Though the act of smoking a cigar seems pretty straightforward, there are a few key concepts to understand before you start to puff away. In this Etiquette 101 piece, we will outline some key concepts to smoking a cigar that will greatly assist in getting the most out of your cigar smoking experience.

Slow Your Roll

After toasting, having properly lit your cigar (see: Etiquette 101: Lighting a Cigar), and ensuring a smooth draw, it’s time to take a few quick, short initial puffs (like 2, maybe 3) to get your cigar burning properly. After this, it’s suggested to average roughly a puff per minute going forward. Remember, a cigar is not a cigarette. Although there are no chemicals to be found in a premium hand-made cigar, the amount of nicotine found through a cigar is actually greater than that found within a cigarette. Just think about it: most cigars are substantially larger than a cigarette and can sometimes take up to 2.5 hours to smoke! Also, as cigars are not to be inhaled, most cigar smoke is absorbed through the mouth, which, though they do provide a slower transfer of nicotine to the bloodstream than the lungs (as with cigarettes), the transfer via the mouth is more complete. In addition to this, cigars come in various strengths. As a result, you don’t want to over-puff away on a cigar which can occasionally lead to unpleasant effects like nausea, dizziness and even sweating instead of the ideal, pleasant relaxing effect you’re typically gunning for.

Though uncommon amongst most seasoned cigar smokers, the feeling of cigar nausea is akin to a case of mild sea sickness, thus, don’t over-haul on your cigar and pace yourself – it’s not a race. If you’re new to the hobby, start out with a mild-bodied cigar in moderate size length and thickness and aim for around a solid puff a minute. If cigar nausea does arise, put the cigar down for awhile, drink some water and eat something sweet, for you can always relight and revisit your cigar a bit later.

Remember to Rotate

Just as you did when you were toasting and lighting your cigar, you should also remember to rotate your cigar while smoking it to ensure it develops a nice, round, even ash and doesn’t become misshapen and begin to ‘canoe’. This will ensure that your cigar continues to burn properly, tastes as it should and will have a nice, smooth draw each time you go for that next glorious puff.

Nice Ash You’ve Got There

As previously mentioned, you’re not smoking a cigarette, so don’t keep knocking off that beautiful ash that develops at the foot of the cigar. The longer ash on a cigar acts as an air filter that ensures that your cigar doesn’t burn too hot, which can lead to an unpleasant bitter taste as you smoke, which can obscure and destroy the ideal flavor notes of the cigar and result in an overpowering charred taste. Bleh. Let that ash grow, brutha. Of course, once the ash becomes of a certain length, you can gently knock it off into an ashtray. Though some cigar smokers see it as a challenge to grow the world’s longest ash, I prefer to to not run the risk of it falling off onto my clothes, upholstery or flooring and choose to remove some ash between typically one to three times throughout the duration of my cigar – depending on the length of the cigar.

Know When To Walk Away

Much like Kenny Rogers once crooned, you’ve got to ‘know when to walk away’ from your cigar, conclude your smoking experience and move on. As cigars are divided into three equal parts (see: Cigars: The Rule of Thirds), it’s commonly somewhere into the last third part of the cigar that most smokers will chose to depart from their cigar by putting it down and letting it burn out on its own instead of butting it out. Again, you’re not smoking a cigarette. Being 100% natural and with no added chemicals or paper to create a rapid continuous burn like cigarettes, cigars will stop burning if not puffed upon, thus instead of butting it out) which creates an abrupt, unpleasant giant plume of smoke), you’ll simply place your cigar down on the ashtray and in a few minutes or less, it will go out on it’s own.

A Few Extra Tips…..

While smoking a cigar, I sometimes like to sip on carbonated water which seems to refresh my palate between puffs so I can get better enjoyment out of the cigar and out of the other drink I may be pairing it with (like coffee, wine, whiskey or beer for example). This also serves to slow me down from puffing too frequently. Also, after I finish smoking my cigar, I find that the acidity of a crisp, fresh apple helps rejuvenate my palate for whatever I may eat, sip or, yes, even smoke afterwards. Similar to the act of sniffing coffee beans between smelling different colognes, the aid of intermittent mineral water sips and having a post-cigar apple acts to cleanse my palate from the very robust (even when mild in body) taste of a cigar so that it does not become too overpowering. Between cigars, a short grace period of a minimum of 15 minutes is best to let your palate be properly prepared to enjoy yet another…

If regularly followed, these Etiquette 101 tips will lead to a greater smoking experience each and every time.

Enjoy.

-Kurt Bradley