How to smoke a cigar

Before you light: pick one for you and the occasion

When someone asks me for their first cigar, I start with two questions before I recommend anything. Have you smoked anything before? And what's the occasion?

From there I usually steer people one of two ways. One is something sweeter or flavored. Coffee-infused cigars are one place to start, and Java vs. Tabak Especial compares two we carry. The other is something traditional, usually mild to medium.

A Connecticut is a common first cigar, but check the maker's strength rating before you buy. What is a Connecticut cigar? explains the leaf.

If you've smoked anything before, I might suggest something a little fuller. That's just my experience.

When you smoke it matters too. For me, a rich cigar comes after I've eaten, and it's the last one of the session.

Size is a separate choice. If you're deciding between a robusto and a toro, Robusto vs. Toro compares them.

Step 1: Cut the cap

The closed end of a cigar is the head, and it's sealed with a cap. You smoke from the head, so it has to be opened. Cut a thin slice off the cap with a cigar cutter. Cut too deep and you take off the whole cap, and the wrapper can start to unravel. If the draw feels tight, you can always cut a little more.

Step 2: Toast and light the foot

The open end is the foot, and that's the end you light. Use a butane lighter (a torch or a soft flame both work) or wooden matches. A liquid-fuel lighter can leave a fuel taste, and wooden matches usually burn cleaner than paper ones.

Hold the foot just above the tip of the flame, not in it, and turn the cigar slowly so the whole foot heats evenly. That's toasting. Then put the cigar in your mouth, keep the flame just off the foot, and draw gently while you turn it until the whole foot glows. Blow lightly on the foot to check. Touch up any spot that isn't lit.

Step 3: Puff, don't inhale

You don't inhale cigar smoke. Draw it into your mouth as if you were sipping through a straw, and hold it there a moment. That's when you taste it. Then let it out.

Take a puff about once a minute, and turn the cigar now and then so it burns evenly. Puff much faster and it burns hot and harsh, and if you wait much longer between puffs it can go out.

A strong cigar can leave you lightheaded, especially if you haven't eaten. If you're not sure how strong yours is, smoke it slowly and after a meal. If you start to feel unwell, stop. Our guide to cigar strength, body and flavor explains why some cigars hit harder and what to do if one makes you feel sick.

Keeping it lit

Leave the ash on until it's about an inch long, then roll or tap it off gently against the edge of the ashtray.

If the cigar goes out, you can relight it. Knock off the ash, blow out gently through the cigar to clear the stale smoke, then toast and light the foot the way you did at the start. The first few puffs after a relight often taste a little bitter. They usually clear.

How far down to smoke it

There's no rule. Smoke it as long as you like the taste, and stop when it turns bitter or gets too hot to hold.

You can leave the band on at first. Peeling it off a cold cigar can tear the wrapper. Once the cigar has warmed up, the heat loosens the band's glue, and the band comes off without tearing the wrapper. Take it off before the lit end gets close, because a burning band can affect the taste.

Putting it out, or saving it for later

When you're done, set the cigar in the ashtray and leave it. It goes out on its own within a few minutes. Crushing it out makes the smell worse. If there's no ashtray, dip the lit end in water. Either way, wait at least 10 minutes after it's out before you throw it away.

To finish it later, tap off the ash and let it go out in the ashtray. Once it's out, blow through it to clear the stale smoke. Relight it the same way as above, within an hour or two. After a few hours, a relight usually tastes stale and bitter. And keep a half-smoked cigar out of your humidor, because its smell carries to the cigars around it.