Hello all,

I've been a bit puzzled as of late..... In my desktop humidor I have about 70 sticks, many makes, sizes, wrappers etc. The rh runs about 70.....All of the cigars are minus their wrappers.

I have one Ashton Classic that seems to keep getting this white/grey 'fuzz' on it. The best that I can describe it is a very very fine 'cottony' look and is three dimensional in appearance.

Is this mold, fungus or natural aging?

Cheers
Mark
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It's mold, generally harmless, but a sign your humidity is a bit high. You can just brush it off, but try to keep your humidity down.
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It's mold. Generally you can just wipe it off, unless it gets in the foot of the cigar.
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If it is truly "fuzzy" then it is likely mold. But if upon close examination it appears a bit crystalline and shiny, then it is "plume" or "bloom", a relatively rare byproduct of ageing, and a good thing. Ashtons have been known to be particularly prone to this benificence.

However, your description seems more like mold - sorry.
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Yeah.. I kinda figured.

Though I was surprised that it was only on the one Ashton.

I'm thinking of replacing the humidifier with some 65 rh beads (though I like the 70rh)
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I made the switch from 70 to 65 in january, and let me tell ya, you'll never look back
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you're hygrometer might read 70% but humidity isn't always evenly distributed throughout the box. Sometimes the ones on the bottom can get a little more moist. but as others have mentioned, the mold isn't harmful. just wipe it off and keep a close eye on things to make sure it doesn't get worse.
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Talk to Shilala and get some beads. :-)
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65% here as well... 70 makes me nervious
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Yes, man am I glad I joined this website...I used to keep my Humi at LEAST 70% RH, and noticed quite often that some cigars were harsh, and some wouldn't stay lit....now, the highest RH my Humi gets to is 65%...it's currently at like 63% right now, and my cigars smoke great!
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Sounds like mold to me. I haven't had any problems since I lowered my RH to 62ish%
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Glad to hear that, Mark.

It's wonderful when something so simple makes a vast improvement.

Personally, I use 65% beads. But I would rather see my smokes at 57%-60% than 70%-72%

:-)
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I keep my aging humidors @ 63-65% and a desktop for smoking @ 58-60%, I love the flavors @ this level and they burn and smoke better. Try a few @ 60% and see what you think. I could never go back to 70%, the burn/draw problems and the harshness at that level are not worth it.
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