How to Cut and Light a Cigar Properly

More cigars are ruined in the first thirty seconds than at any other point. A cut that goes too deep unravels the wrapper. A hurried light leaves one side burning ahead of the other for the rest of the smoke. Both are avoidable, and neither takes long to get right.

Understanding the cap

The head of a cigar, the end you put in your mouth, is finished with a cap: a small piece of wrapper leaf glued over the end to hold everything together. On a Cuban cigar this is usually a triple cap, three layers applied by hand, and the line where it ends is visible if you look at the cigar in good light.

On most cigars you are removing between one and three millimetres. It is always better to cut conservatively and take a second slice than to take too much in one go, because the first mistake is fixable and the second is not.

Choosing a cutter

Straight or guillotine cut

The default, and the right answer for most people. A double-bladed guillotine closes from both sides simultaneously, which cuts cleanly rather than pushing the cigar sideways. Single-bladed cutters press the cap against one fixed edge and tear more often.

Place the cigar against the far side of the aperture rather than centring it, so you can see exactly how much you are taking. Then cut in one decisive motion. Hesitating crushes the cap before the blades meet.

Punch cut

A punch bores a small circular hole in the cap rather than removing the end. Because the cap stays intact, a punch physically cannot cause unravelling, which makes it forgiving. The draw is firmer and the smoke more concentrated.

It does not work on figurados, torpedoes or belicosos, whose tapered heads have no flat surface to bore into. It is also poorly suited to ring gauges much below 46, where the hole occupies too much of the available surface.

V-cut

A V-cut, or cat’s eye, presses a wedge into the cap. It exposes more surface area than a punch while removing less than a guillotine, and it spreads smoke differently across the palate. It suits larger ring gauges well.

The catch is quality. A blunt or badly aligned V-cutter crushes the head rather than slicing it, and a crushed head cannot be rescued. If you want one, buy a good one. Our S.T. Dupont range covers cutters as well as lighters.

Tapered heads

For a torpedo, belicoso or pirámide, cut a small amount straight across the tip. Start with two millimetres. The taper means that every further millimetre widens the draw considerably, so you can always open it up if it draws tight. You cannot go back.

Lighting

What to light it with

Butane is the standard because it burns clean and leaves no flavour. A single flame gives you control; a torch or jet flame is faster and better outdoors, but it is easy to scorch the wrapper with one if you rush.

Cedar spills, the thin strips of Spanish cedar that often come with a box, are the traditional method and add a faint sweetness. Wooden matches work if you let the sulphur head burn away completely before the flame goes near the cigar.

Avoid petrol lighters, scented candles and anything with an additive. The foot of a cigar is porous, and it absorbs whatever you introduce to it. You taste that for the first third and there is no way to get rid of it.

Toasting the foot

This is the part most people skip, and it is the part that matters.

1. Hold the cigar at roughly forty-five degrees, with the foot above the flame but not in it. You want the heat, not the fire.
2. Rotate the cigar slowly so the flame works around the whole circumference of the foot.
3. Watch the outer ring. You are waiting until the entire edge glows evenly, which usually takes fifteen to thirty seconds.
4. Only now put the cigar in your mouth. Draw gently while continuing to rotate, keeping the flame just below the foot.
5. Blow out across the lit foot once. If any part is still dark, touch it up with the flame.

The reason toasting works is simple. If you draw before the foot is evenly heated, the parts that caught first burn faster, and that difference persists for the whole cigar. A canoe or runner, where one side burns ahead of the other, almost always traces back to a rushed light.

Smoking it

Do not inhale. Cigar smoke is drawn into the mouth, tasted across the palate, and released. Cigars carry far more nicotine than cigarettes and inhaling is both unpleasant and genuinely unwise.

Slow down. A draw every minute or so is about right. Smoking quickly overheats the tobacco, which turns the flavour bitter and tarry. If the cigar feels hot to the fingers, put it down for a minute.

Let the ash build. A firm ash insulates the ember and keeps the burn cool and even. Roughly two to three centimetres is a reasonable point to tap it off, gently, rather than knocking it.

Try a retrohale. Exhale a little smoke through your nose rather than your mouth. Most of what people call flavour is actually aroma, and the retrohale is where cedar, pepper and sweetness become obvious. Start with a very small amount.

Purge if it turns bitter. Blow gently outward through the cigar to push stale smoke out of the filler. It clears the accumulated harshness and often resets the flavour completely.

Relighting

A cigar that goes out is not a disaster. Knock off the loose ash, purge outward to clear the stale smoke sitting in the head, then toast the foot again as you did at the start. Within a few hours it will taste much as it did.

Left overnight, the tars that have condensed inside go stale and sour, and no amount of technique brings it back. At that point it is better to accept it and start another.

If it draws badly

A tight draw is usually either a cut that was too shallow or a cigar stored too damp. Try opening the cut slightly first, since that is reversible in the sense that you can always take more. If the cigar is genuinely overhumidified, a few days in a drier environment will help. See our guide to storing cigars for the humidity ranges that cause this.

A loose, hot draw usually means the cigar is too dry or the cut went below the shoulder. The first is fixable with slow rehydration. The second is not.

A short checklist

• Find the shoulder before you cut, and take less than you think.
• Use a double-bladed guillotine unless you have a reason not to.
• Butane, cedar or a burned-down match. Nothing scented, nothing petrol.
• Toast the foot for fifteen to thirty seconds before the first draw.
• One draw a minute. Let it rest if it gets hot.
• Retrohale gently to find out what you are actually tasting.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly should you cut a cigar?

Just above the shoulder, where the rounded cap meets the straight body of the cigar. On most cigars that is one to two millimetres in from the end. Cutting below the shoulder removes the cap that holds the wrapper in place, and the wrapper will begin to unravel as you smoke.

Which cutter is best, guillotine, punch or V-cut?

A double-bladed guillotine is the safest general choice and works on every shape. A punch gives a firmer draw and cannot unravel a cigar, but it does not suit ring gauges under about 46 or any tapered head. A V-cut concentrates smoke across the palate and suits larger ring gauges, though a poorly made one crushes the cap.

Why should you not light a cigar with a normal petrol lighter?

Petrol lighters, scented candles and sulphur matches all deposit their own combustion products on the foot of the cigar, and you taste that for the first third. Use butane, a cedar spill, or a wooden match held until the sulphur head has burned away.

What does toasting a cigar mean?

Holding the flame just below the foot without touching it, rotating the cigar until the outer edge glows evenly all the way round, before you draw at all. It takes fifteen to thirty seconds and it is the single biggest factor in whether the cigar burns straight.

Can you relight a cigar?

Yes. A cigar relit within a few hours is fine. Knock off the loose ash first, purge by blowing gently outward through the cigar to clear stale smoke, then toast the foot again. A cigar left overnight will taste stale and is generally not worth relighting.