Green Stuff On Wrapper?

Thane

Hey everyone,
Once in a while I'll pull out a stick that has some green spots on it, usually just bean sized and usually just covers an inch or so area on the wrapper. I wonder if that's mold or something else? Is it safe to smoke? It only happens maybe every 20-30 cigars, sometimes worse in a box where it might have the spotting on half the box.

I kind of go through a lot, I smoke 4 American Label, Churchill's, every day, so I figure some quality issues for my volume of smoking is expected for this kind of product. One time I smoked one that had a lot of the spots and afterwards felt like I had a nicotine od lol, maybe just smoked too much that day, or maybe the green stuff did it? Haha

Yakster

Yeah, we're going to need to see a picture. Could be any number of things.

Thane

I'll post a pic the next time I run into one. The one I'm smoking right now had it, but I already smoked through

Yakster

I'd never seen green stuff on the wrapper, probably because I usually smoke cigars with darker wrappers, hence I wanted to see a picture, but a quick web search turned up a site with some info on this which may be what your seeing, @Thane. I was wondering if you might be seeing water spots, but I've never seen them large or green.

https://cigarfan.net/2008/04/05/cigar-wrapper-issues-mold-bloom-and-spots/

Green patches caused by imperfect curing are most commonly found on the delicate claro shade wrappers of Cuba and the Connecticut River Valley. They’re sometimes called “frog eyes” (not to be confused with the more damaging tobacco fungus called “frog-eye leafspot.”) They usually show up as small, relatively minor blemishes like those pictured here. They are clearly discolorations and not growths like mold.

It isn’t clear to me exactly what causes these green spots, but it appears that excess moisture at some point in the process causes patches or streaks in the leaf to resist curing.

Thane

@Yakster oh yeah that pic looks similar, I mostly see bean sized circles, but sometimes it's a little rectangle or line too. Well that's a relief that it's most likely just discoloration. I don't know why I didn't Google it first but yeah I just looked up a couple articles and they all say it's safe to smoke too.

My daily smoker is definitely a light colored wrapper, makes those blemishes stand out a lot more.

Anyhoo, thanks for the advice and looking into it, appreciate it!

miller65rod

It just water stains. Many cigars have them. No affect on smoking them.