Plume vs mold - from facebook

[Deano]

Yeah no big surprises for me, it was always going to be a mold of some sort, I just wondered if it was specific to tobacco/cigars and less harmless.
Fundamentally I would think untreated leaf from a tree is always likely to get mold, I'm surprised we don't get more!
If it ain't on the end of the stick, I tend to wipe it and smoke

[ha_banos]

Ok this is way too geeky for me:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7629592_Quantitative_determination_of_compounds_in_tobacco_essential_oils_by_comprehensive_two-dimensional_gas_chromatography_coupled_to_time-of-flight_mass_spectrometry

In case that's broken https://goo.gl/dfJg4a

I just try to keep the conditions right. Check often. Sniff often. And hope!

[Simon Bolivar]

I don't believe fluffy, filimentous type groths are plume, that's mould, as most of us supsected over th eyrs & these tests have backed up. However I am with Tommy, in that I am sure I have seen crystal like sheen on rare occasions. Have we any chemist types here who can think of some oils that do indeed crystalise under certian conditions, that might be found in a tobacco leaf?

[gojira]

Send it to me instead

[Budgie Smuggler]

I don't believe in plume. My theory is that the fine crystal dusting is either a form of mould or over-application of gum when applying the wrapper.

[tommy]

What do you guys make of this. It's a very light dusting but it's something I've only seen twice. Until I read the FoH results on aspergillosis I would have sworn that this is plume. What I didn't know is that mould doesn't always look like fluffy growths. The aspergillosis pics in the article have made me think twice.

One thing that is holding me to belief in plume is that this cigar was part of a bundle of 50 that were taken from Cuba in 2010 and stored at 65 since then. How does one cigar get mould while the rest have none. I guess it could happen in its short life in Cuba but one cigar in a bundle of 50 seems unlikely. On the other hand one cigar getting plume makes sense to me. If it's a physical show of the oils as they crystallise on the surface and is very rare that would explain this being the only one in the bundle.
Honestly I don't know, if you could see and smell the cigar in person it would be easier to believe. It has absolutely no musty smell and the stuff is quite dry and sandy to touch. I've offered it to rob, if he wants to test it I'm game.

[JohnL]

Maybe site sponsor could send a couple of his in

[sheppsea]

Have they updated the article from last month?
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Nope, they are looking for new 'plume' to test

Thank you for sharing, this was a really interesting read.

Not conclusive by any means as the sample is so small but the sample does indicate what I have suspected all along

[canistreli]

Thank you for sharing, this was a really interesting read.

[SHAMZ84]

Have they updated the article from last month?

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[sheppsea]

They have tested 10 samples over at FoH and the early indications is that the existence of plume is bullshit

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/topic/131757-final-mould-report/

It was a very small sample so not conclusive, but I suspect further testing will prove the same. For anyone that does have a cigar that proves to be plume, they are offering a reward to send it to them:

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/topic/131842-plume-wanted-dead-or-alive/#comment-792595

[Horsebox]

Laughable

It's written like it's all based in fact. I wonder if they'll update that particular page?


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[SHAMZ84]

well that puts that argument to bed.

[Shaun]

https://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/cigar-lib..._or_mould.html

Laughable

[JoeyGunz]

https://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/cigar-library/plume_or_mould.html