Cigar Photos

onestrangeone

Is anyone familiar with Jay@cigarphoto? I sent some pic's of sticks I needed some help Identifying the white s*** that appeared on a wheel I have, His opinion is that this is a good thing. When I first saw this I went into a panic thinking that this must be mold, the Rh in this Humi has been a very consistent 67-68 Rh with an electric humidifier. I separated everything and even went so far as to brush some off and put under a microscope (not a very good one but still) the white stuff appears to be crystalline in structure and doesn't seem to have grown any more, it looks like dust when you shine a flash light across them. I thought it took years for Plume to develop? I have only had this batch about six months, Maybe they sat in the warehouse for a while? If I can figure out how I will post some pic's here. Anyway I'm Just wondering if I should trust his opinion, I would like to remove the batch from isolation and put them to bed again.

The Kid

Sounds like Jay knows, and I concurr with his opinion!!! ;o) Yes if it is crystaline like fine sugar or diamond dust it is plume.. I believe plume occurs at different rates for different cigars..A maduro for example could produce this in a short time. basically oils/sugars from the wrapper have crystalized and this is what you are seeing, Ive experienced this with San Lotano maduros after a short time, probably less than a year. Technically maybe not plume but a good thing nonetheless

blurr

Post some pics so we can decide. Plume is so hard to get usually. My aging box is just showing it on maduros after 4 years. Its never fluffy, its always shine a flashlight across and it sparkles like sand with the reflections. Give us some pics to determine, I know nothing of jay or his site.

catfishbluezz

Post pics, it shouldn't wipe off...

onestrangeone

https://plus.google.com/photos/106617546866314605972/albums/5877095681033000000

catfishbluezz

That link does not work. Try uploading them to Photobucket, copy and past the [IMG] code and post that

bigharpoon

It doesn't always take forever for plume to form. When the conditions are right (for quickly inducing plume, not for long term cigar storage) the oils in the cigar can crystallize in a short amount of time. I believe it happens when the cigar(s) are subjected to high temperature followed by a drastic lowering of temp.

I'm not sure how long this needs to go on for or for how many cycles but you are not the first to have plume so quickly, it happens sometimes.

Bob Luken

bigharpoon:

It doesn't always take forever for plume to form. When the conditions are right (for quickly inducing plume, not for long term cigar storage) the oils in the cigar can crystallize in a short amount of time. I believe it happens when the cigar(s) are subjected to high temperature followed by a drastic lowering of temp.

I'm not sure how long this needs to go on for or for how many cycles but you are not the first to have plume so quickly, it happens sometimes.

So if UPS lets them get hot and I routinely freeze my incoming stock,......Can I expect more crystalized oils?

onestrangeone

bigharpoon:

It doesn't always take forever for plume to form. When the conditions are right (for quickly inducing plume, not for long term cigar storage) the oils in the cigar can crystallize in a short amount of time. I believe it happens when the cigar(s) are subjected to high temperature followed by a drastic lowering of temp.

I'm not sure how long this needs to go on for or for how many cycles but you are not the first to have plume so quickly, it happens sometimes.

I'm hopeing it's something that simple, I was pretty freaked out when I first saw it and have been keeping a close eye on them, it's not spreading or anything so I think it's going to be ok. I will post some pic's when I set up the photo bucket thing????

Rhamlin

If its fuzzy and wipes off easily then it's mold. No real big deal unless its the green or black mold. Or it has spread out then you can have a real pain especially if its rooted itself in your humi.

onestrangeone

Well, it took some doing, but success MY first posted Pic! (first)

bigharpoon

Congratulations on posting a pic, not an easy feat on this forum!

Hard for me to tell if that is plume or mold from the picture, though. It doesn't stand out right away as spotty, fuzzy mold but plume is usually more universal in it's coverage as the oils crystallize over the whole cigar basically at the same time/rate. Try taking a photo with your flash on and see if you can see the sparkles in the picture.

catfishbluezz

Interesting, it does look like plume, but spotty lol... I'd take a magnifying glass to it, see if it is growing off the wrapper.