mold or bloom

[basil]

I was really excited about this vendor, because they seem to have the real deal.
Rich

They're probably the real deal, just less than ideal storage conditions. Also, those are nice smokes.

How can you tell the difference between mold and bloom?

If you look closely at mold, it looks like little fuzzy stalks, like it is growing out of the cigar, which indeed it is. When you try and brush it off, mold will also tend to stick a little and leave a discolored patch.

Bloom is a powder and can generally be brushed off easily.

Basically, if its fuzzy, its mold.

I say its mold, especially looking at the 5th from the left.

spiffy

What he said - I can't really see the stalks on mold, but it does look fuzzy just like bread mold which it probably is. It'll brush off easily and if there's minimal affected product, you probably won't be able to even notice it. You should keep them wrapped/boxed separately from your other cigars, but if the conditions are right in your humi, you won't be cultivating any mold. If you're too warm, you will get mold where there was none before, because there's no way you can keep mold spores out of anywhere (think about bread again). I've taken sticks with very little mold on them, brushed it off, wrapped them seperately, put them in the same coolador with others, and have had no problems. I'm not recommending it, just saying that mold won't grow much at all, if any, at 70/70 or lower (temp).