Lighting A Cigar
Start lighting your cigar by holding it at a 45 degree angle over the flame, about three to four inches from the tip of the flame and rotate the cigar until the foot begins to ignite. Never let the flame touch the cigar as you toast the cigar’s foot. I know it sounds odd, but the purpose of toasting is to ignite the outer layers of the tobacco that hold the cigar together. If you just held up a match and began to draw on your cigar, only the the inner tobacco, the filler, would ignite. When that happens you will always get an uneven burn and it will develop a poorly shaped ash. Once the wrapper and binder have a white ash, slowly puff on the cigar while rotating it around the flame to ignite the filler. Remember to hold the flame far enough away from the cigar to prevent scorching the foot. When you release the pressure on your inhalation (of course you don’t actually inhale, but you know what I mean), a surge of flame should shoot up from the foot of the cigar and a nice full puff a smoke should come from your mouth.
You just properly lit your cigar!
Since we’re on the subject of lighting cigars, we had better address the issue or relighting your cigar if it goes out. Cigars will go out if not puffed on every few minutes, so relighting a fresh cigar is not a problem. It is best to avoid relighting a cigar that has sat for more than a couple hours. When relighting a cigar that has gone out, first tap off any excess ash so you start with a fresh surface and then blow out to clear any old gases trapped in the cigar. After that, just follow the standard lighting technique above. It’s that simple.
Remember that when you finish smoking a cigar just set it the ashtray and let it go out by itself. Never stub out a cigar! As a cigar burns, the filler accumulates oils and tar. Stubbing out a cigar causes the wrapper to split and release gases once trapped in the now exposed filler. This pungent odor is responsible for the awful stale smell associated with extinguished cigars.
