Beginners Guide to Cigars - no. 2
- Sam
- Nov 27, 2020
- 4 min read
“It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain when awake.” - Mark Twain.

Welcome back to another issue of the Beginners Guide to Cigars. Today, I wanted to talk to you about two of the most important, yet overlooked parts of cigar smoking, cutting and lighting your cigar. Now, I know you might be thinking that this is really insignificant parts of it all that you shouldn’t pay any attention to, but if you talk to any veteran cigar smoker, a cut and a light can entirely make or break a cigar experience. Let’s get started.
Cutting Your Cigar
For starters, when I first started out with cigars, I think back to the amount of cigars I cut way too high or cut while dry causing them to completely unravel on me. It took me awhile, but once I really got into cigar smoking a lot more, I looked up the proper ways to cut, light, and enjoy cigars so that I could get the most out of my money and my time. Regardless of what kind of cut you’re planning on using for your stick, the first step for any good cut is to make sure the cutting-end of the cigar is moist. When cutting it, the moistness will activate the binder and will hydrate the area taking the direct force from your cutter that will keep it from falling apart on you. The best bet, and always the go to is to either lightly moisten the end of your cigar with your mouth. (It’s only weird if you make it weird). Your saliva is going to be the only one on the cigar anyways (hopefully). Once you moisten the cap of your cigar lightly, your cut will be much more efficient and much smoother for our next step.

Cutters come in all different shapes and sizes for different shaped and sized cigars, however for the most part, cutters typically are either in three varieties, being the Straight-Cut, the V-Cut, and the Punch.

Considering the varieties of cuts above, each cut has a bit different of an experience to it. On a straight-cut, you are getting the cigar in all of it’s glory, taking in a very large surface area in which you can draw from and experience the flavor of the cigar from, all while making a very accurate, clean cut. With this comes a bit of a challenge though, or what could be a challenge for someone new to the hobby, and that is making sure that just the cap, tip, or head of the cigar is cut off so that you can get the entire experience of the binder and filler as it was meant to be experienced.
With a V-cut, while you’re certainly not getting the same amount of a cut as you would with a straight cut, the v-cut has it’s own benefits as well. According to NextCigar.com, “Instead of cutting off the head completely, the V-cutter makes a notched hole made by a uniquely shaped blade. Its innovative design allows it to slice from one side, and at the same depth. This not only deletes the risk of cutting too deep into your cigar, but also provides a generous surface area that allows you to draw sufficient air, without exposing the mouth to lose debris. It is always a good accessory ideal for enthusiasts who enjoy small ring gauge brands of cigars.” V-Cut is one cut that I don’t get to use as much as I should honestly. It is one of my favorites, but lately has gone by the wayside for me.
Finally, the punch cut is designed to give you the most precise, and simplest draw from your cigar when you take a puff. Essentially, the punch cut acts as a very finite funnel for the cigar flavor to travel through when you take a draw. Again from NextCigar.com, “Similar to the wedge cutter, the punch does not completely cut the cap off. Instead, it creates a hole in the cap using a sharp, circular blade, which creates an opening. It is however important to note that the size of the hole made counts a lot and if small, it will interfere with the draw and smoking eventually. If cut properly, the cigar smoker will not have to worry about tobacco accumulating on the mouth from debris. The cutting process is quite simple where you just choose the appropriate size of punch, and then insert the blade slowly into the cigar’s cap as you rotate it to fully create a hole. These accessories are however ideal for smokers who prefer mixed filler cigars. They generally don’t work well at cutting torpedo brands or small ring gauge cigar brands.” What is wonderful about the punch is that a lot of times, on a good cigar lighter, the bottom side usually has a punch tool built in so you are never without a cutter when you are enjoying a cigar.
Essentially, what cut you choose and what kind of cutter you use comes down to two things: personal choice, and what kind of shape and size cigar you have. It’s completely up to you to decide how you want to enjoy your cigar, and that’s the very best part!
Properly Lighting The Cigar
Now this is one thing I struggled with for a while to be honest. I didn’t know that there was a proper lighting method to cigars until I did a little bit of research. There were times when I incorrectly lit up a cigar and I could feel and taste that my cigar was over powering on one side, or didn’t taste correctly, or even wouldn’t stay lit, and that was the most annoying thing. Honestly, Tim from Cigar’s Daily who we met last week in this blog describes lighting up a cigar better than anyone else I’ve seen. I’ll drop the link to that below so I can save you some time reading my bullshit.
In closing for today or whenever you are reading this, things to consider and think about when you get into cigars, or when you want to brush up on your cigar etiquette, make sure you remember that your cut and light can really dictate your entire cigar experience, and no one can tell you how to enjoy your cigar. This might be a hobby with friends or family, but ultimately the experience is yours and no one can take that from you or tell you how to enjoy your relaxation.
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