How to smoke a cigar

The full first-smoke sequence — cut, light, draw, pace, and when to put it down.

A cigar is not inhaled and it is not rushed. The whole sequence is six steps, and a first cigar takes between thirty minutes and two hours depending on its size.

1. Pick a size you can finish

Time is decided by length and ring gauge, not by strength. Using Northwoods Humidors' published figures: a corona (5½ × 42) runs 30 to 45 minutes, a robusto (5 × 50) 45 to 60, a toro (6 × 50) an hour to an hour and a half, and a churchill (7 × 47) an hour and a half to two hours. For a first cigar, pick something you can finish in one sitting.

Sizes and what each name means: cigar sizes and shapes.

2. Cut the cap

Cut the closed end — the cap — and take off as little as you can. Cutting too far down cuts past the cap line and the wrapper starts to unravel. The full method is in how to cut a cigar.

3. Light it without cooking it

Use a butane lighter, a torch, or a cedar spill. Do not use a fluid lighter or a sulfur match: both put their own flavour into the smoke. A sulfur-free wooden match is fine.

Hold the flame just below the foot — the open end you light — without touching it, and rotate the cigar.
Toast the foot until the whole rim glows evenly. This takes longer than people expect.
Then draw gently while you rotate, until the cigar is alight across its full face.
Blow lightly on the lit end and look at it. An even orange ring means it is lit; a dark wedge means one side is behind and needs more flame.

An uneven light is the most common first mistake, and it causes the burn problems people blame on the cigar.

4. Draw, do not inhale

Cigar smoke is taken into the mouth and released. It is not taken into the lungs. Nicotine still reaches you through the mouth, which is why a strong cigar on an empty stomach can make a new smoker feel unwell.

Take a slow draw of about two seconds. Hold the smoke for a moment, then let it go.

5. Pace it

One to two draws a minute is a normal pace — Famous Smoke Shop says roughly once a minute, Holt's says one or two. Smoking faster overheats the tobacco and turns the smoke harsh and bitter. If the cigar gets hot to the touch or the smoke turns sharp, set it down for a minute or two and let it cool.

Do not knock the ash off. A firm ash insulates the burning end and keeps the temperature down. Let it fall, or tap it off gently at about an inch.

The band can come off once the cigar has been burning for a few minutes — the heat loosens the glue. Find the seam where the band overlaps itself and unpick it there, rather than pulling the band down the cigar.

6. Know when to stop

There is no rule that a cigar must be finished. Most people stop when the burn reaches roughly the last two inches, or earlier if the smoke turns hot and bitter. Set it down in an ashtray and let it go out on its own. Do not stub it out — that pushes the burning tobacco into itself and the smell is much worse.

If it goes wrong

It keeps going out. Usually an uneven light. Relight the foot the same way you lit it, after brushing off the ash.
The burn runs up one side. Touch up the slow side with a flame for a few seconds.
The draw is tight. The cigar is rolled firm or the cut is too small. A slightly deeper cut can help; a plugged cigar sometimes cannot be saved.
You feel unwell. Stop, eat something, and drink water. This is nicotine, not the cigar being bad. It passes.

Before you blame your technique, check the cigar. A cigar that is too wet or too dry causes the same three faults, and no amount of careful lighting fixes it: how long cigars last in a humidor.