maybe it's just hopeful of me, but i won a fiver of Te-Amo's NY NY cigars. the cello looks old, and on the head of the cigar there's some crystalized looking stuff, kind of white. i got brave and, jonesing like mad for a smoke last night that i wouldn't mind ditching if i had to, i brushed this off and lit it up. not bad. however...

1. what's this "gunk" on the cigar? could it be plume? brushed right off, had a crystalized look to it and there were no stains on the cigar, so i don't think it's mold

2. these things smell like... roses. the cedar(?) sleeve on them smell like roses, too. why would they smell like ROSES??

3. how can you tell a fake cedar sleeve from real cedar?

thanks in advance.

-sicilian tony

sounds like an interesting 'gar....different...LOL

Cav: Sounds to me like you described plume. I don't think you can brush mold off a cigar. Plume will blow off or brush off with a light wave.

Agreed.......don't know about the "rose" smell, but it does sound like plume. Kind of a crystaline, whitish to clearish color, and you can brush it off with your thumb and forefinger...........

Bill Clinton had a cigar that tasted like Rose but he also had one that tasted like Monica. X

Nice to see you Tony!!! Sounds like bloom/plume as long as it's "whitish" and uniform throughout- no splotches. Also watch out for green or blue "crystals".

I thought it was a red pill or a blue pill?

LOL! Hey Pop, don't eat the brown acid...

LMAO at x...........

thanks, Blospan! *laugh* i cannot for the life of me think of how to abbreviate your name, hermano!

yeah, actually got out of bed, what, 3 times today? improvements are happening, slowly but surely.

anyway... well, this does sound like plume then. crystalized, whitish, can wipe it off (even blow most of it off), no stain underneath, etc. who knew? not me!

i'm still puzzled about the aroma of roses these things have, though. any ideas what that's all about? also, how do you tell if a sleeve is made of real or fake spanish cedar?

grazie guys!
sicilian tony

glad things are getting better S. Tony bro 🙂