Lighting a cigar
1. If you use a match, wait till the sulphur burns off before using it to light you cigar. Also if you can find those fancy long cedar matches all the better.
2. If you use a lighter, use a butane one. The gasoline based ones impart a foul flavor to your smoke. Of course this statement irritates the hell out of the Zippo manufacturer, so in rebuttal they actually published a rather nice little book that explains that if you allow the flame to burn for a few seconds all of the disturbing odor will dissapate. Try and see for yourself is my advice. Personally I use a butane lighter.
3. Some people claim that the only proper implement for lighting up is a cedar spill. A cedar spill is a long thin strip of spanish cedar which is lit first and then used in turn to light your cigar. You will typically see these in use at fancy cigar dinners, rather elegant way to light your stogie, but not all that practical in the car...
- I preheat the foot (the open end) by slowly rolling the cigar above the flame at an angle allowing a tiny black ring forms all the way around the wrapper. I don't allow the flame to touch the cigar.
- Then I place the cigar in my mouth, and draw in as I repeat the process, slowly rolling the cigar at an angle above the flame, but never letting the lighter flame actually touch the cigar. I guess about a 1/2 inch or so away. What appears to happen is the flame seems to leap from lighter up onto the foot of the cigar, even though my stogie never comes in direct contact with the lighter's flame. Remember to slowly spin the cigar to establish an even burn.
- Once I think I have it lit, I pull it from my mouth and actually look at the glowing foot to see if I did my job properly. Now if the burn is really uneven, I will reapeat the previous step on the appropriate side to even the burn. If it is just a bit uneven (which in my case it typically is) I gently blow on the end in the appropriate place to intensify the heat there, and will then take a couple steady draws, but will then just wait a minute before continuing to puff. This short delay seems to allow the cigar a chance to stabilize and self correct the burn.
| How come my cigar does not always burn evenly? | |
| Most uneven burns are a result of poor lighting technique. Therefore, patience should be applied during the lighting to insure that the cigar burns properly, and does not "tunnel" or "canoe". Your cigar is tunneling when the inner filler is burning down, and the outer layers, including the wrapper and binder, are still unlit. This will taste unpleasant, as you are not smoking the balanced blend. It will ultimately go out, as the inner core suffocates from lack of air. If your cigar tunnels you can try to fix it by using your cutter and clipping down the unburned exterior and then try to relight the cigar. A problem that is more common than tunneling is canoeing. This is when your cigar is imitating a canoe, by one half burning slower than the other. It can be caused by improperly lighting the cigar, or by smoking too quickly, puffing away like mad. The best way to fix this is to leave the cigar alone and let the slow side catch up as soon as you notice it is happening. The sooner you "back off", the sooner the cigar will even up. If you ignore it, it will get more and more pronounced. I do not recommend "flash burning" the slow half, as it will usually leave a burning taste on the rest of the cigar as you smoke it. Both of these syndromes can be prevented by correctly lighting the cigar. Very windy conditions can also make the cigar canoe to tunnel. This happens a lot to boaters and golfers, and all the teqnique and practice you`ve mastered wont matter, its out of your control | |