Mold!
Horrors! You open your humidor to grab and smoke and what do you find? Mold! To break the “mold-cycle,” you’ll need to get all potentially contaminated cigars out of your “regular” system while you clean it out.
While you’re cleaning your humidor, you’ll have to find temporary quarters for your cigars. First, wipe off the contaminated cigars with a clean paper towel, slightly moistened with distilled water. (Be careful – you don’t want to get the cigars any soggier than they already are!) Separate the cigars you know were contaminated from the others. Smoke them as soon as possible.
Make some kind of temporary “quarantine” storage container for those “contaminated” smokes. Put it in the refrigerator — refrigeration (even in a container) will dry cigars out without a source of humidity. Check on these cigars every few days. If there is no sign of mold for a full week (and I mean absolutely no sign) move the temporary humidor out into room temperature.
If there’s no mold for another week, it may be safe to return them to your regular, newly cleaned humidor, but here’s the risk: they can bring mold right back into the wood or credo of your system. And don’t assume those wrapped in cello are safe either.
Frankly, we suggest you keep these refreshed cigars in ‘solitary confinement’ for a few weeks until you’ve smoked them all.
Quick tip: You can mimic the process by using two self-sealing plastic storage bags. Puncture one bag with a series of tiny holes and place your cigar box (with an open lid) inside. Seal this bag and place it (with the cigar box) inside a larger back into which you’ve placed a slightly damp sponge. (The sponge needs to be damp, not wet for this to be effective.) Seal the second bag.
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