Once the plume is mopped up

[4cbln3]

Not to threadjack WKOTI's experience at a certain tobacconist (I'm using that term lightly), I have a scenario for you guys to guide me on.

Both WKOTI and Mmburtch have seen the tropical rainforest this shop keeps their cigars in. Say for arguments sake, they become aware of their mistake and correct it by adjusting temp and humidity to 70/65. They keep their current stock, do not dispose of hardly any smokes, and wipe the "plume" off individually.

A customer walks inside a couple of months later and everything is still doing fine and purchases some cigars and lights them at home.

Question: Do you think the taste will be permanently different from what they should have tasted like from the factory? Time certainly has aged them some, that is a fact. A dried out cigar rarely has a chance to come back to life, but what about a highly humidified cigar?

Can you imagine a newbie looking to experience the wonderful hobby we have and be left thinking, WTF, if the cigars taste nothing like what the blender had in mind?

 

[T2P]

This is a very interesting question and I am curious to hear answers (none myself).

To add to it, would the fact that a cigar once had mold wiped off of it make it more prone to developing mold even at proper humidity levels?

 

[grateful1]

Not to threadjack WKOTI's experience at a certain tobacconist (I'm using that term lightly), I have a scenario for you guys to guide me on.

Both WKOTI and Mmburtch have seen the tropical rainforest this shop keeps their cigars in. Say for arguments sake, they become aware of their mistake and correct it by adjusting temp and humidity to 70/65. They keep their current stock, do not dispose of hardly any smokes, and wipe the "plume" off individually.

A customer walks inside a couple of months later and everything is still doing fine and purchases some cigars and lights them at home.

Question: Do you think the taste will be permanently different from what they should have tasted like from the factory? Time certainly has aged them some, that is a fact. A dried out cigar rarely has a chance to come back to life, but what about a highly humidified cigar?

Can you imagine a newbie looking to experience the wonderful hobby we have and be left thinking, WTF, if the cigars taste nothing like what the blender had in mind?

Yes, it has too.

If there's mold on the outside...imagine what the inside looks like!

>edit< to answer the subject line question: mold.

 

[jfields]

Where's BBS with the moldy gym socks analogy! :laugh:

I've had some cigars with a little mold that I've wiped off and tasted no difference.

I've had cigars in my newbie days that I over humidified and sprouted more than a little mold. They did not taste very good. I ended up dumping about thirty cigars, and my daughter ended up getting a very nice cherry wood crayon/magic marker box.

She was the envy of her six year old girl friends on the block.

 

[mmburtch]

I've wiped small amounts of mold off cigars many times (I like Anejos). I've never noticed much difference if any. On those cigars that have shown mold on the foot, I've clipped some successfully and others not.

As to the overhumidified, probably won't make a flavor difference. Keep in mind though, adjusting a cigar from 80Rh down to 65-70Rh, wrapper to center is going to take a long long time in a 65Rh environment.

 

[4cbln3]

Great answers with varying opinions. I've gone through the Anejo mold issue myself and ended up wiping and smoking them with no taste difference.

John, how long did you have those over-humidified cigars before you realized the whole thing was not tasting to your original memory?

What about the normal assortment of cigars we see all the time in shops, from Padron X000's to NC Montecristos and Mac's? They weren't prone to mold from the factory but were grown that way over time.

 

[jfields]

John, how long did you have those over-humidified cigars before you realized the whole thing was not tasting to your original memory?

That was about eight years ago David, so I'm not too sure.

They all tasted bad though. I mean really bad! So it wasn't a case of me thinking to myself "Hmm, this does not quite taste the way I remember."

It wasn't anything like Matt mentioned. That's what I'm used to seeing now and again on my Anejo's and WOAM. I just carefully wipe that off and life goes on as usual.

 

[grateful1]

Does moldy chesse(not the already moldyt type, mind you) taste the same when you cut away the mold?


Let's be clear in the thread...we are talking about MOLDY cigars.

 

[b.dawgson]

I would assume it would depend entirely on whether or not it was surface mold or if the mold had engulfed the entire foot or something. Surface mold, in my limited experience, can be brushed away rather easily and the cigar looks like it did before the mold was even there. Smoking that cigar would probably have no notable difference to the same cigar with no mold.

 

[mmburtch]

Does moldy chesse(not the already moldyt type, mind you) taste the same when you cut away the mold?

You need to clean the knife and use a different spot on the cutting board for each trimming. Then, good as new.





(I grew up poorish)

 

[Salukis63]

I think a big part of this equation with flavor doesn't have alot to do with the mold.. I think it has to do with getting the RH back to where you want it before smoking them. I have had some mold on quite a few cigars when I've forgotten to double check my pelican case humis (they don't vent) and they all tasted fine as long as I let them dry out to below 70 RH.
Now on the other hand I have had some that I just wouldn't even try to clean or smoke as they were too far gone.

 

[MilesMingusMonk]

Smoking an Anejo with the typical minor speckling of mold around the band is different than smoking cigars that have been in a moisture saturated environment, with evidence of mold growing on both the foot of the sticks and the sides of cedar boxes.

 

[Salukis63]

Miles- I agree...if you can see that mold has penetrated beyond the wrapper and is in the filler... my call would be not to even try to smoke it and to just write it off.... my point was that after cleaning off a stick that has mold if you don't let it dry out before smoking the cigar is not going to taste right. Or for that matter smoke right...the draw will more than likely be off and you will get a tarry/acrid tasting smoke.

IMHO...

Cheers,

R

 

[4cbln3]

Once I read through the responses I realized I was trying to determine if those cigars that were once moldy and wiped clean and were also subjected to extreme over humidification would permanently taste different.

Gotta give the nod that those smokes would taste nasty if they tried to salvage and resell them if the shop got their humidor straightened out.

Caveat emptor to those going in there for smokes. Damn.

Thanks guys.

 

[Mr Peat]

I have smoked moldy cigars like Hemingway Maduros and Anejos. I will say there is a off taste to them. The taste is hard to describe other than it would remind me of a wet, moldy gym sock. I only smoked them so I didn't just toss them away. I didn't enjoy them at all. If they had plume on them and was wiped off, they should be fine. I've wiped plume off and never noticed a off taste to them.

If cigars was over humidified, they probably wouldn't smoke good nor taste like what they generally do. I've had a couple in this category which includes Opus X. They had major problems with burning and didn't have the normal taste profile found in them.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I've wiped small amounts of mold off cigars many times (I like Anejos). I've never noticed much difference if any.

Great answers with varying opinions. I've gone through the Anejo mold issue myself and ended up wiping and smoking them with no taste difference.

For reasons I have yet to figure out, the wrappers of Anejos are VERY susceptable to mold. Keep in mind that this is surface mold only, and easily wipes off. I've also had some 48's and 49's over the years with spots of surface mold that wiped off and smoked with no difference. But, I also started pulling the cello and cedar on Anejos to prevent this from happening again. That seems to have stopped any Anejo mold issues for me.

Smoking an Anejo with the typical minor speckling of mold around the band is different than smoking cigars that have been in a moisture saturated environment, with evidence of mold growing on both the foot of the sticks and the sides of cedar boxes.

....exactly.

Where's BBS with the moldy gym socks analogy!

Glad my "colorful metaphor" made a lasting impression on you, John........

Bottom line is that it's like what Gary said; by the time you can see mold on the outside, especially the foot, it's hopeless - the guts of the cigar are very likely permeated with mold.

I know guys say "wipe 'em off and smoke them" but to me it's like drinking spoiled milk.....eech. I've tried, and I just can't do it. Cigars, not the spoiled milk.....

If a shop can't keep their RH in check.....it's time to find another shop..!!

One man's opinion - B.B.S.

 

[emoshun]

I found this behind the cedar wrapper, me thinks this is mold. I've only had the box since Jan of this year, and all other boxes are free of this.

 

[bluue13]

Is this an anejo? I know that from what Ive read they are pretty prone to mold. It also looks like mold to me, esp. that somewhat larger and lighter patch on the right of the stick in the shadowy area.

 

[thechenman]

From the band it does not look to be an Anejo, but that is definitely mold. It looks like it's still in the early stages and the white stuff is not hard to brush off. It does not look to have gotten to the foot yet either. I'd clean it up and give it a try.

 

[emoshun]

It is not an Añejo, just a yard gar Chateu Fuente Maduro. The spots wipe off quite easily and I have smoked a couple after that, with no flavor problems.

I was still concerned as these are the only sticks that have anything on the wrappers.

Thank you for the PM Loren!

-Jimmy