The art of cigar smoking is a veritable skill – a languid luxury if you will, reserved for the posh confines of lounges and upscale bars patronised by gentlemen trading secrets and great conversation.
A cigar, as any true connoisseur would tell you, is a world away from the humble cigarette. Save for the subtle size difference and tiny price gap, there are many ways a tough cigar separates itself from the dainty cigarette. A lot like fine wine, a cigar ages gracefully with time as it develops into complex, flavorful bursts you can savor thoughtfully. You wouldn’t really call someone a cigarette connoisseur now, would you? That’s because the art of smoking cigar is not a habit, and certainly not a smoky string of six-minute sticks.
LET YOUR PALATE DEVELOP
If you’re fresh to the scene, stick to moderately priced cigars until your palate settles and you really start to appreciate the good stuff. It also helps to start on the mild side, since going straight for the full-bodied ones might engulf the newbie, and potentially put them off. It gets pretty straightforward when you buy cigars. Like a lot of things in life, you usually get what you pay for, but trust us on this – save the extravagant smokes for more discerning taste buds.
LEAVE IT TO THE FINE TOBACCONISTS
When buying a cigar, it’s a good idea to drop by a fine tobacconist. You could get a cigar from any standard tobacco shop, but a specialized tobacconist is something else. Given their wealth of knowledge, these tobacco gurus are the people you want to buy your cigars from, especially if you need guidance and recommendation. From theory to form and texture to taste, there’s always something to learn from these knowledgeable souls.
CUT LIKE A PRO
You’ve got a good cigar, but don’t forget to invest in a good cigar cutter. If you don’t have one, a sharp knife or scissor might do the trick, but never use your teeth. Not even if you want to go Wolverine/Dirty Harry on this. A good cut allows for a sophisticated, ample opening without unraveling the body, which might happen from cutting too deep. It’s easy to think of getting creative with the endless styles of cigar cutting, but a fuss-free, beginner-friendly way would be to go straight-cut with a guillotine cutter.
IGNITE AND TAKE FLIGHT
It’s kind of a big deal what you light up with – you don’t want to use a paper match as it will ruin the cigar’s taste with its chemical-laden atrocity, but its wooden sibling is a different story. The inexpensive matches are a favorite among cigar fiends, and even come in a variety specially made for cigars. You could also choose an old-fashioned cedar spill which leaves a little cedar-flavored imprint to the cigar, or the odorless, colorless butane-filled lighter for its clean burn and subtle, if non-existent, flavor.
DON’T INHALE
A cigar isn’t a cigarette, and you wouldn’t smoke the two the same way. While the filtered cigarette makes for a quick fix, where one stick lasts a fleeting couple of minutes, the unfiltered cigar contains over10-20 times the amount of nicotine, and calls for a contemplative half hour to an hour’s worth of savoring. Unlike a cigarette, whose smoke you inhale directly to your lungs, a cigar is meant to be relished gradually with its smoke confined only to your mouth as you unravel its wealth of flavors.
ENJOY
Seems a little like stating the obvious, but the true art of cigar smoking lies in having a good time. Period! Don’t get too hot and bothered trying to craft a vibrant vocabulary to describe a particularly good smoke if you don’t want to – if a good smoke is a good smoke and you couldn’t possibly care about its subtle hint of cocoa or slightly woodsy notes, then that’s all that should matter.
