Ashes to ashes...

**Cohibanut** · 05-06-2005, 08:11 AM

Hi!

Thanks for replying!

I am actually French and living in London so going to Cuba is not a problem.

Could I ask you another question? I have noticed a kind of dust or mould on top of certain cigars in humidors when I was there. What is it? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

(Please forgive my ignorance as I am totally new to all this!

SFG75 · 05-06-2005, 08:39 AM

I have noticed a kind of dust or mould on top of certain cigars in humidors when I was there. What is it? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

It's one of two things. If it's white, first appearing as small crystals, you have bloom. This is a good sign, as it shows that the cigar is aging wonderfully. Cigar mold is quite a different story. It ranges in color from white, to gray, to a bluish-green hue. I've always been told that bloom is easy to wipe away and that mold will just smear. Now I don't know how solid this advice is, but it's very widespread. In order to be safe, you need to isolate the "contaminated" cigars. I have a few that at one time I thought had mold, but it turned out to be bloom. I made a tuppedor and put them in there by themselves. If it is mold, take a moistened paper towel and then gently apply it to the area in question. You then should check your humidity, mold doesn't occur until the rph is aroung 85%. Hope this helps to some extent.

(Please forgive my ignorance as I am totally new to all this!

Don't worry, we've all been there at some point. Heck, I didn't even recite the above from memory, I had to look it up really quick.

Believe me, my cigar book library has been an invaluable resource for me. That's the point of boards like this-to talk about cigars and cigar related stuff.

**labmonkey** · 05-06-2005, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by Cohibanut

Hi!

Thanks for replying!

I am actually French and living in London so going to Cuba is not a problem.

Could I ask you another question? I have noticed a kind of dust or mould on top of certain cigars in humidors when I was there. What is it? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

(Please forgive my ignorance as I am totally new to all this!

what you may be seeing is bloom, not mold. Mold is bad...bloom is good.

http://home.alltel.net/jbperry/cig.htm here is a fairly good link that shows pictures of the difference.

http://www.cigarwise.com/artman/publ...icle_189.shtml here is a short article that explains more about bloom.

**Cohibanut** · 05-06-2005, 10:31 AM

I see. Hm... I think you've just given me an extremely good piece of advice here: I'm going to read up on all this. My mission for this coming weekend will be to find myself a good book on cigars!

I haven't event got a humidor yet!

In fact, all I brought back with me from Cuba are a couple of Siglo I and that's it! DOH! I have placed them in an airtight Tupperware box and do keep an eye on them regularly. I've placed a small piece of tissue with a couple of drops of water on it inside the box and they look fairly happy in there.

To briefly go back to the mould issue, I have seen this in a very reputable shop (Fortnum and Mason) in London and I am pretty sure it wasn't the blooming effect you describe. I am not sure it was mould either (although it does sound like it could be). It looked like a fine dusting of a grey/green sort (which does corroborate the mould theory). I have seen this quite a few times in several shops so I am really reluctant to think it could be mould.

Hmm...puzzling.

**wrath186** · 05-06-2005, 11:47 AM

Mold, from my experience, is looks fuzzy close up. The bloom can look similar, but if you take a really close look at it you will see crystals. The bloom will cover the entire surface of the cigar, while the mold will grow in patches here and there.