Fan Mail: More of Your Burning Cigar Questions, Answered (Part 28)

Back to the mailbag…time for Fan Mail!

As long as you have cigar questions, we will (hopefully) have answers – because you deserve to smoke better.

And we’ve picked 4 more good topics from your emails, comments on our articles and our YouTube channel (and all the socials) for another go-round of Cigar Q&A.

How did we choose these four specific questions? Well, we get messages all the time from readers looking for a little tip or bit o’ wisdom/advice on fixing a cigar problem; and while we love the personal back-and-forth, some questions are that good – or that intriguing – that we thought it was worth sharing the Q&A with everybody. That way, everyone can take away a tip or some free advice on better cigar enjoyment, even if you hadn’t been wondering about these things.

If YOU have a cigar-related question you’d like answered, or want a second opinion on something cigar-ish you’ve been wondering about – send it to us via Facebook (or other social media), email, or even by leaving a comment below.

We’d appreciate you paying it forward and sharing these videos with your fellow cigar smokers – so, too, would the people you think would benefit from advice on cigar sizes, tobacco plant anatomy and harvesting, how to cut cigars and more. Check it out:

Cigar Question #1: “Can I Cut a Cigar Down to Shorten its Length?”

By Jared Gulick

We received this question from Stacey in California. She wrote, “I want to know if it’s okay to cut one of my longer cigars down for a shorter smoke.” This is a question we get from time to time and it has multiple applications: maybe your cigars are front-loaded and hit heavy from the start, or maybe your first box of Churchills wasn’t the size for you. No matter what your reason, take a peek at my video below and we’ll go over how to answer Stacey’s question – and get it done right.

Cigar Question #2: “What is a tobacco ‘priming’”?

By John Pullo

Our next Fan Mail question comes from some feedback that a reader named JeanFranco left on one of our articles. He asked, “What is a priming? I hear you guys talk about priming tobacco, but then I read it and it seems to mean something else. Is it about picking tobacco, or is it something special about a leaf?”

Priming means a couple different things…and in this video I’ll answer with some talk about priming the different parts of the tobacco plant, and show you some harvesting of Connecticut Shade tobacco – but most importantly, I’ll tell you why it matters less about what country the tobacco was grown…and why the primings matter more in how your cigar tastes. Watch now:

Cigar Question #3: “What is the Difference Between a Punch Cut and a Straight Cut?”

By Gary Korb

Steve in Spring, TX was watching our Facebook Live show 2 weeks ago and asked, “What is the difference between a punch cut and a straight cut?” EXCELLENT beginner question, as Steve is trying different things to find out what he likes and what he doesn’t.

Share this with someone who needs to know how to cut a cigar with a punch cutter…I’ll also show how to cut with a double blade cutter, and explain how these two different cuts affect the way a cigar smokes. It’s good to experiment with different types of cuts until you find what works best for you. Watch it now:

Cigar Question #4: “Are Cigars Bad for You?”

By Tommy Zman

I got a heck of a great question from Ronnie in Las Vegas who has a friend that is always giving him a hard time about his cigar smoking, always telling him that “cigars are bad for you”. He simply wants to know what he can tell his friend in response. I’m sure many of you have heard the same thing over and over as well. So, I gave Ronnie what my personal response is to anyone who gets in my face about this. Controversial? Watch for yourself and YOU decide.

Thanks for watching – and if you’d like more cigar advice, or have a burning cigar question that we still might not have answered, check out our next round of Fan Mail Q&A!