Plume vs mold - from facebook

[sheppsea]

Sure Shepsea,good idea and I dare say we can work something out. Why not. Contact by email please sales@cgarsltd.co.uk

Cheers

Mitchell

Excellent Mitchell - let's see where VTG gets to with it all

[Simon Bolivar]

Yes strange but informative, not much of a talkative person.

Bloom and plume are not the same.

Bloom is a H&F term for mould I looked up the quote for everyone

A white mould-like substance appears on my cigars periodically. Is this harmful?
No ? this is called ?bloom? and occurs naturally on Havanas when they are subjected to a sudden increase in humidity. It is a sign that the cigars are alive and well and should simply be removed with a soft brush.

http://www.cigars.co.uk/qanda/

Now no one in the cigar industry has ever said plume can be caused by a sudden increase in humidity but it is well known the mould can form this way. Try it yourself.

Let me say this though I dont believe a little mould is the end of the world we are dealing with a hand made natural product it will happen, wipe off and smoke away but not a thing to be proud of thats for sure or something to leave on too grow.

Excellent post John. I was beginning to wonder myself & you seemed to have solved the riddle, in that it's a question of definition & use of the word that's the issue.
1/ Plume as we understand it, is the slight covering of the wrapper with crystals of oil that forms sheen on the surface. They do not look white & fluffy. I believe it does occur but whether it's the sign of a well kept good humidor or great cigar is another debate entirely so we'll leave that aside.

2/ I think we can agree Green & Blue mould is very bad & can't be removed my simple brushing?

3/ H&F are using the term Bloom to describe spots of white fluffy stuff, that does occur at some point is nearly everyone's huimi at some time; especially if the humidity is allowed to rise to 70o+. This is generally agreed to be relatively harmless & can be brushed off (I use a hog hair art brush). The exception being if it's on the foot then best ditched or if you must - a large portion cut off. BUT most importantly, if the fairly harmless white fluffy stuff is left unchecked it will spread to other cigars in the box & eventually to other cigars in other boxes in your humi. This doesn't happen with Plume!

Bloom is actually a good use of the word to describe a fungal growth - as blooming, it's just not attractive like blooming flowers, nor is it desirable or proving a good cigar.

4/ Further confusion is caused with members of our cigar community discuss pics on other international forums. When they have been told by their dealer it's bloom & they describe it as such to members elsewhere, where it's it's 100% called mould. Again our international members aren't overly concerned, they brush it off too but they don't publish pics of it & say 'Wow, look at my blooming cigars!'

This would also explain why a trained German cigar sommelier, was recently ridiculed for posting pics of his cigars & claiming they were covered in bloom & it wasn't mould- against all opposition against him. Well if that's the word they taught him on his course, he was correct.

I would say for H&F to describe mould as Bloom is all about a business protecting its goods from large scale returns (e.g. in the summer), & nothing about it being a positive sign of quality cigars.

Would you say this is fair Mitch?

[Emaresee]

So ... A tale of suprise. Yesterday i took a cigar out shooting. It was the bolivar royal corona which was COTM a few months back. It arrived in good nick, and after someones comment about it being a touch youthful i stowed it. Yesterday i popped it into a cigar tube without looking as i left in a rush. After lunch i popped it in my pocket and lit it up when back out in the field. Unwise choice.... Blisteringly cold wind made cigar smoking a painful (but enjoyable) endeavour. As i craddled the latter third in my hand waiting for somepartridges to appear i spotted something.... It was what can only be described as two patches of a crystaline substance. Sadly between guns, wind frozen hands and a sudden need to get involved i couldnt/ didnt get a photo. Its fair to say that it was unquestionably not mould. So one must assume it is plume.... It arrived as a stick in fine condition, but it wasnt there when it went into the humi so it had evolved... I may be a believer yet!

[TonyN]

How did the day go for you many birds shot.?

[TonyN]

Autumn is so colourfull when your standing on a hill surrounded by woodland.

[Emaresee]

How did the day go for you many birds shot.?

not as many as we might like. The wind made them super sporting birds... Too good for us in part!

[Horsebox]

So ... A tale of suprise. Yesterday i took a cigar out shooting. It was the bolivar royal corona which was COTM a few months back. It arrived in good nick, and after someones comment about it being a touch youthful i stowed it. Yesterday i popped it into a cigar tube without looking as i left in a rush. After lunch i popped it in my pocket and lit it up when back out in the field. Unwise choice.... Blisteringly cold wind made cigar smoking a painful (but enjoyable) endeavour. As i craddled the latter third in my hand waiting for somepartridges to appear i spotted something.... It was what can only be described as two patches of a crystaline substance. Sadly between guns, wind frozen hands and a sudden need to get involved i couldnt/ didnt get a photo. Its fair to say that it was unquestionably not mould. So one must assume it is plume.... It arrived as a stick in fine condition, but it wasnt there when it went into the humi so it had evolved... I may be a believer yet!

Not sure what to make of this! If nothing else, it makes me want to go shooting/herfing on a chilly autumn day.

[TonyN]

Not sure what to make of this! If nothing else, it makes me want to go shooting/herfing on a chilly autumn day.

You realy can't beat it horsebox, being in the country side surrounded by nature specialy at this time of year when all the leaves are changing colour.
While waiting in the wood on Saturday waiting for the guns to get on their pegs and the keeper to blow his whistle for the beaters to start beating
about 9 fallow deer where running out because they got disturbed what a sight it was too.

[Horsebox]

[MENTION=13416639]TonyN[/MENTION] Sounds great, Tony. Autumn is a wonderful season to be outdoors.

Went wild camping on Dartmoor some years back. Woke up very early before pals, sat outside my tent with a brew, watching the deer a stones throw from where we were camped, overlooking the Bristol Channel. A lovely moment and in the days before I had a camera phone stapled to my hand, but one that I'll never forget.


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[TonyN]

Not on a day like today though horsebox good job we had today off
would of been soaked through even worse for the guns standing all day from one peg to another.

[ValeTudoGuy]

UPDATE: This has been a bit of an uphill battle. But finally today one of the UK's leading Mycologists has agreed to investigate this and to involve her think tank.

I am getting close to needing samples. If anyone has any that they are willing to lose in the interest of science, please put them to one side and watch this space!

[ValeTudoGuy]

Right, another minor update. Dr Bignell is asking for me to send the request from the forum via a letter headed communication.

Obviously I am not authorised to do this and it looks like they want to be sure this is a legit request and not some bloke just wasting their time.
[MENTION=1]Deano[/MENTION] or any of the mods, advice please????

[Emaresee]

Bravo sir! If i can do anything to help then shout....not sure what i could possibly do mind you, but willing all the same....

[SHAMZ84]

Nice work VTG I'll check my cigars over the weekend and see if I have anything suitable to test

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[Simon Bolivar]

Great work Marc, Haven't any mouldy or plume covered cigars at present though; Mitch offered to send samples for testing, time to take him up on it.