Why you never, ever, buy blind

[RockemSockem]

I'm surprised to hear that several of you would still smoke these.

The mold indicates to me that they have not been cared for.

I was certainly unaware that some types of mold (white?) is ok or at least acceptable.

[Guest rob]

In nearly 20 years of smoking and collecting cigars, I've never seen a cigar store or humidor that didn't get some cigars with white mold at one time or another.

In my own collection, the occasional moldy box never once caused an issue after they were brought down to a dryer RH. Smoked and tasted as intended.

[cigarbreak]

I would have been a bit miffed seeing that when I opened the box but like many have suggested here, I would have wiped the stuff off, let it dry for a bit and then fired them sticks up I would not have let go of 150$ that easy unless they were beetle ridden with holes all over or if the mold was growing off the foot. Your examples specifically I would have gladly smoked them after wiping those suckers down.

[Puros Y Vino]

Yes, that is much more clear. Freeze for beetles, not mould.

I froze a moldy box of La Escepcions once. Gave it a few days, the spores "shattered". They pretty much fell off on their own as I inspected each stick; huge improvement. i didn't have to do it of course, but I thought I'd give it a try given the amount of spores present. No issues since but that doesn't mean freezing is the right answer. I usually just wipe them down with a Kleenex. Some use alcohol on a Q-Tip. YMMV.

[Lotusguy]

I froze a moldy box of La Escepcions once. Gave it a few days, the spores "shattered". They pretty much fell off on their own as I inspected each stick; huge improvement. i didn't have to do it of course, but I thought I'd give it a try given the amount of spores present. No issues since but that doesn't mean freezing is the right answer. I usually just wipe them down with a Kleenex. Some use alcohol on a Q-Tip. YMMV.

Hi Frank,

Those were the actual fungi that shattered. Spores are microscopic and would not be destroyed by freezing. That said, they are in the air all around us anyway - there is no way you could "sterilize" cigars so it's more important to just prevent the conditions that would lead for them to grow into fungi (i.e. high humidity and temperatures).

Cheers!

[peterk814]

man that sucks. thats heartbreaking to see.