Help! Mould!

[HabanosHoser]

My brother sent me these pics of mouldy cigars from his humidor (WARNING: not for the faint of heart). His setup uses active humidification. What is the best course of action at this point? Wipe down, dry out, freeze, all of the above? From what I have read I recommended he switch to beads after he gets this cleared up. Here are the pics....nasty!

[HabanosHoser]

Update from my Bro:

"Humidor is at 67% humidity and room temp 21C. Its weird it just on the Monty 2s and no other cigars. No visible mould on inside or humidity control machine. I did keep them in the original Monty box closed in my humidor. I wonder if that caused it. Your thoughts? I have since wiped it off and the now look like they did the first day I got them. Hope it does not effect the smoking enjoyment."

Perhaps the closed box was trapping the moisture in? Thoughts?

Simon

[Ginseng]

Hmm,

How long was it between receipt and detection of the mold?

Assuming the humidity is correct, here's what I'd do and have done.

1. Insure the hygrometer is reading correctly. A good sanity check is the feel of the cigars in hand when you give them a gentle roll & squeeze. They should give without cracking yet not feel "squishy"

2. Take out the cigar with the serious mold at the head (pic 2). Put it in a quarantine/dry box for a day or two then smoke it.

3. Take the box with remaining cigars someplace away from the rest of the cigars, dust them off, put them in another empty box. Let the Monte box sit open in direct sun for a few hours. Return cigars to Monte box or leave in other one.

The curious formation I see is around the band of the cigar in the second picture. It looks like it's on the edge of the band.

Wilkey

[Puros Y Vino]

Hmmm my first thoughts were plume but those white splotches are a bit large at points. Luckily, you don't have any blue/green mould. Wipe these clean give them some time in the fridge/freezer and then reintroduce them back into your humidor. Just don't expect to smoke them for a few months while the re-acclimatize.

Good luck.

[HabanosHoser]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions guys. I'll pass this along to my Bro.

[android]

Hmm,

How long was it between receipt and detection of the mold?

Assuming the humidity is correct, here's what I'd do and have done.

1. Insure the hygrometer is reading correctly. A good sanity check is the feel of the cigars in hand when you give them a gentle roll & squeeze. They should give without cracking yet not feel "squishy"

2. Take out the cigar with the serious mold at the head (pic 2). Put it in a quarantine/dry box for a day or two then smoke it.

3. Take the box with remaining cigars someplace away from the rest of the cigars, dust them off, put them in another empty box. Let the Monte box sit open in direct sun for a few hours. Return cigars to Monte box or leave in other one.

The curious formation I see is around the band of the cigar in the second picture. It looks like it's on the edge of the band.

Wilkey

1st Don't Panic...follow Wilkey's advice and smile.

[AlexOk]

It is difficult to judge whether it is mold or just efflorescence. Unfortunately the photos are quite blurry. At 67% humidity, it should not be mold. Is the hygrometer showing correct values? Simple hygrometer often show incorrect values​​. Is it calibrated?

The mold can be wiped off easily? In any case, I would separate the cigar from the humidor.

By the way, freezing does not help, because mold spores are resistant to cold. "True" mold is relatively rare. I guess it's efflorescence.

[Ginseng]

It is difficult to judge whether it is mold or just efflorescence. Unfortunately the photos are quite blurry. At 67% humidity, it should not be mold. Is the hygrometer showing correct values? Simple hygrometer often show incorrect values​​. Is it calibrated?

The mold can be wiped off easily? In any case, I would separate the cigar from the humidor.

By the way, freezing does not help, because mold spores are resistant to cold. "True" mold is relatively rare. I guess it's efflorescence.

You raise some good points. I think that the fact that these are circular suggests strongly that they are mold colonies. One quick way to check is to put a 10x or 20x hand magnifier to it to check for structure indicative of mold, in particular, threads or clublike "stems." See this link for an example.

Yeah, don't freeze. Direct sun exposure is more effective primarily because of UV sensitivity.

Just to reiterate, white fluffy mold almost never, in and of itself, adversely affects the smoking quality of a cigar. In fact, I've had the rare box (NCs) that have had mold from day 1. I wipe it off the sticks, put the box back in a cooler. The next time I go to pull a stick, more fluffy white mold. And it doesn't matter that it's at 62% and has been for years. Cigars smoke fine every time.

Also, I have a few boxes of loose sticks for ready smoking. It's happened where one stick will have mold spots, but then nothing else on any of the others, even after more than a year of being in the same box. Freaky.

To Android's point, relax, check conditions, smoke the worst off if you're anxious, dust off the rest and carry on.

Now, find dark mold, brown, green, or gray, and you could have a problem. Every time I've seen this, cigars have smelled funky and smoked badly.

Wilkey

[SerieT]

i have the same problem with the monty #2 i just recently purchased ...does anyone know if this is just a coincidence ?

[nikesupremedunk]

hmm this is pretty interesting. when i got my box of monte's they were starting to have hints of mold on the foot. i clipped them maybe 1/8" and they were clean. right now i have them sitting in a box with other cigars...maybe i should keep them separated?