How To Light a Cigar
According to the “Experts”
Setting the Tone:
What is better than that “first cigar” feeling on a Friday night ahead of a long, care-free weekend? Not too much in my opinion. As you walk out of the office on Friday afternoon, even the anticipation of knowing that you will be lighting up a cigar with some close friends later, is part of what makes this pastime so special.
So, when it is time for this joyous moment, you want to make sure that you are well-prepared ahead of time to light your favorite blend. What I am about to say may seem obvious, but I feel obligated to address these things as I ran into some of these issues on multiple occasions when I first started smoking cigars:
First and foremost, make sure your lighter has enough butane to last not only the initial light, but also enough to accommodate any touch ups or any friends who forgot their lighters. Second, check your lighter one more time to make sure you have enough fuel – just to be safe.
Third, you are going to want to make sure you test what level your flame adjuster is set to – the last thing you want is a flame too large that ends up completely charring the foot of your cigar.
Finally, and possibly most importantly, make sure you have all the refreshments, snacks, and any other accommodations you may need to avoid having to get up in the middle of smoking your cigar to replenish.
Oh, and don’t forget to cut your cigar before you light it (I can’t be the only one who has done this). If you have any questions, be sure to check out our tips on how to cut a cigar.
Choosing the Right Lighter:
Now before we jump into some tips for lighting your cigar, I just want to touch briefly on some of the most popular kinds of lighters and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Single Torch Lighters:
My personal favorite, single torch lighters allow for maximum precision while also saving on fuel consumption. The biggest disadvantage of single torch lighters is the fact that it may take a bit longer to get your cigar lit when compared to other options.
Quad Torch Lighters:
Quad torch lighters are probably the most popular kind of lighter for cigar smokers. They are versatile, wind resistant, and provide enough heat to quickly light cigars with the biggest of ring gauges. My gripe with these is that they burn through butane unbearably quickly in some cases.
Flat Flame Torch Lighters:
The unsung hero of cigar lighters! Flat flame torch lighters give you the best of both worlds – a wider flame compared to single torches but still significantly more precise than quad torch lighters. These are not nearly as popular as the first two options, but still deserve to be mentioned.
Soft Flame Lighters:
Soft flame lighters limit the possibility of charring the foot of your cigar compared to any torch lighter options and inherently force you to take your time during lighting (I am a big proponent of taking all things slow when it comes to smoking cigars). The two disadvantages of soft flame lighters come from the fact that they are not wind resistant and the flame is hard to control at times.
Lighting Your Cigar:
It took us some time to get here, but we are finally to the point where we can light our cigars. To sum it up, there are really two stages in the process of lighting your cigar.
The first part, which is very important, is making sure you toast the foot of your cigar. The idea here is that you are going to “prep” your cigar for lighting by slightly charring the foot, which will allow for a much more even light. Hold the foot of your cigar just outside of the actual flame of the lighter, and slowly rotate the cigar until you see that the entire foot is slightly charred. Just be careful not to put the cigar directly in the flame, we don’t want to burn the filler tobacco further inside of the cigar.
After you toast the foot, you are ready to get your cigar properly lit – take a few long, slow puffs on the cigar as you hold the foot just outside of the lighter’s flame. Just remember, when you are lighting your cigar, you are just looking to get the heat of the flame and not the actual flame itself. If you put the cigar to close to the flame, you are likely to burn it which can lead to off putting flavors.
After you complete the initial light, just make sure to look at the foot and see that the cigar is lit completely and burning evenly. It may take you a couple of tries, but this is totally normal (I can’t tell you the last time I lit a larger ring gauge cigar perfectly on the first try).
Wrapping Up:
I’m sure you’re probably thinking “that was a whole lot of fluff for a couple of sentences about lighting a cigar”, and you would be right, but the bottom line is that lighting your cigar is pretty simple, especially once you get more practice under your belt.
At the end of the day, this is just the way that I prefer to light my cigar, if you prefer to light your cigar over an open campfire, or light the head instead of the foot, then more power to you.
With that said, if you haven’t tried lighting your cigar the way I just proposed, give it a go and see what works best for you.
