Is it Okay to Smoke Only Half of a Cigar?
Some individuals hold that cigars should only be smoked halfway. There are many axioms such as these and there are enough individuals who adhere to them to keep them alive. Like most such axioms, this one is based more in myth than in reality.
This debate stems from inevitable changes that occur in the flavor of a cigar as it is smoked. This results from the act of smoking itself and from the build-up of tar in the tobacco as one works their way through the cigar. Some find this taste objectionable and some find that the cigar improves as one smokes it.
Smoking tobacco, whether it be from a pipe, a cigarette or a cigar, inevitably changes the taste and the character of the rest of the tobacco in the bowl or wrapper. As the tobacco combusts, it produces tar and the tobacco through which the smoke is drawn acts as something of a filter, catching particles of the tar and flavoring the tobacco. Most often, the tobacco becomes stronger and sharper as one smokes more of it.
Of course, as one smokes more tobacco their taste buds become desensitized to the flavor at the same time. This is part of the reason a relit cigar tastes strong during the first few puffs. Not only is the tobacco possessed of a higher tar content, the individual has presumably not smoked in a while and their sensitivity to the taste of the tobacco has returned. There are ways to mitigate this change in flavor when relighting but, when smoking a cigar straight though it is essentially inevitable.
To relight a cigar that’s gone out, the process is the same as the first light. The cigar must be warmed before lighting again. If one is outdoors, a wind resistant lighter is preferable to matches for this process. After relighting, the difference in taste will be more pronounced than when the cigar is smoked completely in one sitting. It is perhaps from such relighting that this myth has originated. A cigar is a personal thing. Its’ meant to be enjoyed by the individual and anyone who puts down the money for a fine cigar should smoke as much of it as they wish.
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