Hello to all who are following this discussion. My name is Patrick and I work at Capitol Cigars. First I want to apologize for the behavior of that particular employee, and I am glad you attempted to bring it to our attention. This matter was just now brought to my attention and I can tell you all that the kind of behavior reportedly displayed by this employee is in no way how we intend our valued customers to be treated. I don't know the whole story, but I can tell you all that we will investigate this further and that this employee will be made to understand that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. I am sorry, wkoti, that you had to endure the treatment you were given. We strive to create an inviting and friendly atmosphere, so this situation is definitely outside the norm. Please come in to our store and speak with either myself, or the other Patrick that works here and we can discuss this matter further.
I would also like to respond to the "mold" issue. I have been on the supply side of the premium cigar industry for 9 years and have had the good fortune to learn from some of the true masters in the production, care, and enjoyment of cigars. While it is possible that the cigars in question may have had mold growing on them, it is more likely that these cigars did, in fact, have plume forming on them. It has been my experience that mold and plume can be nearly indistinguishable from each other, even under close inspection with a magnifying glass. However, one way to be 100% sure you have plume and not mold is to carefully (so as not to damage the cigar) wipe the substance in question from the surface of the cigar - if it wipes away cleanly and leaves no trace behind it is plume; if it leaves a pit behind it is mold. Mold feeds off the tobacco, so it extends "roots" into the leaf, which is what leaves the telltale pit behind when it's wiped away. Plume forms harmlessly on the surface of the tobacco, so it of course leaves no damage behind when you wipe it off. It's been my experience that the method I just described is the ONLY sure way to determine if you have plume versus mold.
When I heard about this issue, the first thing I did was go into the humidor to see if I could locate the offending cigars. Now, I am not entirely sure I had the same cigars because the Rocky Patel Edge Toros I looked at (we don't have Churchills) were not located near the humidifier as was indicated in one of the posts. These Toros, however, also had a substance on them that one might think was mold. Upon close inspection, however, I determined that substance was in fact plume. I'm not saying that the cigars that started this whole mess were not moldy, but I can assure everyone that we monitor our cigars closely and if we were to find mold we would remove those cigars promptly and increase our diligence to make sure no other cigars develop the same problem. We would never try to sell moldy cigars by convincing our customers they have plume. We have not had a mold issue in our humidor and, as I said, work diligently to prevent it.
Contrary to what many believe, plume can form quite rapidly. Given the right combination of environment, some tobaccos will plume in a matter of months, if not weeks. I have seen cigars come from a box that just been shipped from the manufacturer with a significant amount of plume already formed on them. So it's not impossible that these cigars could have been pluming despite being boxed in November of 2009. One thing you haven't considered is that those cigars likely aged on a shelf in the factory for several months before being boxed. It's not the boxing date that's crucial here, it's the date the cigars were actually made.
Nonetheless, the issue was poorly handled by this particular employee and for that I am truly sorry! The main reason we welcome your cigar club to our store is the fact that many of you are new to this wonderful world of smoking fine cigars and the reason you were coming to us was to learn more about it. It is unconscionable to us that one of us would disparage one of your group for lack of experience. In fact, we have looked forward to and enjoyed having you all in the store and hoped to further our relationship. My hope is that this isolated incident will not sour that relationship. Come back to the store when you have the time and we will resolve this situation. It sounds as if it's already been blown way out of proportion already, but this by no means represents what we are about here at Capitol.
