How to Light Cigars

Picking a cigar is only part of the process. If you don't want to waste your time choosing a great cigar only to light it improperly, follow these steps to best light your cigar. You'll be lighting up in almost no time.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Cigar
• Wooden matches

1. Purchase or obtain a box of wooden matches. A lighter is not the best way to light a cigar because the gas negatively affects the taste.
2. Make a clean cut right at the head of the cigar—the part that you put in your mouth—with a cigar cutter, leaving about 1/8 inch of the cap on the cigar.
3. Take your time as you light the cigar with your matches. Hold the cigar in one hand by the tips of the fingers, and light it with the other at the foot of the cigar.
4. Put the flame as close to the foot as possible without actually touching the flame.
5. Rotate the cigar with your fingers around the flame on the foot of the cigar until you can see that it's burning. This could take up to 20 seconds or longer.
6. Puff on the cigar in several quick puffs until it burns regularly.
7. Remove the cigar from your mouth as soon as you know it is lit, and examine it to make sure the foot is burning evenly. If it is burning unevenly, gently blow on the area that is not burning as much to cause it to burn more rapidly. Or, apply the flame to this area.

Tips & Warnings

• Some people like to light a piece of cedar wood and then light their cigars with the wood because it gives cigars a nice taste.
• Use wooden matches instead of matchbook matches because they stay lit longer.
• If you have an area on one side of the foot that is burning faster than the other, you can lick your finger and touch it to the quicker burning area to slow it down a bit.