C&D Opening Night -- MOLD!

[tkcolo]

I bought three 2018 8oz cans in May from Pipesandcigars.com. I opened and jarred one tin that I smoked on and off. It's probably been 2 months since I opened the jar. I opened today and there was white fuzzy mold on 10% of it. I freaked out and threw away the bad part, no I don't have any good pics.
I checked everything else C&D opened, and no mold. (Carolina Red, Night Train, Bow-legged Bear, Pirate Kake, Billy Budd, Jack Knife Plug, etc.) But I have a bunch more unopened C&D tins in the cellar. Was this just bad luck? There is no moisture here, and my room stays 68-72. Maybe two days this year at 75. We can't grow mold here if you try.
Anyone else with mold on Opening Night? Should I contact P&C or C&D? For those that found C&D mold, did you stop buying everything C&D? I am a little freaked out here.
On side note, how warm is too warm for a cellar?

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Happens from time to time with an organic product. Contact the retailer for replacement. Can also happen if the jar wasn't clean, or your hands for that matter when you jarred it. No way to tell.
I wouldn't worry about your unopened tins at this point.
As far as cellar temperature, anything under a point where condensation starts to become visible in the jar is probably fine. Cool and dry is recommended, but really any comfortable household temperature is likely not a problem. I keep all my tobacco in my bedroom and if it's comfortable enough for me in the room, I have to assume it's comfortable enough for my tobacco.

 

[sablebrush52]

I opened today and there was white fuzzy mold on 10% of it. I freaked out and threw away the bad part, no I don't have any good pics.

If there's mold present then there's no "good part". Just toss it.

 

[tkcolo]

If there's mold present then there's no "good part". Just toss it.

Haha. I know. I was in denial when I only threw the "bad" part away. Jeremy at C&D reached out to replace it. It mostly scared me to think about everything in my cellar doing the same thing!

 

[cwpiperman]

Had exactly the same thing happen to me with an 8oz can of June 2018 Oak Alley. Tossed the whole thing, and SmokingPipes refunded the price. BTW, the Oak Alley had been jarred in mason jars.
CW

 

[Chasing Embers]

Interesting that both Opening Night and Oak Alley have red Virginias. Hope we're not seeing a repeat of Summer 2016.

 

[sablebrush52]

Interesting that both Opening Night and Oak Alley have red Virginias.

McClelland had Red and Black.
C&D has Red and White.

 

[Chasing Embers]

McClelland had Red and Black.

C&D has Red and White.

And fuzzy. :rofl:

 

[newbroom]

Ya gotta start with a sterile jar. (or is it that C&D employees should shower and hazmat suit before entering the warehouse?)

 

[unadoptedlamp]

tkcolo- From the way it reads, it seems like the mould you are experiencing is from a blend that you took out of the original packaging and put into your own jar.
It's a shame, but I can't see this being the fault of the manufacturer. It's hard/impossible to guarantee that there were not mould spores in the jar you used, on your hands when you jarred (even, or especially washed hands, depending on the variables), in the air when you jarred, or any number of possible entry points. With mould, the possibilities are nearly endless, on account of it being impossible for you to notice spores in the environment where you made the swap.
Personally, I never take a blend out of a factory container and put it into a jar unless there is a sound reason to do so. Ie: you notice a corrosion point or that particular blend has an established history of compromising the tin. It happens (and people would chime in to attest), but with all the tins out there, I don't think it is overly common. You run the risk of experiencing exactly what you have. To me, it's not worth it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I never take a blend out of a factory container and put it into a jar unless there is a sound reason to do so.

Unfortunately, it has gotten to be a forum cliche for everyone to suggest top people to jar up tobacco out of tins, sighting the potential for rust as the reason. But, unless you are disciplined enough to allow a blend to set in your cellar for 20 years, I would never remove a blend from the tin. That would put me well into my 70's before I even smoke it. And, at 70, I cannot guarantee that my taste buds will even notice the difference.

 

[bnichols23]

C&D has Red and White.
And fuzzy. [:rofl:]

/headdeskgroaninginpain

 

[sablebrush52]

Forum cliché - rubbish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlUetPq40ts
Lamp, I get your point, but I think you're blaming the victim here. The same argument applies at the manufacturing and tinning facility. That's why anti mold agents are added. And it's not like the supplier has no priors. And isn't it funny how we almost never hear of this problem with any other manufacturer.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

sablebrush52 is right on the money here.
I have yet to see any mood in my C&D tins, but I am watching carefully. With respect to using new jars, I don't think there is any need to sterilize them. Someone on another forum tests these sort of things for a living and has all the testing equipment. He tested a random sample of newly purchased jars from the big vendors and found them to be very sterile and told spore free right out of the box. The results were posted on here some years back. If the jar has been used, then that is obviously a different story.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Sable, you're going to have to explain what you want me to know from that video. As much as I respect Mike, I wanted to throw my computer at the wall after 5 seconds. I am not a video watcher, because I don't see the point in "watching" someone talk, when they could write it down. It kinda grates on my nerves. I am more of a reader.
But, I am guessing the Greg Pease himself comes on and says that if you don't open your tin in less than a year, he wants us all to put them in jars, right?

If not, the only mold I have ever seen in my own cellar was when I jarred up blends from the tins. I threw away 12 jars of Haddos, while the tins remained mold free.
Do what you want with your own tobaccos, but, I will just keep them in the tins. Like I said, I won't be keeping these 20 years, probably not even 10 years.
Less a year ago, I hardly ever seen anyone suggest jarring from tins.

 

[unadoptedlamp]

Sable- I was introducing the idea that the "victim" may be responsible, yes. Given the circumstances, I think it's a fair point. Doesn't mean it was his/her doing, but it's certainly possible.
I think it is a legitimate complaint if you crack an un-open tin from a manufacturer and find mould. I would fully expect a refund. For transparency, I did have this happen to a popular plug by the same maker. First plug was fine, and a week later, the one underneath was showing white mould. I contacted the seller just to let them know, without asking for a refund, and one was promptly given. That doesn't confirm that there is a widespread problem though.
If you open a tin, put it into your own jar, and then experience mould some months later, then I'm afraid that's on the user. I don't think it's realistic at all for a company to provide a refund in those circumstances because it is impossible for them to control what you do with your tobacco, and more specifically, where you do it. Even with mine, after being open for a week, I wouldn't expect a refund. Who knows what got in there?
Yes, there are some prior cases. However, based on volume of product sold, I'm not convinced it's widespread. I guess we'd need a tally of some kind to know for sure.
In my home in the tropics, if I leave a shirt in my drawer for 2 weeks without wearing it, I have mould. Can't see it, but I can smell it and I have a reaction to it. For me to jar here would be asking for trouble. I do not have this problem in Canada. Further, my house in the tropics is cleaned thoroughly every two weeks, so it's not like I'm living in squalor. The point is, it can also be location specific. How can a blender account for this when people are transferring blends out of the tins that they provide -and presumably guarantee?
It just doesn't seem fair to me.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I'm not going to bawk and man getting away with something from "The Man," however, I posted about my Haddos Delight mold months ago, and they didn't contact me. Eh, water under the bridge. ::

 

[unadoptedlamp]

I contacted 4Noggins, when Rich was in charge. Maybe he took it as a polite way to ask for a refund? I don't know. Got great service from him over the years.
My circle of "the man" is a bit narrower than yours, but I guess when you start growing your own, it becomes bigger to catch more people... I get it, now that you point it out.
Alright, screw it, let's stick it to the man and burn the place down! I'll cry over not having Haddo's anymore, but if that's the price we pay to not have mouldy tobacco, let's get on with it and tar them up good.
Ahem.
But yeah, I didn't contact C&D or post here. I only went up one rung on the ladder and it was resolved without even asking. I wonder if C&D monitor threads like this and reach out to affected customers. Sounds like work. But... if you do, just saying, I was the first to stick up for you. And I'm a sucker for Haddo's, 16oz tins. Just saying.
Ok, so it turns out I'll throw anyone under the bus for a tin of Haddo's. There. I said it.

 

[crashthegrey]

You sure it is not just plume? (I'll see myself out)

 

[d4k23]

Mold (yes, it was 2018 Opening Night and SP took care of me immediately). Not jarred but upon opening the tin.
I did open another tin to check for mold (none) and jarred it up. So far so good, no visible mold growth through the glass. But I am doing a long term experiment and its going to age until 2022 with a tin of the same stuff next to it. Wanted to see the differences in a few years from sealed tin aging to jar aging.