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?

I've only had one bout with mold. I just wiped it off and carried on with business. I did, however, inspect the rest of my cigars as well as the humidor to ensure mold was not found anywhere else.

I did a lot of reading on the mold subject and there is a wide spectrum of advise by the experts. One expert may say toss out the infected cigars immediately and wipe down your humidor while another expert will say wipe off the mold and carry on. I side with the latter if the mold is not too bad. I do so because I have a hard time throwing away a $5-$10 cigar due to a little mold that has no impact on how good/bad it will smoke.

With that said, I've only had one bout and I've done more inspections and babysit my humidity much more than I did before. If I have another bout of find a cigar with a more serious case of mold I will be more likely to be more strict in how I battle the problem.

Just my $.02

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Happiness is: a belt fed weapon

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.

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.

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.

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“The end of a good smoke is a little saddening. In some regard, it’s a bit like losing a best friend who had time to sit and listen.”

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.

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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?

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.

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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.

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madurofan:

Woah! Woah! Woah! ... if you can simply wipe it off its not mold.

Not true. Some mold is not hard at all to wipe off. And in my case, I'd bet money it was not bloom I wiped off. I only had the cigars for about 1 month.

cigar.com - Bloom Ploom or Mold
Vitolas - If it's White, it's Plume? NOT


From JR Cigars University:
Q: My cigars have something on them. How can I tell if it is mold or bloom?

A: Bloom, also called plume, is a grey-white residual powder that is left from the cigar's essential oils drying on its surface, and is considered a very good sign that the proper aging is taking place. Not all cigars develop bloom, but those that are heavy in oils almost always do over time. Mold always has some body to it; it is actually a three dimensional "fuzz." Typically, it grows rather quickly once it occurs. Also, it is commonly green, green/blue, or green/yellow in color. Typically, bloom will cover all the air-exposed sides of a cigar beginning in spots but eventually evenly, whereas mold will typically begin growing on just one part and spread from there. If you still can't tell the difference, I suggest you quarantine the potential problem cigars to their own "Tupperdor" for a couple of weeks, after which you should be able to tell. If it is mold, you will be able to see the three-dimensional fuzz structure by now.

Q: Okay, it is mold... now what?

A: You can just brush the mold off and smoke them anyway. I have smoked a bunch of vintage cigars that have had some mold on them. It takes considerable mold and time to impact the flavor of the cigar - the biggest factor being whether they have molded on the interior. If so, they are goners. If not, you can just gently brush the mold off with a soft dry cloth or your fingers. However, you should quarantine them from your other cigars to prevent it from spreading to them.

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Happiness is: a belt fed weapon

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.

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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.

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some may have a reaction to the mold.

plume looks very different than mold. mold has structure to it. it looks fuzzy. plume has a sparkle to it. its flat.

i do agree that it is unlikely that mold would be there at 72% rh. usually there arent problems till about 75%-80%.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

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

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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.

The humidity in mine was too high, around 80%, and where I had the humidor was in the warmest room of the house. The mold was grayish in color, fuzzy, and three dimensional.

It was only after I filled the humidor with more sticks (and unwrapped the others) did the humidity drop. I haven't had a problem since then.

It's been a few months and there's been no signs of either mold or plume, and that's just fine with me, although plume would be a very nice touch : )

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Happiness is: a belt fed weapon