Q: My favorite cigar is the Oliva V, the one that’s shaped like a figurado. Since the end of the cigar is pointed, I can’t punch the cigar – and I get nervous when using my regular cutter, because I’m worried that if I take off too much of the cap that it’s going to start unraveling on me. I think I’m cutting it right – but I’m still having massive draw problems, and I don’t have that happen when I smoke the other cigars from Oliva – or other torpedos. Is it me, or is it the cigar? Have you had this problem with these?
– Jonathan, Hackensack NJ
A: I’m also a huge fan of torpedo cigars, but truth be told, I’ve never had a draw problem with the Serie V, including the Beli, or any Oliva cigars for that matter. (Maybe I’ve just been lucky.)
In the case of the Oliva V, since you’re referring to a “figurado,” perhaps you’re not clipping the cigars deep enough. Try cutting a little more cap. Also, try rotating the cigar and gently biting down on it. You should eventually find a “spot” that frees-up the smoke for you. It’s a little trick I learned when smoking tapered head cigars.
Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
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You can only cut more off to a point, squeeze and bite to ease the draw, then you get a cigar that wants to unravel, then comes the cigar glue to keep things together. I use a thin, rigid wire to ease the draw. Pushing up carefully from the head a measured distance. This usually gives me enough relief to finish the cigar. I have though ran across a cigar at times that just seems to not want to be smoked.