How To Cut and Light Your Cigar

This post is the second part in our series on how to smoke a cigar. Now that you have learned how to choose your cigar, it's time to practice the skills of cutting and lighting your cigar.

Cutting your cigar

The second part in your 'learning how to smoke a cigar' lesson is mastering the skill of cutting your cigar. To accomplish an even cut, the best cutter to use is a double blade guillotine cutter as this produces the cleanest edge. The ideal cut should be about 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch (about 2 millimeters), taking off about 2/3 of the cap (the tip closest to the band), at the curved end of the cap just before it begins to straighten.

Don't cut the whole cap off and whatever you do, never cut into the body of the cigar. This will cause the wrapper to unravel, ruining the experience for you. On the other hand, if you cut too low, the opening might be quite small, and you will find your cigar difficult to smoke.

Lighting your cigar

Use a butane lighter or torch or a slow burning wood match to light your cigar. If you use a match, wait for a moment or two to before moving the cigar close to the flame to burn off the match stick's initial chemicals like sulphur or phosphorous. You don't want those or other chemicals to coat your cigar. Never use paper matches, gas lighters or scented candles in lighting your cigar. A butane torch lighter is recommended if you smoke outside on a blustery day.

Achieving an even burn in lighting your cigar is the third skill you will acquire as you learn how to smoke a cigar. Some friends of mine prefer to light their cigar with cedar wood. It's actually pretty easy to get some, since most cigar houses actually use cedar boxes in their packaging. So, next time you buy a box of cigars, break off a small piece of cedar wood from between the cigar layers, and use that in your next cigar session.

Experienced cigar aficionados recommend that you "toast" or "warm up" your cigar first before actually lighting it. This is done by exposing the foot of the cigar close to the flame (about 2cm.) without actually touching it. Rotate slowly. This ensures that the exposed tobacco is ready once you light your cigar. (Watch it in this How To Smoke A Cigar video).

After the cigar has been warmed sufficiently, it's now time to light up. Put the cigar in your mouth at a 30 degrees to 45 degrees angle. Apply the flame just close enough to touch the foot of your cigar. Draw lightly on the cigar and rotate gently. Drawing too fast will oxidize the tobacco and give you a bitter taste. Although this will pass, but it's an unnecessary hassle that can be avoided.

Continue drawing on your cigar and rotating it until you achieve an even burn, and the draw is easier and smoother. You're almost done with the preliminaries in learning how to smoke a cigar. Put out the flame and inspect the burning foot of your cigar. I sometimes blow very softly on the glowing end to make sure that it's burning evenly. Now that you have a lighted cigar, go ahead and smoke it. Indulge.

After you've mastered the skills of cutting and lighting your cigar properly, it's time for the third and central lesson of this series - how to smoke a cigar.