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To get the most out of your smoke, you need to understand the proper way of lighting a cigar. Gas torch lighters, candles, and cardboard matches are usually not recommended, as they can spoil the true taste. Cigars are able to absorb the fumes and flavors of the flame, which is why we must be smart about how we light up.

Related: Best Cigar Lighters for the Money

What should I use to light a cigar?

There are plenty of options to choose from. Every smoker has a favorite lighter or other tried and true method for lighting a cigar.

• Multi or single flame torch lighter
• Butane-based Zippo lighter
• Cedar match straws
• Regular wood matches

The right way to light

Slow and with evenly applied heat is the proper method for lighting a cigar. Please note that the process requires some patience. More often than not you will see some less experience smokers hold the cigar in their mouth, holding jet lighter very close to the tip and inhaling.

The heat generated in this way is definitely too high for a proper light. Tobacco burns at a very high temperature and the taste becomes bitter. This effect is exacerbated if a smoker continues to frequently and stubbornly puff.

The item’s tip should be set on fire evenly over the entire diameter of the item. By blowing slightly on the burning tip, you can check whether it is fully lit or not. Start at the edge, setting fire to the coverslip and binder sheets. In particular, the bonding sheet has good burning properties that help to set fire to the filler and ensure the best way to burn a cigar.

Lighting a cigar with a torch lighter

The process to lighting a cigar with a torch is as follows:

• Maintain a relatively low flame on your lighter. Any butane torch will allow you to adjust the height of your flame with a dial on the bottom.
• Carefully rotate the edge of your cigar around the flame at a 45 degree angle, heating the wrapper but not catching it on fire. Never touch the flame to the tobacco itself.
• Once you notice the edges darkening, continue to heat the center of the cigar.
• Once the entire foot is blackened, lightly puff on the cigar with the flame still near the end (again, the flame shouldn’t be touching the tobacco).
• After a few puffs, you should notice a faint orange glow evenly across the foot.
• Your cigar is now lit. Ensure you rotate your cigar every 15-20 seconds to maintain an even light.
• Ensure to ash your cigar by gently tapping when your ash is about 1 inch. If the tobacco underneath the ash is pointy/cone shaped, you are smoking too quickly.

Modern torch lighters, with their distinctive blue flame, are now the most popular methods among smokers due to practicality. Find a nice torch, and the flame won’t go out even in wind or rain. You should keep the tip of the cigar just above the flame, not allowing it to touch. Gas lighters, such as the classic Zippo model, are usually not applied for lighting a cigar, because gas vapors can penetrate the stick and affect its taste.

Ideally, the flame should heat the tip without touching it, but it takes a lot of patience and practice.

Lighting with matches?

A cigar can also be set on fire with a nice wooden match. This method also requires patience. Cedar matches are by far the most stylish way to light a cigar. The burning cedar has a wonderful aroma, which makes the ritual of lighting a cigar even more enjoyable. A matchstick made of cedarwood is made specifically for lighting cigars. Such matches can be purchased separately, but more often than not your local cigar lounge will offer you a book with any purchase.

The process to lighting a cigar with matches is the same as a torch, though it can take more time.

• Carefully rotate the edge of your cigar around the lit match, heating the wrapper but not catching it on fire.
• Once you notice the edges darkening, continue to heat the center of the cigar.
• Once the entire foot is blackened, lightly puff on the cigar with the flame still near the end (the flame shouldn’t be touching the tobacco).
• After a few puffs, you should notice a faint orange glow evenly across the foot.
• Your cigar is now lit. Ensure you rotate your cigar every 15-20 seconds to maintain an even light.

How to hold a cigar when lighting it?

Usually, smokers hold their cigars with four fingers, supporting the bottom with a thumb. That said, you can hold your cigar any way that feel comfortable.

Keep it above a short flame, at a distance of about a centimeter with an angle of 45 degrees and slowly rotate until the heat (but not the fire) passes to the tip and spreads evenly over the entire area. It’s worth repeating: the fire should not touch the tobacco. Doing so risks charring the cigar and causing an uneven burn.

Lighting a second time

Is it possible to light a cig again after the flame has gone out? Yes. But, of course, there are some exceptions. The tipping point occurs approximately 15 minutes after the cigar is completely extinguished. So what happens then? Why is it necessary to cease the re-lighting of a cigar? When tobacco is burned, various substances contained in it are activated. After the stick goes out, these contents settle in and penetrate tobacco. If you light a cigar again for the second time, the taste will be changed and become unpleasant.

If you need a light a cigar again, remove ash completely from its tip in advance. Otherwise, it will be difficult to burn it properly. After the cigar has cooled down, the ash will go off easily.

Final thoughts

What is the best way of lighting a cigar? A cigar should be burned carefully so that the tobacco does not overheat and does not become bitter. All of the above options can help. The main thing here is patience. Take your time! After a few reps, you’ll be lighting a cigar like a pro.