Jumping into the world of cigars can be both exciting and intimidating all at once. There are a lot of unwritten rules when it comes to cigar culture. For example, how to smoke a cigar for the first time or how to cut and light a cigar properly. There’s even a cigar humidity 135 rule! Most of the rules were made up over time by cigar smokers themselves. However, it’s always good to know these rules so you don’t make common mistakes as a new cigar smoker.
If you’re about to start, or thinking about starting your cigar-smoking journey, there are many things a new cigar smoker should know before diving in, including cigar smoking tips for beginners. Like any hobby one may start, there are possible bumps in the road before becoming an expert.
Here is a complete guideline on how to avoid common beginner cigar mistakes you may make as a new cigar smoker. Educating yourself on the standard fundamentals of cigars will jump-start your cigar journey on the right path!
So, let’s dive in and see what mistakes you can avoid as a new cigar smoker!
How to Cut a Cigar: Why Cutting Above the Cap Line Matters
The first common mistake new cigar smokers tend to make is when they’re ready to smoke the cigar and need to cut the cap of the cigar off. The cap of the cigar keeps the wrapper intact, and the wrapper is one main component of detecting a lot of the flavor notes in the cigar. Cutting the cap of the cigar unevenly or too deeply can cause the cigar wrapper to crack and unravel, making your smoking experience a less-than-enjoyable one.
A helpful tip to avoid cutting too much off the cap is to use a proper cigar cutter. A blade or knife is extremely dangerous to use. When using a sharp cutter, you’ll have more control over how much you want to cut off the cap.
Whether it be a straight cut vs. v-cut vs. punch, use a sharp cutter and aim for just above the shoulder of the cigar. This tip to avoid cutting too much off the cap will allow for proper air flow. Cutting off too little or too much of the cap can determine if you’ll have a good smoking experience or not.
Choosing the Right Tool: Torch Lighter vs. Wooden Matches
To light your cigar, you will need to use a proper cigar lighter to experience everything a cigar has to offer. If you use a regular lighter with a lot of chemicals, then it will affect the flavor of the cigar you’re trying to enjoy. Using a regular lighter with chemicals can affect the flavor. A soft-flamed lighter doesn’t have enough strength to light the cigar properly and could also affect how the cigar is drawing once it's first lit.
A helpful tip to properly light your cigar is to use a butane torch lighter or wooden matches for a clean burn. Torch lighters are powerful enough to toast and light your cigar properly, which will only enhance the smoking experience.
If you want to avoid chemicals altogether when it comes to lighters, then the more natural way of lighting a cigar is with a wooden match or even a piece of cedar that is on some cigars. Both cedar and a wooden match burn quickly, so be aware if you end up going that route to light your cigars. Using cedar or wooden matches will provide extra flavors to your cigars that you wouldn’t necessarily experience with a torch lighter.
More importantly, using a soft, natural flame prevents you from 'scorching' the tobacco; over-charring the foot with a high-heat torch is often the answer to the common question, 'why does my cigar taste bitter?' By toasting your cigar gently with a match or cedar, you preserve the intended flavor profile from the very first puff.
To select the optimal tool for your specific needs, explore the differences between a torch lighter vs. wooden matches and determine which offers the most reliable ignition for your intended purpose.
Toasting the Foot: The Secret to a Perfect, Even Burn
Toasting the foot of a cigar is key. A lot of seasoned cigar smokers tend to toast their cigars before smoking them right away. Toasting a cigar is essentially like letting the car warm up on a cold day. You don’t want to jump into a car right away before letting the engine rev up a bit. Toasting the cigar should be about 30 seconds tops.
If you end up lighting the cigar without toasting it first, it can cause uneven burns throughout your smoking experience, which is another way to affect your smoking experience as a new cigar smoker. This lack of preparation is often the culprit behind common construction issues, requiring you to search for cigar tunneling and canoeing fixes mid-smoke. As a new smoker, taking the time to properly toast and light the entire surface of the foot ensures a straight, consistent burn, allowing you to focus on the flavors rather than constantly correcting the cherry with your lighter.
A tip to help you toast properly before smoking a cigar is to gently sway the flame onto the foot of the cigar before fully lighting it to ensure an even burn throughout your smoking experience.
Cigar Draw Speed: How Often Should You Actually Puff?
The cigar draw speed may be one of the major mistakes to avoid for new cigar smokers looking to start their cigar-smoking journey. Learning how to properly puff and smoke a cigar at the right speed is very important for anyone starting out smoking cigars. Cigars are meant to be enjoyed slowly. It’s not like a cigarette, where it’s a quick fix and then you go about your day.
Depending on the size of your cigar, it should take you roughly 45 to 120 minutes to enjoy the full experience of a cigar. Puffing too fast overheats the tobacco, which can cause the cigar to have a bitter, burning taste.
Ideally, you want to take a puff every 60 seconds for the cigar to burn properly and cook on the inside at a normal rate. If you’re puffing every 30 seconds or sooner, then the cigar could start burning unevenly to the point where it becomes impossible to smoke.
Puffing or smoking too frequently could also cause new cigar smokers to feel overwhelmed and possibly get sick from smoking a cigar that quickly. Overall, smoking cigars at a slower pace will allow the new cigar smoker to avoid common issues that could deter them from continuing their cigar journey.
Should You Inhale Cigar Smoke? The Golden Rule for New Smokers
The final common mistake for new cigar smokers that we’re talking about today is a big misconception when it comes to smoking cigars. Unlike cigarettes, cigar smoke is not meant to be inhaled. It’s about savoring the flavor in your mouth. Inhaling could cause nausea and sickness if someone is not used to the strength of the smoke.
An important tip to remember how to avoid cigar nausea is that most new smokers tend to forget that you need to draw the smoke. Do not inhale cigar smoke; let the smoke ruminate in your mouth and on your palate, then exhale. Let the flavors circulate on your palate, and then exhale. Once you have mastered the basic puff, a more advanced technique is retrohaling for beginners, which involves pushing a small portion of the smoke out through your nose rather than your mouth. This allows you to experience complex aromas and subtle notes that your taste buds alone might miss.
While trying to figure out how to properly smoke a cigar, you may accidentally inhale it from time to time. However, if you can learn how to properly puff on a cigar and let it sit in your mouth to get a full flavor experience, then you’ve struck gold!
Final Thoughts
Some other common mistakes new cigar smokers tend to make are improper humidor storage and maintenance, choosing the wrong strength in the cigar wrapper, especially as a new cigar smoker, and improper cigar pairings, which could really mess up your palate if the pairing isn’t working out.
These are just a few helpful tips to avoid common mistakes for new cigar smokers. If you apply these proper steps towards these mistakes most new smokers make, then you will start on the right foot and even impress yourself when hanging out at a cigar lounge.