Smoking a cigar isn't very hard. If you have never done it before then you might want some help. The first cigar I smoked I lit cut off the cap, lit that end, and then put the end I was supposed to light in my mouth. Oops! It wasn't until I saw a picture of someone smoking a cigar, with the band near their mouth -- not the end -- that I realised I had no idea what I was doing.
As hard as smoking that first cigar seemed to me, cigar smoking is actually very easy.
The tools
1 Cigar Cutter
1 Torch Lighter or Match
1 Damn good cigar
Choosing your first cigar
When I decided I wanted to smoke a few cigars I headed over to cigar.com. I picked 4 cigars that looked good to me. They were the Drew Estate Natural Root, a Baccarat, Romeo y Juilita, and some other cigar which I can't remember.
I was very excited when they arrived via FedEx. I pulled them out of the package. After smelling them thoroughly I decided that the Drew Estate Root smelled better by far.
I recommend choosing a light cigar to start out with, unless you are a cigarette smoker (a habit you should drop if you want to fully enjoy the taste of your cigars.) Anything in Drew Estate's Natural line is strongly recommend. These cigars are very smooth and have sweet wrappers. I would recommend either a Root or Clean Robusto.
If you pick a strong cigar you might decide cigars aren't for you -- if you can even finish it. Worse, you will get sick.
Cutting the cigar
Taking your cigar cutter cut off the tip of the "cap" of the cigar. This is the end that is sealed. The open end is the end you will be lighting.
If you are using a guillotine cutter, don't cut off the entire cap. If you do, the cigar wrapper may start unwinding. If this happens a little saliva will wet the wrapper and hold it all together.
Put the cut end in your mouth. Suck in. If you don't have to suck hard then you have a good draw -- if you have to suck hard then this means you have a tight draw.
How to light a cigar
When lighting a cigar you really only have two options -- a torch lighter or a match. Your Zippo may ruin the cigar's taste (no big deal if you are smoking Swishers.)
Ignite your lighter. Now slowly rotate your cigar will puffing on it a little (don't inhale.) This means sucking in with short bursts.
Your cigar should start to flame up a little. Once it is rotated all the way you can stop. Take a look at the lit end. It should look even. If not, rotate the cigar so the un-burned part is facing up.
Cigar smoking
How you actually smoke a cigar is up to you. Sometimes a full size cigar can be smoked in 15 minutes, other times it may take you 50.
What is important here is that you relax and enjoy your cigar.
Find out what cigars I've been smoking - read our Cigar Blog.