Smoking a Cigar Halfway: Smart or Wasteful?
Jul 31st 2009Dave SabotGolf
One can easily picture the scene. A smoker has stubbed out their cigar halfway through, they pick up the stogie, grab their Nibo lighter and get ready to relight it and are immediately warned by a friend that they should only smoke the first half of the cigar.
Is this true or not? The question is bandied about an awful lot, perhaps more than is truly merited. It's more of an academic question, really. The real answer is, of course, that smokers should smoke however much of their cigar they desire and, if someone objects, that person can smoke their own cigars halfway if they so choose. There are various reasons why this debate endures.
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.
If a cigar is smoked halfway though, the same change in taste will occur but it will be less pronounced. Some smokers find this change in taste very unpleasant and, therefore, they stub out"and waste"the majority of their cigar. One should avoid this at all costs. Cigars are gourmet indulgences and should be enjoyed all the way through. There are several ways in which one can mitigate the change in taste.
One may choose a mellower cigar, for starters. Though it may taste much lighter when first lit, it will become less sharp as one puffs their way toward the end. This is far-preferable to wasting so much tobacco. Some smokers actually find the last half of the cigar to be the most enjoyable. Experiment a bit with different brands to see which one proves to be the best. It's likely that there's a brand out there that will appeal to any smoker, no matter how far along they are in the process of burning the entire cigar. Waste is not a desirable thing where the prices of some cigars are concerned and finding a different brand is a good way to avoid it.
