Plume is powdery and is brushed off easily. It is also crystal in nature. On domestic cigars it's hard to know their exact age. I bought a box of Cuesta Rey Tuscany, a tubed cigar, off the shelf of my local shop. Every one of those smokes was plumed out...Nice surprise.

I have never had a cedar wrap cigar with mold on it. I have had a few cedar wrapped Fuentes that appeared to have cedar resin on the wrapper. They were from last years "Special Cigars"...King B and Anejo. I just daubed off the resin from the cigar and smoked it with no noticable problem.

Seems like I read the Fuentes had a problem with their cedar sleeves were not cured properly which caused the problem.

Almost forgot...Cedar sleeves are supposed to help in asorbing excess moisture. I guess an improperly cured cedar sleeve would not do this as it is exuding its own moisture.

Cedar sleeves also add a bit of cedar taste to the cigar. Some people like it...Some don't. I do. I also light my cigar with a cedar sleeve if my cigar has one.