Expert: James Yee - 7/19/2010

Question
Hi,I have a hundred capacity Alhambra humidor.I opened it up last week and the 8-10 cigars on the left side were covered in what looked like mold.I have two separators at the bottom.Left-moldy cigars,middle-gel jar with distilled water,right-about 45to55 smaller acid brand cigars. Nothing seemed to be wrong with the right side. I keep a reading between 68%-72%.Can I smoke these cigars or will I get sick? How can I prevent this from happening again? Any info will be appreciated. Thanks

Answer
Hi Mike,

First, inspect the moldy substance.  Remember, mold is fuzzy and thick in texture and grows in random patches.  It looks exactly like mold that you would find on spoiled food.  Under a microscope, mold will also have a long tubular body and a mushroom cap-like head.  Plume on the other hand, looks more like dust and appears evenly over cigars.  If you have plume, you have nothing to worry about.

If the substance is mold and you're using an analog hygrometer, conduct a salt test to make sure it's properly calibrated and accurate.  Sometimes hygrometers can be out of sync and will give a lower humidity reading than what the actual humidity level is.  As a result, we think the humidity level is normal (according to the hygrometer) while it's actually too high and mold appears.  If your humidity reading is accurate, then there may be an obstruction near the gel jar that is causing all the humidity to be localized in that particular area and cause mold to form.  Try arranging your cigars so that the cigars are not stacked near the gel jar.  There may be an obstruction on the right side of the humidor that is deflecting all the humidity to the left side.  If your humidor has an upper tray, remove it (if it's not in use) or arrange your gel jar so that it is not obstructed by the tray.

Adding a small electric fan to your humidor will also help circulate the humidity.  As an alternative, electronic humidifiers such as Cigar Oasis allows you to custom set the humidity level so it's never too high.  This will definitely help you regulate your humidity more effectively and prevent it from becoming too high.  (68-72% is fine but the temperature and humidity can fluctuate during the course of the day so it's possible that the humidor is  breaching 75% humidity sometimes.  This can cause mold to form.)

As a cheaper alternative, you can also add humidity beads to the humidor and they will absorb much of the excess humidity that is causing mold to form.  You can buy these at most cigar stores.

Your moldy cigars can be saved if you stop the mold growth quickly.  Take a paper towel moistened with distilled water and delicately wipe the mold off each cigar.  Next, take another paper towel and moisten it with some isopropyl alcohol and delicately wipe down each moldy cigar.  This will kill the residual mold that remains on the cigar.  Delicately re-wipe with distilled water to dilute the alcohol and then place the cigars in a Ziploc bag (or Tupperware container) and refrigerate for 1 week.  If after 1 week, mold has not reappeared on the cigars, return them to your humidor.  If mold reappears, repeat the cleaning process.  Your humidor should also be cleaned.  Remove all your cigars and thoroughly vacuum the interior of your humidor.  (Use a soft-bristle vacuum attachment so you don't scratch up the cedar interior.) Delicately wipe down the interior with some alcohol and then re-wipe with distilled water.  Re-vacuum and season your humidor again (if necessary) and it will be ready to use again.

However, if mold has spread to the open foot of the cigar(s), you will need to either cut the foot with a cigar cutter or discard your cigars.  Once mold has spread to the foot of the cigar, it's almost impossible to purge the mold particles from the multiple layers of visible tobacco.

I hope this helps!  If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James