The Art and Elegance of Cigars

Cigar smoking has long been thought of a luxurious activity for the rich and famous, eccentric celebrities, or the old boys clubs. But in the latter part of the 20th century, the enjoyment of cigars began spreading to people in all areas of society, and now cigar smoking is a widely held enjoyable activity for many people. Individual smokers of cigars have their own tastes and flavors they enjoy, and the cost of cigars vary from inexpensive "everyday" cigars to very expensive designer cigars. The cost and taste of cigars made my machine may be attractive to some smokers, while a hand-rolled cigar is worth the extra expense to experienced cigar connoisseurs.

The first step to joining the ranks of cigar enthusiasts is to select the best cigars to use to practice, because cigar smoking is vastly different from cigarette smoking. You can’t simply hold a match to a cigar and start dragging on it. Cigar smoking is an art. Start by selecting several single cigars of different types from a tobacconist or cigar shop. Don’t buy an entire box of cigars until after you sample a few single cigars first, to see what your taste leans toward. Don’t be intimidated or nervous about asking the shop owner for advice; they are your best resource for learning about the qualities of each cigar and helping you to narrow down what you might like or dislike.

For beginners, it’s best to stick with mild cigars. Cigars that are more full-flavored will most likely be too bold or strong, or maybe even taste bad, for new cigar smokers. Mild cigars are also the least costly, so if you don’t like your selection, or ruin the cigar by cutting it or lighting it incorrectly, you won’t feel bad about having wasted money. Once you have picked out a few cigars that look like good candidates to start with, be sure to gently squeeze each one to see if there are any soft or hard spots in them. Also check the wrapper for discolorations or cracks. If you buy a cigar that is badly packed or wrapped, it may be plugged or perhaps even unsmokeable Tobacconists who are reputable will usually replace a bad cigar with a good one.

One thing that beginning cigar enthusiasts may not think about is the issue of protecting stored cigars. Cigars are different from cigarettes in many ways, but one way is that the tobacco inside them can dry out quickly, making them impossible to smoke correctly. For this reason, if you’re going to buy more cigars that you’ll be able to smoke over a couple of days, you need to purchase a humidor to store them in. Be sure to leave them inside the cellophane they’re packaged in, or they will dry out quickly. As a temporary measure, you can store unopened cigars in a plastic storage container.

The closed end of the cigar - called the head - is the end that is put into your mouth. But before that, you need to cut off the cap, and the cap should not be cut off until just before you light the cigar and are ready to smoke it. There are different types of cigar cutters, but the guillotine cutter is the most popular. Hold the cigar in one hand and the guillotine cutter in the other hand and cut off the cap about 1/8 inch down. If you cut too far down and cause the wrapper to fray or unravel, the whole smoking experience will be ruined, so it’s best to be conservative in the cut you make. If you don’t have an actual cigar cutter, you could bite off the end with your teeth or cut it with a knife - but never do this with an expensive cigar. The cost of a cigar cutter is less than the cost of an expensive cigar. You can also simply punch a hole in the cap of the cigar using a pencil or a pen, but again, don’t do this with an expensive cigar.

Once the cigar is ready to light, it’s best to use a butane lighter or a wooden match, to avoid introducing chemicals or other flavors into the tobacco inside the cigar. Grip the cigar around the band, about 1-2" from the head, using your thumb and the first four fingers of your hand, and place it lightly into your mouth. Hold the end of the cigar just above the top of the flame, but be sure not to let the end actually dip into the flame. Slowly start puffing on the cigar. While continuing to puff, slowly start rotating the cigar around inside the flame. Depending on how large and thick the cigar is, you might have to rotate the end in the flame for about 10-20 seconds or longer, just until the edge of the outer rim starts to glow and the smoke starts to draw easily through the cigar.

Once the cigar is fired up, all you have left to do is relax and enjoy it. Puff in and rotate the cigar about every minute or so, but do not inhale the smoke. Simply taste it inside your mouth and then exhale. If you inhale cigar smoke too quickly it will ruin the flavor. If you smoke it too slowly, the cigar will go out and you will need to relight it. Most cigars that are hand-rolled use long filler, so you will probably not have to tap off the ashes until after they are at least half an inch long. You can continue smoking the cigar down as far as you want to, depending on how it tastes.

After you get the hang of selecting, caring for, and smoking cigars, you might start feeling like one of the rich, famous, and eccentric celebrities known for their penchant for cigars. And you’ll wonder why you waited so long.