MOLD! :( JackKnife Plug + SmokingPipes.com

[shortyeastcoast]

I opened up a tin of JackKnife Plug from the wonderful G. L. Pease about a month ago which was part of a huge order over from the showroom in down in South Carolina at smokingpipes.com - that place is awesome!

Sorry I "stole" that badass flat black Butz-Choquin Formula bent out from under you Dave, but I just couldn't let that one go good sir.

Anyway, I put the JKP in my "cellaring" drawer like I do with all my new blends. I run two drawers, one for cellaring which contains blends that are not opened yet, or may need some time to breathe or dry out a bit (again, I'm still an amateur here):

But after about a month of sitting in there, I went to check on it and:

Oh no! What happened? I didn't even get to try it out! None of my other blends are showing any signs (to my amateur eyes) of molding. Did I do something wrong? Does JKP require some special attention? Is my "cellar drawer" the wrong way to store my blends?
My other drawer is my "Ready, Go!" drawer, which are the blends I'm currently evaluating, if not enjoying:

This system has been working great so far down here in the super-humid North Carolina coast, until this happened.
I tweeted Mr. Pease along with the fine folks over at smokingpipes.com and they are taking great care of me, so no harm done - aside from a wasted brick of what smelled like it would be an amazing A+++ smoke.
Also, Hello fellow pipemen! I guess this post serves as my introduction to your fine community you've built here. This place is fantastic. I've been lurking around for the past few months and I look forward to more interaction and education.
Here's my modest collection:


And a couple of custom favorites:
A flat black cob with a fancy stem, courtesy of Walker Briar Works:

BEHOLD THE CORN-WARDEN! This picture doesn't really do justice on showing how big this pipe really is:

 

[thesmokindragon]

I got a few sleeves of this stuff when it was first released and opened half of them, no issues. I don't think it is your storage area , since these tins are properly sealed from factory...spores could have got in during that process. Just let Mark over at SP.com know and I'm sure they will take care of you

 

[eaglerico]

I have the same reaction as Sam.
This was from a fresh tin? I live in Houston, which is just as humid and have no problems with mold. I even have several tins of Hearth & Home (same style tins) open for months with no mold. Unless the tin was previously opened and not sealed properly, I don't think you did anything. I make it a habit of checking the seal of every tine carefully.

 

[fitzy]

Welcome to the forums. I love the look of those flat black BC pipes. You'll have to let us know how she smokes.
I've never had a problem with mold before. Any tins I open end up going into mason jars everything else stays in their sealed tins.
smokingpipes.com rocks and will certainly take good care of you.

 

[cortezattic]

Was that tin of moldy tobacco exposed to greater than room temperature heat?

I once left a tin of McClelland blending Perique sit out (for weeks) -- on an analog TV's digital converter box.

Apparently, the "always on" device generated a miniscule amount of continuous "warmth" that I never noticed

-- until I opened the tin!

 

[jbbaldwin]

What happened to the perique? Don't leave us hanging!

 

[cortezattic]

It got really moldy and stinky -- like verrrry foul cheese; and something that looked like oil (I wasn't going to touch it!)

spread out on the walls of the tin. The mold itself was white and, for the most part, clumped in a centimeter-sized wad.
Believe me, it smelled soooo bad, you'd never, ever, think of putting it in a pipe.

So when you see tobacco with a little bloom, or whatever -- usually silvery or dusty looking -- as is common with some of

the Gawith flakes, you can have some confidence that it will be just fine to smoke. I have, and my pee-pee is still attached.

 

[jbbaldwin]

That doesn't sound too good. I wouldn't have touched it either!
The OP scares me - I have a little hoard of JKP in unopened tins. Maybe I'll pop them and transfer everything to Mason jars just to find out if there's any cause for alarm.

 

[cortezattic]

I wouldn't go to that extreme. This sounds like a rare incident.

 

[cigrmaster]

Welcome to the site Shorty. Glad to hear that you are being taken care of, SP is great like that. Nice collection you have going, I hope you have a bast here.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Yeah, I have 90 tins of JKP put away and this post worries the shit out of me.

 

[cortezattic]

Peck, I think your cellar is gonna be just fine. The rate of such incidents must be a negligible fraction of 1%.

I read somewhere that temperature stability is a key. Find a storage place that doesn't vary from 70° by too much.

The pop-top tins probably aren't too fussy because they're aluminum. The flats and squares should be kept at low humidity

because they have at least some ferrous metal in them.
I think Harris uses a large Tupperware utility bin for his tins -- and throwing in some desiccant, such as silica gel, wouldn't hurt.

 

[werdna]

Not that I have any experience with moldy tobacco, but the whole batch that tin came from may be at risk. Is there a batch number on the tin? If so, post it so others can check their tins for the possibility of contamination.

 

[kashmir]

Yep. That there's mold not bloom. Probably Penicillin.

 

[shortyeastcoast]

Woops!
I didn't even think my post would alarm others. Sorry for the scares, guys! And I'm firmly with everyone else saying this has got to be a very rare incident.
There is a yellow old-grocery-store-price-tag style sticker on the bottom of the tin, but I don't know if sp.com put it there or if it was from Mr. Pease. The number is "040813" suggesting April 8th, 2013.
There aren't any other stickers like this on any of the other tins I got from sp.com.

 

[uberam3rica]

Nice cobwarden! I have one as well. Shame about the Jackknife Plug, I'm glad it's being taken care of.

 

[teufelhund]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[sallow]

I use a drawer to store my tobacco and have had no problems, but it might be less humid here in the midwest. Maybe the can had a leak?

 

[jbbaldwin]

I just popped open a can of JKP with the same lot number/date as the OP's.
Everything was fine - no sign of anything but tobacco. I'm going to let the rest of it age - not worried any more.