Comedy of Errors - Storage issues

[Dwamon]

I have a few wineadors. During my every 6 month cigar reshuffle today, I noticed of a box of lusis’ nail was open, causing the cold air to be on the cigars.

 

Opened them up and mild molding (nothing in the foot, but texture feels sticky and cold. RH tested around 79%. I was going to dry box them for a couple of days. Any other thoughts or should I pitch them? Thanks in advance!

 

 

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[chris12381]

Don't throw them out. I've had good luck treating mold with 80% isopropyl alcohol.  Yeah.  I know.  Wet the cigars?  Yes. When it evaporates, there is no odor.  

Take all of the cigars out of the box. Spray ALL of them with a fine mist of isopropyl.  Then spray the entire box down inside and outside. Wait for the alcohol to evaporate naturally. Repeat again on the box. Package everything back up again and check it again in about a month to see if your treatment has worked.

[Bijan]

I'm not sure I understand what went wrong, but look into your storage conditions.

If I understand that you're saying that the nail being open on the box is the cause of problems, that does not sound right. You should be able to store your cigars loose in a tray in a proper humidor setup without worries.

If you mean that the nail popped out and it made you notice a problem then ok.

[MrBirdman]

Yeah as Bijan said your storage conditions are the issue here - mold is everywhere. Your humidity is too high if it’s growing. Just brush it off and get the storage container down to 65% or so. You can dry box them for a day or two to speed up the process. The only cigars you should pitch are ones with mold growing on the foot, if there are any. 

[Dwamon]

I'm not sure I understand what went wrong, but look into your storage conditions.
If I understand that you're saying that the nail being open on the box is the cause of problems, that does not sound right. You should be able to store your cigars loose in a tray in a proper humidor setup without worries.
If you mean that the nail popped out and it made you notice a problem then ok.

It’s that all the air pressure comes from the back of the wineador, so with the lid popped open, the air was blowing directly on just this box of cigars.


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[Silverstix]

Generally you're fine as long as it's not visible in the foot of the cigar.  Wipe them down, wipe down the box, and keep an eye on it.

But I'm wondering what's going on that's causing mold in the first place....

You used an RH probe and it showed 79% in one of these Lusi's?  What's the RH in the rest of the wineador?  Did you check any other boxes for mold?

It doesn't make sense to me that just this one box would be over humidified.  I know you said the nail was open but does your wineador blow humid air or is it just blowing cold air?

[Dwamon]

Checked the rest and all good. Was just blowing cold air. I think I read the hygrometer as high and decided to lower the temp. Unbeknownst to me, the cigars were open and absorbing all the cold air directly.

I’ve resorted and fixed my cigar jenga.


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[Glass Half Full]

...AND if you have concerns about the foot, you can always trim it with a "straight cutter."  CC's are too valuable to pitch.  

IMO it would be best, after a brief dry boxing, to put the suspect cigars in a separate tupperware with a 58% or 62% boveda depending how bad you think it is.  

I re-fitted a wine cooler to be a humidor, and after many scares, ended up unplugging it.  I now use it as a storage box and keep the room it's in cooled.  It's a learning proces (much of which I learned from the many knowledgable contributors to this site).