“My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be, during all meals and in the intervals between them.” —Sir Winston Spencer Churchill
NOT TO PILE ON with the quotations, but as I have long said, “As a modern luxury commodity (since 1817), cigars are indisputably a timeless gentlemanly passion and a leisurely pursuit that symbolizes camaraderie, but more so it is the iconic representation of closing the deal—analogous to popping the cork on a champagne bottle.”
As such, you should know how to properly smoke a cigar whether you smoke three a year or three a day.
Over the decades, I have heard many people attempt to explain precisely how to smoke a cigar—more specifically, to explain to beginners the technique of smoking without inhaling. It can be perplexing. But rest assured inhaling is something you do not want to do. (Trying to smoke a cigar like a cigarette or a blunt is what is called bad. Try it, and you will be what is called unhappy.)
HOW TO SMOKE A CIGAR is of course the single most fundamental cigar starting point. Keep in mind that everyone starts somewhere, and this line of inquiry arises far more often than you might expect.
For the puzzled neophyte (or simply the curious), this is the finest lesson I’ve come across to teach how to smoke a cigar without inhaling. To start you need the following:
- Two water glasses
- One small bottle of still water
- A plastic, metal, or bamboo straw (avoid paper ones for this exercise)
- A cigar
- A cigar cutter
- Fire (matches or a lighter)
STEP ONE: Fill one of the drinking glasses between halfway and two-thirds. Leave the other glass empty. Place the straw in your hand as you would hold a cigar.
STEP TWO: Placing the straw between your lips, draw off a partial strawful of water from the first glass (swallowing none of the water whatsoever) and expel it into the second glass. Repeat this process at a comfortable pace until the water from the first glass has been transferred to the second.
STEP THREE: Cut and Light a cigar. [LINK OTHER TWO ARTICLES WHERE TEXT IS BLUE]Do not start out with a Fuente OpusX or Cohiba—don’t worry about what the other guys are smoking; everyone starts somewhere. Kick things off with a reasonably priced hand-rolled, long-filler, premium cigar. Nothing too extravagant.
STEP FOUR: Bring the smoke onto your palate, letting the body and flavor work on your tongue. Then eject the smoke the same way you expelled the water.
If you accomplished steps one and two without swallowing any water, you can certainly achieve step four without inhaling.
