A Little Help Here...Mold or Plume

[LTS 4 Bad Cigars]

This evening I was out with the wife doing some Christmas shopping and and we pull into this one shopping center and they have this smoke shop and the sign in the window says "Cigars".

Feeling sorry for having dragged me from pillar to post and everywhere in between she says "Go ahead."

I get in there and the place is more a "dopers' spot, as they are selling all sorts of imbibing aids, knives, air soft guns and other stuff.

I get to the back of the walk in humi and while the selection is not the best, it's not bad either. However, there was nothing that caused me to buy anything yet.

I look up on the shelves and I see these boxes of Camacho's and one box of Ashton VSG. You can see that they are not big movers amongst their normal clients. Nevertheless, I am thinking, hmmm, if that's plume and not mold, might be worth it to pick up some aged sticks at a not too bad price point.

So fellas (and ladies) please take a look at these pics and let me know what you thing.

I apologize in advance as all I had was my iPhone and the ambient lighting was not the best.

 

[Treinenwj]

It's tough to tell from those pics. Well, on my phone it is anyway.

 

[PLUSH]

from what i can see, mold. But very hard to see

 

[Docbp87]

Pictures are tiny... can't tell.

 

[SkinsFanLarry]

Judging from the pic's they almost look dusty to me, first hand inspection would be better but I think it looks like bloom to me.

 

[vivalanation734]

I'm with Larry. Looks more dusty/plume/bloom like to me. It's too uniform to be mold unless it's a crapton of light mold

 

[Moro]

'tis the rare moldy plume! It is supposed to happen to a single cigar box every blue moon and makes whatever yard-gar has it the finest smoke in the land! Lucky bastage...

All jokes aside, pics are a tad small. But it looks more like plume. I won't assure anything, though.

 

[Thegreekone]

I'm with Larry. Looks more dusty/plume/bloom like to me. It's too uniform to be mold unless it's a crapton of light mold

I am of the same belief, which given how new I am, means just about absolutely nothing.

Seriously, I am with the boys on this. Too uniform to be mold or it's mutant mold.

 

[deuce]

from what i can see looks like good stuff...

 

[Jfire]

Neither nore. Prob unfiltered water being used by a hole in the wall shop. Prob deposits being left from the evaporated water. Let me guess boxes were higher up!

 

[ciggy]

I'm with Larry. Looks more dusty/plume/bloom like to me. It's too uniform to be mold unless it's a crapton of light mold

Yea..leaning more this way as well. Need better pics to be sure though.

 

[oneaday]

Mold is feathery in appearance and usually leaves a residue (stain) when wiped off. Plume is chrystal-like in appearence, wipes off easily and leaves no residue.

 

[Trust Your Own Palate]

Unfiltered water being used looks about right
But, Just a side note about (MOLD)..... It has a smell and a taste.
You will know it when you smell it.

 

[BrandonJ]

VSGs are natorious for mold, for some reason anytime vie stored a sealed box over 65% and I put a 2-3 years on a box 5-8 sticks will have this issue without fail.

 

[icehog3]

Plume is chrystal-like in appearence, wipes off easily and leaves no residue.

Never wipe off plume!! :grin:

 

[dpricenator]

Neither nore. Prob unfiltered water being used by a hole in the wall shop. Prob deposits being left from the evaporated water. Let me guess boxes were higher up!

Yep i used tap water in my room humidifier. (the kind to when you are sick). It left a fine powder all over the room. Perfectly coated every surface in the room. This is the first time I have heard this reason be used when asked, "mold or plume?", but it makes sense. If it were mold and there was that much of it, it would be freakin obvious that it was mold. Since it is a head shop / toy store/ tobacco shop, I wouldn't trust them.

 

[Clint]

Never wipe off plume!! :grin:

Unless you're making sure it's not mold!

 

[njstone]

Really hard to tell from these pics, but it sure looks uniform to me. I've seen plenty of moldy VSGs in shops ... most shop owners will call mold "plume" by default in order to sell their cigars, in my experience (or else they'd have removed them). For mold to be all over the stick like that you'd see some very heavy patches and it would probably be pretty obviously mold.

Very odd. Maybe there is something to the suggestion of humidifier residue.

 

[maestrobasser]

I'd check the foot of a stick or two, if it's mold I'd think it would turn up there.

 

[Alwayslit]

Hard to tell in the pics. From what I can see it doesn't have the structure of mold.