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2005 Opus 22 cigars with plume?
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Here's a picture of the Opus X Perfecxion No.2 cigar from the 2005 Opus 22 set that BigJake sent me to examine:
(click here for a super hires version of the above photo)
From the initial pictures in the thread that were posted here, I was concerned that there might be mold (and not plume) on the Chili Pepper that he smoked and reviewed.
I was incorrect; this is not mold... so you can rest easy, BigJake.
The initial pictures looked like nascent surface mold, because of the distribution, though it was a bit hard to tell from the photos.Out of focus photos can make things look fuzzy that are not.
So why do I know this is not mold?
-- It doesn't rub off at all
-- There are no 3D "stalks" growing up from the white-ish areas
Here is an example of mold.Note the difference in character between the pictures there, and the cigar pictured above.
So what is it?
It doesn't look like plume I've witnessed on Opus X cigars before, and the cigars are also not really old enough for plume to likely occur.Note I said likely; it really depends on the characteristics of the wrapper of the cigar.Also note that although these cigars are from 2005, the wrapper that Fuente uses on Opus X cigars is usually at least 4-5 years old at the time of rolling.
So let's take a closer look at the wrapper:
Definitely not mold, but is it plume?One interesting thing is that it only appears white-ish at certain angles.That to me means we're dealing with a 3D-ish crystalized substance.
The wrapper is somewhat unusual in that it appears to be blistered.My guess is that the wrapper used for this cigar blistered, and emitted oil from said blisters in a rather unique way.
My final (albeit incomplete) conclusion is that this is technically plume, but that the oils have been forced to the surface by the micro-blistering wrapper in a manner that is slightly different from the way plume will normally occur.In other words, the oils "erupted" through the blistering wrapper, as opposed to seeping through normally.
All in all a very interesting case, thanks for giving me the chance to check it out, BigJake.
reference: Original thread on CP
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