True plume is a decent indication that the cigar is not only aged, but aged in proper conditions. As for that being a criterion for when a cigar is "ready," to each his own but I'm leaning towards horse feathers.
It's an indication that the tobacco is aged. Taste after that is subjective and if it is crappy tobacco then who cares. However, the few cigars I have smoked with plume were really good.
Too many B&Ms try to excuse their mold outbreaks with plume. True plume is so rare you will be lucky to see it, but I love my stash of fine smokes and not one is showing significant plume yet. That's after 5 years for some in flawless condition of rh and temp never varying more than maybe plus/minus 3 deg F and plus/minus 2rh. Smoke what you enjoy, plume is rare and I haven't seen it NC or CC brands after a few years. Just beware the scum B&M owners trying to get rid of moldy cigars saying "its plume means the cigars will smoke amazing" when its clearly a mold infestation.
Too many B&Ms try to excuse their mold outbreaks with plume. True plume is so rare you will be lucky to see it, but I love my stash of fine smokes and not one is showing significant plume yet. That's after 5 years for some in flawless condition of rh and temp never varying more than maybe plus/minus 3 deg F and plus/minus 2rh. Smoke what you enjoy, plume is rare and I haven't seen it NC or CC brands after a few years. Just beware the scum B&M owners trying to get rid of moldy cigars saying "its plume means the cigars will smoke amazing" when its clearly a mold infestation.
I read somewhere on here that if you handle the sticks a lot they will be far less likely to get plume than if you don't. I guess you inadvertently remove some invisible layer when you touch them or something. So this could be why you don't see it?
IMO plume is more of a novelty idea...yes it means your sticks have been well aged in the right conditions which is always a plus!! But at the same time it also means those flavorful oils that make a cigar what it is are leaving it!! I figure age cigars if they get plume your doing it right if they don't I won't lose sleep over it!! Especially since almost every great cigar I have ever smoked has not had plume on it
Funny ... I scored a Carreras Habano maduro robusto which had been in the store some years. Sparked it up tonight. Noticed these tiny white spots. Is this plume? Dampened my finger and wiped them right off. Didn't smell bad. Smoked good.
No plume, just a few tiny white imperfections which could possibly be the beginnings of mold but its just a tiny spot. Do a google search for "plume cigar pics" and its funny. I can tell you the first page all pics were mold outbreaks. Now maybe my tablet shows different pics but those are ALL mold. Its so rare you probably won't see it and to be honest when someone gives you the plume sorry its most likely mold. Tomorrow if I have time on my desktop I'll try to post some interwebs pictures of true plume. If I can find any that is, because 99 percent of them are clear white mold outbreaks.
So if plume is crystallization from the oils, then would it generally cover the whole cigar like a crystalline powder? Versus mold growing into clumpy spots??
So if plume is crystallization from the oils, then would it generally cover the whole cigar like a crystalline powder? Versus mold growing into clumpy spots??
After digging thru my entire stash, even the stuff that has been gifted and/or hiding for years I did find several that had light plume. The most recognizable was gifted by my first bomb at Puff, from the master Shuckins, its a Padron maduro (looks like robusto) that seriously has to be a decade old, its OLD. A few other maduros have a lot of sparkly twinkling going on, but you have to really look and I don't consider it plume unless its like popping out everywhere. Really when you see what plume is you will never mistake it for the lumpy white mold clumps in those pics.
At my local B&M I noticed something on a some Namakubi sticks. I wanted to buy a few to try but couldn't tell if it was mold or plume. My guess is mold. It wiped off real easy on one I picked up but I wasn't going to buy a stick that looked like it did. If I go in this weekend I will take a picture. I would love to see what you guys think.
So i went in today and noticed on the Namakubi the mold in question had been wiped off. But now on all the daruma's there is this......
I don't know what's going on cause it is only happening on these Room 101 sticks. Nothing else in the walk in has it. But now that I think about it, all the other Camacho's are in cellophane. Anyway, I am really disappointed because I really like the Daruma's and can only find them there.
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