Mold in aging cabinet

[djrey]

Damn, another mold topic! (I know I’m sorry!) however I don’t think this has been addressed in full yet.

I know white mold is nothing to worry about just brush it off etc etc. However the recent PLPC cabs on 24 have made me wonder about a cabinet of cigars intended for aging.

People generally lay PLPC cabs down for 5-8 years. If you receive a cab and see spots of mold on the outer cigars I feel it’s safe to assume the inner cigars have some too.

For those that have been doing this longer than me, what do you do? Do you wipe off what you see and call it a day and all will be fine in 8 years? Or do you disassemble the whole wheel of cigars and wipe the infected then rebuild it for aging? Do you open and reinspect this cabinet every so often?

Thanks for any input!

[Subcomandante]

I’ve wondered the same thing. I don’t get many boxes in so I can afford the time to inspect each cigar for mold or beetle damage. As I usually smoke the damaged ones first. I’ve encountered mold on some and wipe them off and then place in tuppadore quarantine inside my humidor. After settling down I put them in original boxes. I keep those boxes easy to access so I can periodically check on them. Which hurts for the boxes I want to age as I’d rather put them in harder to get back of humidor spots to avoid temptation. But I’m curious to see what other more experienced smokers do and those with larger cabinets of aging stock.  

[unclepauly25]

I got a box recently and it had a dusting of white mold, at first I was worried but after some research it doesn’t seem to be a big deal. I did take the cigars out of the cab and dust them off with a soft paper towel. Probably didn’t have to but I’m ocd with my cigars I put them back in the box and they are fine. Smoked a few and they are amazing! I think as long as the mold isn’t blue or green it’s fine. 

[BrightonCorgi]

I wipe it off and that's usually the end of it.  I've never disassembled a whole cabinet and gone through them. I smoke the cigars in a cabinet from the center out.  Did you poke out a center cigar and did it have mold?  

What year is the cab?

[djrey]

2 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

I wipe it off and that's usually the end of it.  I've never disassembled a whole cabinet and gone through them. I smoke the cigars in a cabinet from the center out.  Did you poke out a center cigar and did it have mold?  

What year is the cab?

This is more hypothetical. I currently have no issues was just wondering what people do who buy a cab that will be put away for many years and they happen to find some mold on a few. If you only cleaned the surface cigars and put the cab away for 8 years and there were some spots in inner cigars I can’t imagine that would be good. But again, I have no experience here. 

[Ash Bridges]

I do an all-sticks inspection every 8-12 months, usually when I change the batteries in my hygrometers. If I see a little white dust, I'll wipe it off. I did get one of the boxes of PLPC with the mold warning; I'll do an outer inspection and if the mold is minimal I'll just wipe the outer cigars and check on them in a month or two. If it looks more significant I'll get into the whole cab and do a cleaning. After the cleaning, they'll go right back in my cooled humi.

[Yellot00tr]

When I receive boxes, I usually quarantine them at 60°-62° and then place the boxes into a ziploc with a 62% boveda. They usually sit like that for a minimum of 3-6 months before they get vac sealed for long term aging. I’m opening some 2008-2010 boxes now and have not seen any mold. I have a few friends who also do long term aging-they don’t vac seal and have noticed that at 67% rh and 67°-68° they have had issues with slight white mold. Nothing major, but it’s there. 

[djrey]

2 minutes ago, Yellot00tr said:

When I receive boxes, I usually quarantine them at 60°-62° and then place the boxes into a ziploc with a 62% boveda. They usually sit like that for a minimum of 3-6 months before they get vac sealed for long term aging. I’m opening some 2008-2010 boxes now and have not seen any mold. I have a few friends who also do long term aging-they don’t vac seal and have noticed that at 67% rh and 67°-68° they have had issues with slight white mold. Nothing major, but it’s there. 

Good to hear! I’m sure storing in the low 60’s helps a lot with that. They smoke better down there anyway so win win!