You’ve recently taken up cigar smoking and want to know how to light it for the best smoking experience. As you can probably tell, a poorly lit cigar makes for a terrible experience and will likely leave a bad taste in your mouth. Luckily, it’s not difficult to light a cigar properly. With the right lighting technique, a good cigar will stay lit even if you set it aside for a few minutes while you take a sip of your drink or read over the paper. So, let’s discuss how to light a cigar for the best smoking experience. Read on to learn more.
1- Choose Your Flame
Many cigar smokers like to use a st dupont gold lighter, but if you’re new to cigar smoking, you may want to start with a regular disposable lighter. The lighter you choose needs to have a flame that is just under an inch long. A shorter flame will not be able to reach the center of your cigar, while a longer flame may burn the cigar too quickly.
Another thing to mention is that some cigar smokers prefer to use a cedar spill, which is the small kindling twigs found within a cigar box. These are used to light cigars because they can slow down the burn, allowing you to get a good draw on the cigar without it getting too hot.
2- Get Your Cigar Ready to Light
Remove any cellophane or paper wrapper from your cigar. Then, cut off the end of your cigar with a straight cutter or guillotine cutter. Be sure to use a clean cutting surface when you’re cutting your cigar. Otherwise, remnants from the surface may transfer to your cigar and affect the flavor of your smoke.
Preparing your cigar properly is crucial to lighting it for the best smoking experience. You’ll notice, for example, that some cigars have a little nub at the end. This is done so that cigar smokers can cut off just the end of the cigar instead of cutting off all of the tobacco. This can help you avoid the potential lip burn that a hot cigar can cause.
3- Light Your Cigar
Now that your cigar is ready for lighting, turn the flame to just about half of its height and hold it about an inch away from the cigar. You can pull the flame across the end of your cigar to ignite it, but make sure not to move the flame too slowly, or you may burn your cigar. Once it’s lit, take a few deep draws on your cigar and let it settle in. You should only have to light your cigar once, but if you’ve taken a break from the cigar and it goes out, don’t worry – that’s normal. Simply light it again as you did before and takes a few deep draws to get it going.
4- Ash Your Cigar and Enjoy
Once you’ve taken a few deep draws on your cigar and it’s settled in, begin to ash it. This is a great way to keep your cigar from burning too quickly or unevenly. Simply tap it on the inside of an ashtray to ash your cigar and watch it fall out. You don’t want your ashes to get too long, though, or your cigar may burn unevenly. A good rule of thumb is to tap off the ash every inch of so. This will help you maintain your cigar and enjoy it to the fullest.
Conclusion
There’s nothing in this entire world like smoking a cigar after a long day or with a drink in hand. By taking the time to learn how to light your cigar properly and ash it as you go, you’ll be able to enjoy your cigar to the fullest without any frustration.
Once you learn how to light a cigar properly and ash it, your smoking experience will be so much better. It may take some time to get the hang of proper lighting and ash removal, but once you do, you’ll be able to enjoy a smooth and satisfying smoke every time.
Lastly, always try to find the best cigars you can afford. A good cigar doesn’t have to be expensive; however, you need to find ones that have been properly aged and stored to ensure they’re at their best when you smoke them.
