Answer: Mold likes moist climates, and if you are not too careful and add too much water to your humidor, you may find your cigars infected. Fortunately, mold is not a quick grower, and if you pay attention, you may catch it in time before it proliferates.

If you cigars became moist feeling, or even soggy, and if you smell a funky odor coming from your humidor, these are good signs that your cigar is infected. There are a couple of method to fix this problem. First is to remove the moldy cigars. Next, make sure you lower the amount of water you are placing in your humidor. Check your hygrometer to make sure it is working properly. Also, you may want to use the 50/50 solution (you should be using this anyway), using 50 percent water and 50 percent propylene glycol. This helps your cigars in several ways. First, it ensures that your relative humidity stays at around 70, which is ideal. Next, it helps fight bacteria and fungus.

Here is a picture of what a moldy cigar looks like:

Question: Should I leave the band on or off?

This is really a matter of preference, although there is also a bit of etiquette involved. The reason to keep the band on is that if you are not careful, you can tear the wrapper when you remove it. If you are a braggart, you’ll also miss the opportunity to bandy about your fancy-pants cigar. One way to ensure that you do not tear your cigar is wait until the ash nears the band. The accompanying heat will loosen the adhesive of the band. This is a good method if you like to save the band for a cigar diary or as part of a collection.

The only etiquette rule that I know of is the European one. In Europe, they prefer to smoke cigars without the label, so no one knows the value of the cigar (no hot-rodding for you!) If they catch you wearing the band, prepare for a funny sounding verbal lashing.