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.