Key Takeaways
- Start with a mild Connecticut-shade wrapper and a straight cut, the most forgiving combination for a first cigar.
- Toast the foot at a 45-degree angle until it glows evenly before your first puff, and never blast more heat onto uneven black spots.
- Pace yourself to about one puff a minute so the cherry doesn't overheat and turn the smoke harsh.
Every mistake beginners make with a cigar comes from doing it too fast. The cut, the light, the smoke itself all punish speed and reward patience. Slow down and a cigar practically smokes itself.
Start with a mild Connecticut-shade wrapper and a straight cut. Both forgive small mistakes and let you focus on the flame instead of the leaf. A tobacconist has answered this exact question a hundred times, so just ask.
Hold the flame under the foot until it glows in one even ring of orange. Blotchy black patches mean you moved too fast. Blow on them instead of adding more heat, or you push tar straight into the tobacco. Let the cigar sit a full minute before that first puff.
Winston Churchill smoked eight or nine cigars a day and had a special oxygen mask made so he could keep one lit on unpressurized flights. Volume was never the point. One puff a minute is the only speed a cigar rewards. Smoke it slow or don't bother lighting it.
Want the full story?
Read the Full Article →