Help do I have mold?

[landhoney]

Originally Posted by bonjing

but in order to remove the mold, you have to kill its roots. doesn't the mold on the surface of the stick also root through and into the stick?

I think there is something to this. I have wiped off mold on a few sticks in a box (from vendor, arrived that way), and it reappeared on those same sticks later (a couple days). My storage conditions are fine, no other cigars had mold. So it must have still been present after the wipe down. Although after that second round of wiping it did not return. Maybe the cigars were just still too wet. Anyway, the lesson I learned was to check back soon after wiping cigars down, don't assume they're now fine because they are in proper storage conditions.

[acarr]

So is it mold or is it plume? What are the health concerns with mold? From my understanding the only problem mold is blue/green mold. The white stuff is harmless.

Originally Posted by tooomanycolors

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AItF2vJ7dL...h/CIMG0043.JPG

please I need to know, Im freakin out

I would suggest it is mold, plume is almost like fine crystalline white sand on your cigars, (it is the residue of oils exuding from cigars and crystalizing) it will refract light (sparkle) and is spread very evenly over the cigar not concentrated in certain areas, check close up mold is well furry and grows in clumps.

Here is a close up of plume refracting light

Don't worry though take each individual cigar and gently wipe the mold off with a soft cloth or paper towel, repeat the process with a clean cloth on each cigar to help insure that all the mold spoors are gone.

Carefully wipe out your humidor, if you have any rooted mold, use a very fine grit sandpaper and gently sand the area to get any mold out of the wood. You can wipe it down with de-natured alchol if you are very worried but unless you have a forest in there my opinion is this is overkill.

Don't worry about flavor issues they will be just fine, inspect the feet carefully if there is mold you need to toss them, the reason is that you cannot ensure that all the mold is out as it can grow up inside the cigar whereas the mold on the wrapper has not as yet penetrated the stick.

The basis for tossing it is not about flavor (although I have never smoked mold) but rather a health issue so I am told, although how that compares to smoking tobacco I am unsure.

Hope that helps.

[bonjing]

Originally Posted by SilverFox

Don't worry about flavor issues they will be just fine, inspect the feet carefully if there is mold you need to toss them, the reason is that you cannot ensure that all the mold is out as it can grow up inside the cigar whereas the mold on the wrapper has not as yet penetrated the stick.

didn't know that.

[tooomanycolors]

This is funny, if you were able to see the cigars in person, they are obviously coated in the fine crystalling powder you were talking about, and not in spores.

so thanks for your inputs...

Originally Posted by tooomanycolors

This is funny, if you were able to see the cigars in person, they are obviously coated in the fine crystalling powder you were talking about, and not in spores.

so thanks for your inputs...

Then that is a good thing, can you post up a hi res closeup on your blog

[tooomanycolors]

Ill try for the hi res closeup, but my camera is only a 7.2MP and im not sure how close I can get without completely blurring it out

[Snake Hips]

Originally Posted by tooomanycolors

Ill try for the hi res closeup, but my camera is only a 7.2MP and im not sure how close I can get without completely blurring it out

Put it on macro. That's usully symbolized by a tulip. It's for up-close. 7.2mp is pretty good (to me at least).

[WildBlueSooner]

Originally Posted by Snake Hips

Put it on macro. That's usully symbolized by a tulip. It's for up-close. 7.2mp is pretty good (to me at least).

Macro should take a nice shot of it!

[troutbreath]

I would vote mold, simply because plume is more rare. But, I have seen MANY VSG's that have a "dusty" sheen to them like those in the photo. Nothing would suprise me with those sticks -- I had two which I quarantined a while back because I was suspicious. They never got any worse, so I cleaned 'em up and smoked 'em. A closer look would clear this up, no doubt.

Now I need to go check on my box of Tres Mystiqes.

Does not look like mold to me.... Though I am wrong a lot. Generally when I've encountered mold it was several small circles on the cigar, and they raised off of the cigar itself. To me this looks more of a case of plume, bloom, sexyness, or whatever you want to call it. Both will wipe off, though mold in my experience you will see raising up off of the cigar itself. Also it tends to have more texture to it, looking like a small dust bunny with crazy things in it.

Hope this helps...and if you don't want those vsg cabinets, I'll take them

[CigarDood]

Originally Posted by Hardcz

Does not look like mold to me.... Though I am wrong a lot. Generally when I've encountered mold it was several small circles on the cigar, and they raised off of the cigar itself. To me this looks more of a case of plume, bloom, sexyness, or whatever you want to call it. Both will wipe off, though mold in my experience you will see raising up off of the cigar itself. Also it tends to have more texture to it, looking like a small dust bunny with crazy things in it.

Hope this helps...and if you don't want those vsg cabinets, I'll take them

I agree with this.

[karmaz00]

looks like a mild case of mold...brush them off gently and wipe out the box...you will be ok

[kaelaria]

If you can catch the mold early enough they can be saved through wiping down. It's been a couple weeks now and mine are still all fine, I check daily and just rotated drawers again. That doesn't sound right...

[bonjing]

Originally Posted by kaelaria

If you can catch the mold early enough they can be saved through wiping down. It's been a couple weeks now and mine are still all fine, I check daily and just rotated drawers again. That doesn't sound right...

and if you turn them inside out you can last a couple more days, so i've heard

Unless your box is very very humid that is not mold. Mold will usually appear sproradically in spots where there is higher humidity. Unless these cigars were sitting directly under a freshly filled humidification source, I'm guessing plume. It probably looks more white like mold because of the flash. I'm guessing in person these are just slightly dusty looking.

BTW, VSGs are hands down one of the fastest and most consistently pluming sticks out there in my experience.

[loki]

normally I'd say it's plum do to the even covering but the heads give me pause. microwave them for 30 seconds, wipe them off, clean the humi and call it a day if you're worried