moldy gars...

bass8844

Do you guys usually throw them out or do you wipe it off and carry on with business? One of my humis must have been running a bit too humid...also it got a little warm over here. I had a ryj 1875 cedro #2 catch a little bit of mold. It wasn't too bad, so I wiped it off and let it burn. The draw was a bit tight, and it did burn unevenly...must have still been too moist. But I did notice that the wrapper did taste salty....anyone have any input?

jlzimmerman

bass8844

Every once in a while during the hotter months out here I find a couple of unwrapped sticks with a little patch of mold. I find that during the summer, it's safer to keep my sticks wrapped, and then in the colder months I can safely take off the cello and let them breathe.

kaspera79

I never had mold as you may be describing it , but I have had what I have heard called bloom. A kind of white powder on my cigars. I brushed them off and seperated them, adjusted the humidity, and watched all of them for a while. Never threw one away though. It is a bad feeling to discover damaged cigars, sorry to hear about that.

carmike22

I only had one once with just of speck of mold, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to just go ahead and smoke it. But if I saw a spot that was a decent size I would throw it away cause that doesn't sound like a good idea to smoke mold.

madurofan

Woah! Woah! Woah! ... if you can simply wipe it off its not mold. Thats plume(or bloom) and that is a VERY good thing! Plume is white and powdery and when it is found on your cigar it means it is at its peak. Pull that sucker out and smoke it. If its any color but white its mold and if it leaves any residue or does any damage to the cigar then its mold. Never had any mold(knock on wood) so I don't know a good solution. Plume however has occured in my humi once or twice and that cigar was immediately plucked and smoked.

bass8844

From experience and from looking around, mold can also come in white. The diff between plume and mold is that plume is usually uniformly spread around the surface of the cigar while mold is splotchy. I would be happy if it was plume, but the white spots that I found where splotchy. Also I've found that mold wipes away easily, while plume is a little harder to get off...does that sound right?

madurofan

I've never seen or heard of white tobacco mold. Doesn't mean it does not exist, just haven't seen it myself or heard of it until now. I've had splotchy plume before, the biggest tell tale is whether it wipes right off. If you can dust it off with your finger its plume not mold.

madurofan

Sorry I missed the last sentence in your post, bass. Its the other way around if it wipes right off its plume, mold is hard to get off and leaves a residue behind.

jlzimmerman

madurofan

zimmerman, First, it is very possible your cigars got plume after only having them a month. Were they not stored properly before you purchased them? Also what was the humidity in your humidor? It has to be fairly high to grow mold. If you maintained less than 72 it is highly unlikely it was mold. Second, it is a fact that mold will not wipe off easily and leave nothing behind. Now I've heard stories of people getting impurities from using water in their humidifier that is not distilled and that would wipe off easily and leave nothing behind but mold will be a little harder to wipe off and will leave some discoloration behind. As far as JR saying to brush it off and smoke it, thats 50/50 you will find half of the "experts" tell you to toss them and half say you can smoke them. He could be correct about it not affectign the flavor I'm not sure but it will most definetly leave discolored spots. I'm not sure I would be comfortable smoking them personally as there is no way to know whether there is some mold spores on the inside. But thats my opinion.

madurofan

To further my point. I once purchased a cigar at Havana Connection in Richmond, VA that had plume on it when I bought it. This was not a tubo either. Plume forms from being properly stored it doesn't matter how long you have personally had them.

kuzi16

madurofan

Yea that'd be my fear, with all my d@mn allergies I'd end up dying from smoking a moldy cigar, lol.

jlzimmerman

madurofan

Glad to hear you are mold free. I know this sounds dumb but next time it shoots up like that just stick a match or something in the lid so that it can not close completely. Nothing big just enough so it doesn't make a tight seal this will knock your humidity down a few notches. Of course thats assuming the humidity is lower in your house than 72% which I sure as hell hope it is, lol.

NAustin

About a year ago, just before leaving on vacation, I filled my lid mounted rectangular humidifier in a large humidor and went on my way. I came home 2 weeks later to find that it had come loose and landed sqarely across 5 Fuente God Of Fire Churchills. All five were mold covered and damaged. A total loss. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. I now stick to floor standing gel systems. : /

madurofan

Thats sickening NAustin. Was it one of the green sponge style?

gott.des.feuer

madurofan

gott, I wouldn't recommend lopping of the foot of a cigar again as it will likely change the taste of the cigar a lot. Cigars are designed to be a certain length and need that length to properly heat up and acheive their potential flavor.

kuzi16

madurofan:

gott, I wouldn't recommend lopping of the foot of a cigar again as it will likely change the taste of the cigar a lot. Cigars are designed to be a certain length and need that length to properly heat up and acheive their potential flavor.

true, but id do that rather than throwing it out.

gott.des.feuer

madurofan

Good point I guess it is better than wasting but I wouldn't base ur opinion of a cigar on one you lopped the foot off of.

kuzi16

madurofan