How To Smoke Cigars Like a Pro: A Beginner’s Guide
Corporate C.E.O.s, mob bosses, championship-winning coaches, and even some doctors are renowned for toasting the dizzying heights of success with an equally toasty (and dizzying) cigar. Even some tribes, such as the Kalahari’s San, celebrate major hunting success with a barrel of blazing “t’abbaca”.
If you’re keen to join in on the tradition, you’ve come to the right place and you’ll soon learn about some of the tools and etiquette of cigars and cigar culture.
What You Need
Pro-level cigar smoking involves pro-level tools and accessories that are bound to wow you and your buddies.
Lighter
You see, a pro cigar smoker’s lighter often carries its own story… Maybe it helped Grandpa through the bitter cold during the war. Or maybe it just looks pretty cool. You cannot be lighting up premium stogies with a clicky plastic lighter from the gas station. Etiquette.
Cutter
Next, you will need a cutter. Like lighters, cutters are eternal companions for cigars. You need a cutter that is comfortable and well-suited to the shape of the cigars you use. Straight cutters are the best for beginners since they work with most cigar types.
“V” cutters and punch cutters are recommended for more experienced smokers because they can easily mess up and unravel your cigars if not used properly.
Cigars
You need cigars of course. There’s a wide range of cigars and they vary in flavor, potency, and overall quality. This means you have quite a bit of exploration to do to find the best brand and type for you. If you’re in the market for high-quality cigars but are unsure of the best for beginners to try, there are online resources that might be able to help. New smokers should dabble with different cigars before investing a lot in one particular brand. Whatever you start with, ensure it is mild to avoid being overwhelmed.
Ashtray
Naturally, you also need an ashtray (or several) for your space. The number and size of your ashtrays depend on your taste, the number of guests you expect to host, the places you smoke, and any number of other factors.
Cigar Holder
A cigar holder is another cool accessory to have. Sometimes you might have to put your cigar to the side to free up your hand. A cigar holder offers a neat way to…er, hold your cigar while you handle more pressing matters.
If you want to go even fancier, you ought to think about getting a cigar humidor. Cigars are fairly sensitive to humidity, and storing them in an environment with fluctuating humidity could negatively affect their structural integrity.
A humidor allows you to store your stogies in a stable environment to keep them fresh and structurally sound.
How to Smoke a Cigar
Now let’s take a look at the actual smoking. The first thing you need to do is identify the ends of your cigar. One end is the head (the end you put in your mouth) and the other is the foot (the end you light). The middle part of the cigar is the body.
Next, you need to cut the tip of the head. This tip is known as the cap and most cigars have distinct lines indicating where you should cut. You must not cut too much of the head off because you could cause the cigar’s main wrapping leaf to begin unraveling.
Once the cap is off, you should give the cigar a “cold drag” before lighting it to ensure proper airflow. Without proper airflow, the cigar will keep burning out and you will struggle with your drags. Keep cutting until the drags are comfortable.
The next step is lighting, which must also be done carefully. Start by warming up the foot of the cigar with your lighter to warm up the tobacco.
Once you’re satisfied, you can light the cigar properly. Hold the cigar at a 45-degree angle to your lighter’s vertical flame and drag lightly. If the airflow is as it should be, you will feel the warmth of the smoke in your mouth. Rotate the cigar slowly to ensure the whole foot is lit for an even burn.
Inhalation is optional, of course. If you do not wish to inhale, suck up the smoke into your mouth and hold it as you would a liquid. You can then blow the smoke out when you are ready.
You also need to remember to ash the cigar from time to time. A good rule of thumb (no pun) is to tap the cigar against the ashtray when the footy ash reaches the length of half your thumb.
Once you’ve nailed the basics of cigar smoking, all that’s left is to sit back with a cool drink and enjoy!
Cigars are a bit of sophisticated fun for you and your friends as you celebrate those special moments. Connoisseurs are spoilt for choice with regard to cigar options.
Beginners and seasoned smokers all have something to choose from, which means even more people can get in on this legendary pastime. Hopefully, with the help of what you’ve learned here, you will be puffing away like a true pro!
Martin B.
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