Short answer: toast the foot with a butane torch or a cedar spill without letting the flame touch the tobacco, then draw gently while rotating. Take your time — the first sixty seconds decide whether the cigar burns evenly for the next hour. This is how we do it in the lounge, and how we would tell you to do it at home.
What to light it with
Butane torch lighter. The default. Clean fuel, no taste, enough heat to toast the foot evenly. Single, double and triple jets all work — more jets is faster, not better.
Cedar spill. A thin strip of the cedar sheet from the box, lit off another flame. The traditional method, and it adds a faint sweetness. Slower, and worth it on a special cigar.
Long wooden match. Works, but let the sulfur head burn off completely before the flame touches tobacco.
Never: a fluid lighter, a candle, a gas stove, or a scented lighter. All of them put fuel taste into the first third, and you cannot get it back out.
We carry torch lighters, cedar spills and cutters in cigar accessories, including the Prometheus range.
The four steps
1. Cut first, and cut once
Take off just the cap — roughly the top 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch, above the shoulder where the cigar stops being straight. Cut too deep and the wrapper unravels. If you are unsure which cut to use, see our cutter guide.
2. Toast the foot
Hold the flame about half an inch below the foot, at a slight angle, and rotate the cigar. The flame should never touch the tobacco. You are warming it, not burning it. Keep going until the outer edge glows all the way around — usually fifteen to thirty seconds. This is the step people skip, and it is the one that keeps the burn from running crooked.
3. Light it
Put the cigar in your mouth, bring the flame close but still not touching, and draw gently while rotating. Short, easy puffs. If you draw hard you will overheat the cigar and it will taste bitter for the first inch.
4. Check your work
Blow gently across the foot. The whole ring should glow orange and even. If one side is dark, hold the flame to that side for a few seconds and draw again. Fixing it now takes five seconds; fixing it at the halfway point takes five minutes.
Pacing
A draw about every thirty to sixty seconds. Faster and the cigar overheats and turns bitter; much slower and it goes out.
Common problems
Burning down one side (canoeing). Almost always an uneven light. Touch up the lagging side with the torch. If it keeps running, the cigar may be unevenly humidified.
Tunneling — the filler burns ahead of the wrapper. Usually from drawing too hard or from a cigar that is too dry. Let it rest a minute, then re-light gently.
Bitter, hot, ammonia-like smoke. You are smoking too fast. Slow down and it will come back.
It keeps going out. Often too much humidity. Cigars kept above about 72% RH are hard to keep lit — see how to store cigars.
Re-lighting
A cigar that has gone out within the last couple of hours re-lights fine. Knock off the dead ash first, blow through the cigar to clear the stale smoke, then toast and light as you did at the start. A cigar left out overnight will taste stale no matter what you do.
What not to do
- Do not roll the burning foot against the flame. That chars it.
- Do not blow on the lit foot to speed it up.
- Do not relight a cigar that has been out for hours.
Does this matter more on a rare cigar?
Yes. A Fuente Fuente OpusX or an Añejo is allocated — when it is gone, it is gone until the next release. Spending thirty extra seconds on the toast is cheap insurance on a cigar you cannot simply reorder. If you are smoking something from our rare and allocated shelf, take your time with it.
Come light one with us
Sun of a Gun Cigars & Spirits is a Diamond Crown Lounge at 1651 S Arizona Ave in Yuma, Arizona — walk-in humidor, more than 170 whiskeys, and someone behind the counter who will happily toast your first one for you. Sunday through Thursday 9am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday until 1am. 928-276-3500.
$9.99 flat shipping, free on orders of $125 or more. Orders ship within 1–2 business days from Yuma, Arizona.
