Relighting a Cigar

[gaj90027]

As a cigarette smoker I hate putting out a cigarette and saving it for later. The taste is harsh and the smell is even worse than a freshly lit cigarette. I almost always just put them out and throw them away rather than relighting them later.

Does the same thing apply to Cigars? If I can only spare 20 minutes on a fat cigar would I ruin it by putting it out and coming back to it later? If not, how many times can you keep putting it out and relighting it before it becomes garbage?

I haven't smoked a cigar since May when I moved into a new apartment. I used to smoke cigars and cigarette's inside my old apartment but don't smoke inside at all now. In the old apartment it was no problem smoking a nice big cigar because I could do other things. In my new place I would be smoking outside in a confined patio with nothing to do and wouldn't want to be out there for an hour at a time.

Thanks in advance for any advice you all can offer.

 

[Commander Quan]

If you let your cigar sit more than 30 minutes it's going to get pretty stale, and if you don't finish it in that second setting pitch it.

 

[David in Boston]

As a cigar smoker you may want to consider this quote.

Smoking cigars is like falling in love. First you are attracted to its shape; you stay with
it for its flavor; and you must always remember never, never, let the flame go out.
Sir Winston Churchill

 

[yakster]

It is best left undone, but if you must stop your smoke, you can try the following:

Blow the smoke out of the cigar and cut off the cherry then you can put it in a ziplock bag and save it for later.

When I smoked cigars, I had occasion to do this a few times.

 

[Devilpup]

I will only do this if you can clip off the lit end enough that the char is no longer visible. I may suggest getting a shorter size cigar, possibly a robusto. Or possibly a pipe, I've been told there are some pipe tobaccos that have the cigar leaf and and enough nicotine of pacify a cigarette smoker's craving. Best of luck

 

[CptBlueBear]

Hate to go against the grain and W. Churchill - one of my heroes even if he did help send a large number of my countrymen to pointless deaths (at least he felt bad about it later) - but I have no issue with relighting a cigar. Blow the smoke out of it and let it go out on it's own. Don't stub it out. The first few puffs of the relight will be less than stellar, but once you get on it's fine.

I've never let one sit for more than about an hour but I'd leave it over night if the weather was cool. If I had to leave it longer I would cut it back to unburnt and return it to the humidor.

 

[gaj90027]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I haven't purchased any new cigars since I moved but I have some larger ones in my humidor that I'm dying to try. I just can't seem to find 90 minutes at a time to get through a cigar in one sitting. I will absolutely stick to smaller cigars going forward though. Either that or invest in a really nice comfy chair for the patio!

I'm just going to have to give it a try and eat the cost if they taste like crap on the relight. I'll try all the methods you guys mentioned and hopefully figure it out. I'm excited to have one now!

 

[PozzSka]

I've let cigars go out and then had to relight them later...blow the stale smoke out, and tap the ash off the end (or clip off the cooked end past the ash) and re light.

I would rather do that, then throw away half of a $20 smoke (or half of a $3 smoke for that matter).

 

[plpenn]

Why not just cut a big cigar in 1/2 before you start to smoke it? I have done this in the past with no issues. I never smoked anything high $ but it seems to make sense...

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

I relight my cigars all the time and I believe that this happens to almost everyone. I might be reading a good book, engrossed in conversation, or fixing another libation and I might forget to take a puff on my cigar and then...whoops...all of the sudden I find my cigar went out.

I think the bottom line is relighting a cigar is not a problem because the real problem would be to waste the cigar due to the unwarranted thought (and I charge the cigar etiquette snoobs of the world with this falsehood), anxiety that relighting the cigar is not worth the smoking effort (in Roy Howells book "Churchill's Last Years" [pg 35], he stated that Churchill not only saved and relit his cigars [many times during the day & night], but regarded the last inch as the best part of a cigar).

Furthermore, I was and am never the one to wholly 'conform' to the so called 'cigar etiquette'. I'm firmly beleive what Bernard Le Roy and Maurice Szafran stated in their book "The Illuistarted History of Cigars" [pg 109], "Where pleasure is concernded, rules are meaningless" and "Smoking [cigars], can be considered an art but above all it is a delight which neither perconceptions [or conventions], nor principles should be allowed to spoil [it]" and lastly, "If rules are a must, there should only be one - to please yourself".

"My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best". Sir Winston S. Churchill

 

[Argonaut]

I find that it doesn't really affect the smoke if re-lit soon after it goes out, maybe the first few puffs or so are kind of funky, after that it's back to business. I haven't had any success with "saving some for later". The smoke, heat, and air that infuses the tobacco during smoking gives it a harsh flavor that I can't stand after it's allowed to cool down. I either finish the cigar, or sadly dispose of the remainder if not allowed to finish. I hold my wife personally responsible for the untimely demise of several fine cigars. My advice would be to buy smaller smokes, or to get used to your confined space.