I went to the B&M today to say hello and whatnot (going to be setting up another herf soon).  I opened up my locker and immediately noticed some mold spots on most of my sticks.  I had 16 cigars in the locker 3 were dead (mold on the surface and in the foot).  Through what I have learned here the past couple of months I knew right away that this was not plume.  As for the other 13 I wiped the mold spots off and gave them a thorough inspection...  Here come the questions for the all-knowing Geeks...

Are Maduro's usually less susceptible to mold?  I ask because it seemed like all but one of them was fine.

With the affected cigars I wiped the mold off and they appear fine.  Would you trust them after time?

Luckily I have a spare desktop with a glass top.  I plan on quarantining the sticks and keeping a close eye on them.  Is this even worth my time?

After showing the owner and talking for a bit he almost tried to bring up plume, but I think he thought better of it.  When he opened up the humidification unit locker door we found that somehow the humidity was at a whopping 80%...  No idea what happened.  He was obviously upset as the lockers are fairly (under 8 months) new and he has had a few problems with them.  It has just been a big headache for him.  

Any advice you all would be able to give is very much appreciated!

Just curious is your locker on the bottom row?

Were your cigars in cello? Celloed cigars are much, much less susceptible to mold.

Even after wiping them down, they will have mold spores, and will be prone to molding again.

A few were still in cellos, they were good for the most part... My locker is third row from the bottom.

They should still be fine for smoking, but as Jackal already mentioned, they have mold spores which won't go away, and will be prone to growing mold again. Keep them away from other cigars, and keep an eye on them. If you were planning on aging them for awhile, I would rethink that plan and smoke them sooner rather than later.

I had one cigar that I had lots of problems with. It kept growiing two or three little dots of mold. I  would wipe it off and a month later it was back. I finally had to set it on fire to make sure it didn't happen again

Well, I guess the spare "quarantine" humidor if now the "on deck" humidor...

Thanks guys, I'll keep you posted on the progress... Any thoughts on the maduros?

In my experience, maduros actually tend to get moldy more often than non-maduros.  It is interesting that the opposite is the case for you. However, there are a lot of factors that come into play.

As noted above, wipe them off and smoke them.

I'm sorry. Good cigars damaged by improper storage by the store... I'm allergic to mold so I'm certainly not going to smoke it. He'd be refunding my locker storage money and replacing every cigar in my locker. Oh and this is Jessica as a person and not the company I represent making that statement.

Personally I have this weird thing with anything moldy or rotten. I always smell milk before drinking it just to be sure. I had a couple moldy sticks once and had to toss them because of my mold issue. Just personal preference. The guys on the site know best, if they say their smokable, I trust them.

QuoteCigarPlace - 6/19/2014  12:05 PM  I'm sorry. Good cigars damaged by improper storage by the store... I'm allergic to mold so I'm certainly not going to smoke it. He'd be refunding my locker storage money and replacing every cigar in my locker. Oh and this is Jessica as a person and not the company I represent making that statement.

 

I could not agree more. I'd also expect full refund of affected cigars and some kind of compensation for my trouble. I'd also wabt the assurance that the problem has been solved before I would even remotely entertain the idea of storing any of my precious cigars there again.

Just my $0.02

 

 

If there's mold on the cigars, there are spores in the wood.

QuoteThe Burn Ward - 6/19/2014  2:39 PM  If there's mold on the cigars, there are spores in the wood.

Exactly this. The mold spores can usually be removed but it is a longer and more taxing process than most folks want to deal with. I'd also advise against putting these cigars into your "quarantine" humidor as that humidor will be able to absorb the mold spores as well as wood is a permeable surface. Perhaps use a small cooler instead and keep an eye on it. Then only keep those cigars in there and disinfect when done.

Ziplocs also work well for this purpose.

 

QuoteCigarPlace - 6/19/2014  2:45 PM

QuoteThe Burn Ward - 6/19/2014  2:39 PM  If there's mold on the cigars, there are spores in the wood.

Exactly this. The mold spores can usually be removed but it is a longer and more taxing process than most folks want to deal with. I'd also advise against putting these cigars into your "quarantine" humidor as that humidor will be able to absorb the mold spores as well as wood is a permeable surface. Perhaps use a small cooler instead and keep an eye on it. Then only keep those cigars in there and disinfect when done.

Ziplocs also work well for this purpose.

 

Tuperdor works too. A Medium plastic bag also works in a pinch.

QuoteThe Burn Ward - 6/19/2014  1:02 PM

QuoteCigarPlace - 6/19/2014  2:45 PM

QuoteThe Burn Ward - 6/19/2014  2:39 PM  If there's mold on the cigars, there are spores in the wood.

Exactly this. The mold spores can usually be removed but it is a longer and more taxing process than most folks want to deal with. I'd also advise against putting these cigars into your "quarantine" humidor as that humidor will be able to absorb the mold spores as well as wood is a permeable surface. Perhaps use a small cooler instead and keep an eye on it. Then only keep those cigars in there and disinfect when done.

Ziplocs also work well for this purpose.

 

Tuperdor works too. A Medium plastic bag also works in a pinch.

Ziploc a Boveda pack and a slice of Spanish cedar.  You have a poor mans humidor (works great too).  Just open it up every few weeks to let fresh air in.

The "Quarantine" humidor had mold in the past (thanks to my brother),  I treated it and whatnot beforehand.  So I don't mind having them in there.  I have the cigars in ziplocs, inside the humidor.  It will be a little while before I can smoke any of them because they are so damn moist...  So I will keep a close eye on them and if they stay in good shape I will try them out, if not, they will be tossed.  

As for the B&M, he is taking care of me.  He feels horrible that this happened and is working on the issue.

Quotebstessl - 6/20/2014  7:20 AM
As for the B&M, he is taking care of me.  He feels horrible that this happened and is working on the issue.

That's good to hear.