Fungus on my new Montecristo Edmundos

[oakley]

Hello everybody, a new package from the Czar arrived today, in a very short amount of time once again. I am very happy with the cigars, 9 Cohiba Robustos, 9 Hoyo de Monterrey that are beautiful, but 2 out of 9 of the juicy Montecristo Edmundos present instead some visible mold, fungus or mildew (sorry I do not know the exact term in english). See attached 3 photos that I have just taken.

It's the first time I receive and hold in hand cigars infested with fungus; do you have indications for me to prevent the fungus to spread to my other cigars? Of course I have these 2 separated from the rest and out of the humidor, in their tubos, nonetheless I fear the fungus could spread.

What should I do with these? Can they be smoked or should be thrashed?

I contacted Lisa who told me to remove the cedar wrap and keep them dry before consuming.

Awaiting your kind feedback.

Thanks

Andrew

[Fuzz]

IMO, I'd store the rest of the Edmundos separate from my humi. That way there is no chance of the mold spreading to your other cigars.

[daboose]

Definitely keep them isolated.

With the few mouldy sticks I've had I experimented using a ozone generator. Typically I would inspect the foot to see if the mould had infiltrated the cigar. If not, I would wipe off the mould and smoke them first.

However, knowing that ozone kills mould, I experimented by subjecting them to 3 minutes of ozone with my ozone generator. I placed the sticks in a zip lock and injected the ozone; it took 2 or 3 treatments and it definitely stopped the mould from growing. I have a few sticks I treated from 6 months ago and the mould has definitely been squashed.

It did not affect the taste.

[Colt45]

Wipe them off with a cloth or paper towel, etc. As already mentioned, leave them out of the tubes and separated from other cigars for safety.

If there is no mold visible on the foot (in the filler tobacco), you should be fine.

[CigarmanTim]

Wipe them off with a cloth or paper towel, etc. As already mentioned, leave them out of the tubes and separated from other cigars for safety.

If there is no mold visible on the foot (in the filler tobacco), you should be fine.

Agree. If there is mold on the foot clip it off. These are smokable.

[cigaraholic]

I've smoked worst.............fire em up.

[oakley]

OK, I'll swipe the fungus and then will smoke them. Understood!

Thanks guys

[Puros Y Vino]

I've had a few RyJ PC's that looked the same. Here's what I did.

Placed them in a ziploc bag.

Put them in the fridge one day.

Moved them to the freezer the next.

Removed from freezer, wiped the mold off with a Q-Tip. Placed them back in the bag.

Back to the fridge for another day.

Pulled the bag out of the fridge, opened it and left it in a cool shady spot for a few hours.

Put them back in the humidor. Once back in, leave them for a month to get acclimatized.

Or...wipe em and smoke 'em

[oakley]

Bundwallah you are telling me that, basically, freezer temperature is enough to kill the fungus? I thought that it was necessary a much lower temperature to get rid of it.

By the way I've smoked one f the two after having swept it. It smoked fine, so in the next few days I will burn the other one.

Thanks

andrew

[Puros Y Vino]

Bundwallah you are telling me that, basically, freezer temperature is enough to kill the fungus?

andrew

I'm no scientist, but that's what worked for me. The infected sticks never spread to my other cigars once I went through the process.

[Hacigar]

wow it's bad

[scottkenda]

There's something else that looks like mold or fungus, and it's called "plume" or "bloom". This is a whitish dust on the surface of the wrapper and arises from the crystallisation of oils in the cigar tobacco. Mold, however, has a bluish tint and will mark the wrapper. Plume is easly brushed off with a soft paint brush, and is perfectly harmless. This info comes from the exellent cigar book, "Rudman's Complete Guide To Cigars". Sorry this post is 2 months late, but I'm still getting used to how this web site works. I hope this helps, Rob would know about this also.

[thechenman]

There's something else that looks like mold or fungus, and it's called "plume" or "bloom". This is a whitish dust on the surface of the wrapper and arises from the crystallisation of oils in the cigar tobacco. Mold, however, has a bluish tint and will mark the wrapper. Plume is easly brushed off with a soft paint brush, and is perfectly harmless. This info comes from the exellent cigar book, "Rudman's Complete Guide To Cigars". Sorry this post is 2 months late, but I'm still getting used to how this web site works. I hope this helps, Rob would know about this also.

From the pictures that is certainly not plume...definitely mold. However, it doesn't look too bad. And if there is not mold on the foot of the cigar, you can just brush it off and smoke it. I would not store them with my other cigars though, I would keep them stored separately to avoid any cross contamination.

[rckymtn22]

There's something else that looks like mold or fungus, and it's called "plume" or "bloom". This is a whitish dust on the surface of the wrapper and arises from the crystallisation of oils in the cigar tobacco. Mold, however, has a bluish tint and will mark the wrapper. Plume is easly brushed off with a soft paint brush, and is perfectly harmless. This info comes from the exellent cigar book, "Rudman's Complete Guide To Cigars". Sorry this post is 2 months late, but I'm still getting used to how this web site works. I hope this helps, Rob would know about this also.

The white stuff on the sticks above is for sure mold. I had a Edmundo tubo that had a tiny bit of mold similar to above but not as bad. Wiped it off, left the top of the tubo and monitored for a couple of months. It never came back. My guess the tubo was over humidified coming out of the factory and was starting to break out with mold when I got it. That why checking your imports is always a good thing.

[Jesuscookies]

smoke them sonsabitches Seriously, they are find and you'll be fine. Just wipe them down first.

[Omskakas]

What should I do with these? Can they be smoked or should be thrashed?

Try to wipe most of the white stuff away and fire 'em up!

I don't see a point why cigars with little mold should be isolated. Believe me, air is so full of spores from different kind of molds and funguses that all your (and mine) cigars are contaminated anyway. Not getting mold is all about proper RH. If your RH is too high you're going to get mold anyway.