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Is it Mold or Plume?

Submitted By: SenorPablo Date: 07/04/2019 12:00 AM Views: 3116

Is it Mold or Plume?
By: Rebecca Silverwolf

Whether you are aging your own cigars, or purchasing from vendors who might not be so careful with their stock, it's important to be able to tell the difference between mold and plume on a cigar.

Mold

Cigar mold most often has a white, fuzzy appearance. Though it may also be green, blue, gray or yellow. Mold occurs generally in environments with a Relative Humidity of 70% or higher, so keeping your humidors below 70% will lessen the chances of mold. Please note, even if your hygrometer is reading below 70%, there will be wet and dry spots in your humidor. Opening up your humidor and rotating your stock can help reduce the potential mold growth. Mold also likes higher temperatures, so keeping your humidor cool will also help. However, you are storing fermenting leaves in a closed box with moisture, mold will happen eventually.

When you have mold on a cigar, it will first grow in patches. It can then spread over a larger area of the cigar.

Cigar mold might grow on, or spread over, the foot of a cigar. (My advice would be to throw these sticks away.)

Mold can spread from one cigar to another, and could potentially ruin an entire humidor of cigars.

The mold on cigars is generally, but not always, harmless to humans. (What is often called "Blue Mold" on cigars is actually a very toxic bacterial growth.) The safest thing to do is to throw away cigars that are badly infected with mold. However, you can also remove and treat the mold spots, especially if the mold isn't too bad. To treat the mold, wipe it off the surface of the cigar gently; avoid spreading it over more of the cigar. Then treat the spots with a high alcohol content spirit. 151 proof rum and vodka are popular choices. Apply with a cotton swab. Don't use any more alcohol than is needed to treat the spots. Saturating the wrapper could cause it to crack. You will need to monitor the infected sticks for new growth for a while.

Plume

Plume, also called Bloom, occurs when the oils on the surface of a cigar wrapper crystallize. It forms a white powdery or crystalline substance, which can easily be brushed off the surface of the cigar. Indeed, the presence of the crystals themselves do not affect the flavors of the cigar, but are a visual indication that the cigar has been stored in favorable conditions for a long period of time.

Unlike mold, which appears in patches, plume will appear evenly and over a large area of a cigar. Plume will NEVER appear on the foot of a cigar. Ever. If it's on the foot, it's mold.

Plume may look a lot like salt crystals, and even have a little bit of sparkle when held up to light.

So, I found this picture online with a title of "I love Plume". I have bad news for this guy...

Yeah, that's mold. (Happens a lot under cedar sleeves and in coffins.)

So, the next time some moron at a cigar store tries to convince you to buy that cigar that is fuzzier than a three-week-old kitten, tell him that you prefer to avoid smoking your penicillin.

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Comments

arrow34 Elite Veteran Send PM Offline Posts: 1,194	02/19/2019 12:00 AM I used to believe in PLUM, but I dont anymore. Great pictures, in my experience it is all mold...
Deener27 Elite Veteran Send PM Offline Posts: 1,124	02/03/2017 12:00 AM I have been in retail shops and have seen the moldy stuff. The problem is, and this is true in most humidors, the high humidity coupled with stagnant air. The reason why most commercial systems work so well is that it circulates the air effectively.
MacMac Expert Send PM Offline Posts: 2,108	11/29/2015 12:00 AM This is a fantastic article! I was very educational.
sharpeink Newbie Send PM Offline Posts: 1	04/15/2014 12:00 AM Great share! Should always be on the look out!
hebron Expert Send PM Offline Posts: 1,487	02/24/2014 12:00 AM Very informative article, thank you :)
johncw Elite Expert Send PM Offline Posts: 4,614	10/14/2013 12:00 AM Awesome info. I was in my local B&M and noticed a few cigars in one of the humidors and was wondering what the difference between mold and plume is.
Turboknat Elite Veteran Send PM Offline Posts: 782	07/28/2013 12:00 AM These are some of the best picture examples I have seen. Very good article.
1029henry Expert Send PM Offline Posts: 1,591	11/02/2012 12:00 AM Great info, and don''t bother pointing out the mold to the owner, as cmmayosays, they always call it plume!!!!
billy82 Elite Expert Send PM Offline Posts: 5,498	10/23/2012 12:00 AM Excellent work Rebecca, great read!!
Robert LG Extreme Expert Send PM Offline Posts: 3,619	09/28/2012 12:00 AM Great article!
grabow66 Expert Send PM Offline Posts: 1,328	09/25/2012 12:00 AM Excellent work Rebecca, great read!!
cmmayo Elite Expert Send PM Offline Posts: 5,794	09/25/2012 12:00 AM Solid information. I was just at Club Humidor on San Pedro in San Antonio and saw a lot of mold. Didn''t bother mentioning it--salespeople will always call it plume.