Randomish stream of consciousness thought on the subjects.....
Plume is hard to predict, nearly impossible to achieve intentionally
However, plume tends to imply good aging in favorable storage conditions
So, plume is generally desirous, but I don't think plume itself has any bearing on flavor -- that its just a coincidence that well cared for cigars are usually better than less than well cared for cigars
I'm no different than many above -- majority of the times I was presented with cigar or picture of 'plume', the cigar had mold
Mold is never desirous and can be disastrous; and it is all too easy to get. I no longer keep the ribbon on the foot of my AF's. Even in what I consider to be optimum storage conditions, I've had mold near the foot of Anejos.
As Frank said, surface mold on the wrapper can be wiped off with no affect to taste, whatsoever. I generally advise smoking these right away, but I've had cigars that I wiped off a very light mold and put them back in the humi for years
Mold that gets into the foot is an entirely different animal. Even if you can barely see it, you can almost always smell it. 9 times out of 10, mold on/in the foot means the cigar is unsmokeable.....or at most becomes the one you give to your brother in law