By Fred Lunt
Let’s face it, not every cigar is going to be perfect. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to encounter some rogue stogies burning wonky and making a mess. In this Cigar 101 guide, I’ll be showing you the top five cigar fixes for any burn issues and get you back to your smoke session.
While premium stogies are a handmade product and chiefly produced in exotic countries like Nicaragua, Honduras and Cuba- most issues are caused by factors at home. Cracks, uneven burns, and splits…well, they suck – and more often than not, all are the result of user error. The two biggest culprits are improper storage, and sucking down your cigar faster than a speeding ticket on I-95.
If your stogie has cracks or a peeling wrapper, the likely root cause here is storage. As in, your humidor is too dry. Cracks can also come from physical damage, aka stogie abuse. If you’re noticing these cracks and splits in your wrappers, take a little extra time to keep your humidor kosher. Take care of your cigars; you spent good money on them.
If you’re seeing an uneven burn line, this can stem from something as simple as a strong gust of wind. But sometimes there’s more to it: improper rotation and soft spots in construction can just as easily lead to an uneven burn. What can you do about it? Go slow and savor it – it’s important to remember to keep your puffing pace around once per minute, especially if you’re smoking one of those full-bodied ligero bombshells.
The remedy to your issue is going to vary from case-to-case. To guide on this journey of cigar recovery, I’ve listed three diagnosed stogie sicknesses with a prescribed fix for each; the peeling wrapper, canoeing/flagging burn line, and tunneling.
Cigar Fix 1: Jam your cigar
If your wrapper is damaged, peeling apart or cracking, put some jam on it. No not actual jam but pectin. Pectin is a natural plant product that’s typically used for making jam or jelly. It’s cheap, flavorless, and stogie safe. Run down to your local grocery store and pick up a box. If it works for your toast, why not a cigar?
In a pinch, you can use flavorless, odorless lip balm if your cigar raises some burn issues on the go. An old favorite of mine, though not as effective, is to apply a small amount of whiskey or beverage to the cigar and run a lit match lightly against the wrapper, sealing the crack.
If all else fails, carefully rip the flagging piece off and toss it in your ashtray.
Cigar Fix 2: Set it down
When your cigar is canoeing itself straight to the garbage- the best thing you can do is set your cigar down. Place the faster-burning side down in your ashtray, effectively giving the top portion more air and hopefully allowing the top to catch up. Keep an even pace of 1 puff per minute and set it down between puffs. This is the most effective method as it requires no touchups. However, if you’re rogue stogie is still canoeing there are other methods still to try.
Cigar Fix 3: The Slick
Alternatively, you can always try what I call the “slick and burn” method. This is ideal for when your stogie is flagging harder than a flag in a hurricane. First the slick: apply a small amount of saliva or your drink to your cigar on the faster burning side. This will slow the progression of the burn and allow the flagging tobacco time to catch up.
Cigar Fix 4: The Burn
As an alternative to the slick, the burn involves busting out your lighter or matches. Gently torch the top, slower burning side, and burn off the excess wrapper leaf. But don’t just jam your triple flame torch in there at point-blank range- hold it at a distance that won’t scorch your cigar. Remember, you want to shape the burn line back to normal – you’re not cooking T-bone here.
Often, this bit of hanging tobacco will appear black, and very well could be a bit of ligero that found its way over to the side. This is a stronger, thicker leaf that can be tough to burn, hence the slow burn.
Cigar Fix 5: Clip it & start fresh
Tunneling is what happens when the wrapper goes out or cools while the filler keeps going, burning a tunnel or hole in your cigar. To keep your cigar from looking like an anthracite mine, keep puffing consistently to prevent the wrapper from getting cool. Unfortunately, the only way to fix a tunneling cigar is by torching the sh*t out of the wrapper leaf. If it’s a deep tunnel, but no more than 1 cm, you may want to consider clipping the end and re-lighting. If it’s any longer than that, it’s probably not worth saving – so just throw it out.
Remember, you won’t always be able to fix your cigar. A time may come after your second or third touchup where you need to trash it and start over again. Aside from these cigar fixes, the best thing you can do for your smokes is keep your humidor on the up and up. Keep your humidity in check, rotate your stogies, re-calibrate your hygrometer every 6 months, and do the pinch-test when in doubt.
Copywriter
Fred Lunt was discovered to be the youngest cigar smoker in his family shortly after setting his crib ablaze; today, he's added an avid whiskey and craft beer appetite to his lineup. Fred has worked in marketing, blogging and communications at boutique PR agencies across New York and has personally had the pleasure of witnessing over four breakdancing shows in a single commute on the NYC subway. Prior to his work in marketing Fred was a student of communications at Temple University and still holds illusions that Temple has a better football program than Penn State.
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One puff per minute. I rarely smoke that slow. Would like to see others comments on this.
I puff about twice a minute. When a good stogie gets down to its last inch or two, to keep the smoke cool, try blowing slowing through the cigar for a second or two before your puff. This lets me smoke them down to as close as my fat little fingers will allow – about a 1/2 inch.