume. I'm no mycology major though! Lol
Lol good enough for me. I will let it sit a while longer to see if it grows. Thanks for your input!
Mold usually has a smell. But, sometimes with a really strong tobacco, it gets masked by the tobacco.
However, there is a lot of recent research in cigars that says that what we call plume is actually mold also. What it is exactly is just really not known. I have plume on most of my tobaccos in the cellar now, and really, I can't tell if the tobacco is just naturally more mellow because of the age or if a visible plume make any difference. I am sure, however, that it doesn't make it any sweeter. So, I personally have ruled out that it is some sort of sugar. YMMV
However, there is a lot of recent research in cigars that says that what we call plume is actually mold also. What it is exactly is just really not known. I have plume on most of my tobaccos in the cellar now, and really, I can't tell if the tobacco is just naturally more mellow because of the age or if a visible plume make any difference. I am sure, however, that it doesn't make it any sweeter. So, I personally have ruled out that it is some sort of sugar. YMMV
Hmm interesting. Im realy new to this tobacco cellaring. I purchased the tobacco like this. Thank you for that info. I have some learning to do.
I’ve seen that too, but I think cigars are in a different category in most cases, though. The reason I say that is because a lot of pipe tobacco is cased with sugar water, and sometimes that excess sugar will crystallize out, and some people call it plume/bloom, even though it’s not the same thing as is seen on cigars, which aren’t cased. And of course that sugar will be crystalline in appearance. Personally I don’t buy the idea that any crystallized sugar makes a difference in and of itself. I mean, you’re smoking the sugar whether it’s still in the tobacco or has crystallized on the surface, so what’s the difference? I do think it is a sign of age though, and some blends do mellow, meld, and change a bit with age.
Just my hunch. I could be wrong ?
Looks like I'd roll it up, stuff it in my pipe and smoke it to me. If you're concerned, mail it to me. If I'm still posting here in a month, it must have been plume.
Letting it sit a little longer sounds like a good idea. My guess is that if it is mold it will move quickly in a few days.
Do you have some more pictures? Hard to tell from these (both in terms of angles and quality) Sometimes it's easier to judge from a bigger picture. Were all the flakes uniformly like that or is that cluster an anomaly? Sparkling is usually a good indicator that it's plume but can't be definitive.
But, if you scrape a little off and taste it, it doesn't taste sweet. Yeh, I got all nerdy and tried that.
I agree. If anyone has taken a chemistry class, you'd know that when sugar burns, it doesn't smell very sweet. It's actually acrid, waxy, and horrible.... a lot like how I experience aromatics. Just nasty.
Never tasted it, so I may be wrong. I just figured it was such a small amount of sugar that the smell was not noticeable compared to the tobacco.
So what does it taste like? ?
Seen something like that on few plugs and flakes. As long as it's not "hairy", smell bad, or moving on its own power, I've smoked it. So far I'm not dead. That doesn't mean I'm healthy either.
It's plume and/or crystalized casing or secret sauce. Smoke it. I've had blends mold on only a few occasions, and the mold was white fluffy/hairy and the tobacco smelled HORRIBLE.
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