If you haven’t always smoked a cigar before, then it seems as if cigar smokers are part of a clandestine clan, a world aside that allows for gulled messages, about masonic handshakes and glances that uncover truths merely cognize to cigar smokers themeselves. You may not experience invited.
However, you are invited – you merely have to defeat the initial fear that you’ll get it incorrect! Here’s my steer to choosing, smoking and enjoying a cigar right.
1. Choosing a cigar
There are two situations when you’ll have to take a cigar – one in a shop, and one in a cigar bar (if you can find one since the smoking ban). It is ever better to go to a cigar bar first, and find a cigar that you like, before you go to the shop and choose a box. Have a right stare at the cigar and experience it – it should not bristle with dryness, and when you infect it a squash, it should have some ‘infect’ – but not too much. You desire the cigar to be politic – with no bumps or tears in the wrapper and no indentations.
There is very little to be derived from smelling the cigar, though – anyone who does this is merely showing away! There are many types of cigar, so inquire for an explanation and if you’re a novice, begin little and work your way up.
Go for a lighter colour, because this will be a lighter smoke, and you will ease your way into cigar smoking. If you purchase cigars online, then you don’t have the advantage of touch and experience, but you do have the advantage of better pricing and a wider range of stock. Buying at the airport or in a local shop does intend that you can spy around, but taking cigars away of a closed box is not potential – you have to cognize which cigars you desire, and then determine on the spot.
2. Smoking a cigar
The best bit! If you are in a cigar bar, ask the waiter to cut it for you – if on your own, you’ll need a cigar guillotine to make a nice, clean cut. Hold the cigar, label end towards your mouth, and hold a match approximately one inch underneath the cigar, allowing the cigar to burn gently. Draw some air, and keep applying the flame until you have a consistent burn. There is conjecture over whether you should use a lighter or not – I say not, as the lighter fluid can smell and affect your enjoyment of the cigar. Use a cedarwood match if you can find one, as that has the most pleasant aroma. The cigar should burn down slowly, and an ash cap will increase your enjoyment of the cigar, keeping it from heating up too much.
Only give the cigar a tap when you feel the ash is going to drop off. Don’t inhale the smoke – you will choke and make yourself feel ill. Just let the smoke circulate around your mouth and gently release it. Don’t blow smoke rings, that’s just wrong. Don’t make a show of it, either – cigar smoking is a private pleasure, not one that you should be showing off about. Never clench the cigar between your teeth (that’s just rude), and ne’er smoke in the company of people who don’t bask cigar smoke.
When you believe the cigar is becoming too acrimonious – you have likely smoked it downwards correct to the end. Don’t be crude and brush your cigar into the ashtray, merely jilt it upside downwards to smoke itself away.
3. Enjoying a cigar
What you will notice is that cigars come in thirds – the first third has a different taste to the second third, and the final third equally has a different taste to the first two. One of the secrets to enjoying a good cigar is to appreciate these thirds properly. Some cigar smokers have a different drink to accompany the cigar for each third. Others prefer to stick to the same drink.
Myself, I prefer a mojito in the summer, or a cognac in the winter. It is equally important that you find a relaxing setting – a tattered, comfortable armchair, or in the company of like-minded cigar smokers. That’s up to you – but the cigar is something to be enjoyed for at least one hour, so make sure you’re in comfort.
This is just a short guide – and when you initiate yourself into the world of cigar smoking, you will doubtless find your own ways of enjoying your smoke.
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