We’ve all been there. You’re wrapped up in something else, watching a show, conversing with brothers and sisters of the leaf, staring into space, and in the span of time you’re doing that, your cigar goes out. It could be just after lighting, it could be midway through, it could be when you’re down to the final third.
Damn, that sucks and I hate when that happens.
What do you do? Well, the obvious and shortest answer is to relight it. That’s a no-brainer. But how do you relight it so that the top-notch experience continues?
Speaking of light up, this is where you do exactly that. Pour yourself a glass of something cold, get your puff on with me and let’s dive into this thing.
We’ve covered before how to handle cigar tunneling, when a hole bores through the center of the cigar’s tobacco and makes enjoying it pretty difficult. I’m sure you already know this but if your cigar is tunneling and it goes out, you probably don’t want to relight it.
But if your cigars just fine and went out because of a time lapse or wind or some aliens that sped by, then it makes sense to relight that bad boy. It’s as easy as igniting your torch lighter, bic lighter, or matches and relighting. But hold fast. Is there something else you should know or do before you caveman this shit?
Kind of. It really depends on the cigar, and how much time has passed since the cherry went out. If it has been more than an hour, you’ll want to purge the cigar. While I don’t recommend re-lighting old cigars, purging can help get rid of tar that builds up in the foot and some of those chemical flavors.
Also, you’ll want to tap off any excess ash before you relight. One, it’s messy and can get in the way of the relighting. Two, it can affect the flavor a little when you relight. I recommend gently pressing the cigar foot against an ashtray and rolling, that way it will fall off. Some guides might also recommend cutting the cigar foot again about a half inch from the ash line. I’ve never done that, personally, but it’s something to think about.
The best way to relight your cigar
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
Common sense or common desire dictates that you take the lighter and torch the shit out of the foot, including the center, to build up a nice cherry. Don’t do that. What you actually want to do to relight your cigar is touch up around the edges on the exterior of the wrapper. Once that burn starts, nice and even, it will spread to the center, especially after a few puffs, and produce that beautiful orangish-red cherry.
That’s actually the same method you should use when touching up your cigar if you notice it’s burning out of whack or unevenly. Just a light boost around the edges to get those flames moving again.
Practice makes perfect. Meaning, the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. Hopefully, your cigars aren’t going out on you that often, because that might signal another problem, like humidity concerns, but it can and does happen.
But now you know the best way to relight and get back to enjoying that delicious cigar. At least, I hope it’s delicious, because if it’s not, what are you doing? Put it out and go get a better one.
Briley has over 16 years in the publishing and content marketing business. He's been writing about cigars for nearly half that in various forms. What makes him a tour de force is he also smokes them.
BS Lounge on Instagram
Follow Us on Social:
Trending Now:
Reviews in the pipeline
These are the reviews currently in progress or waiting in the wings:
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
