Smoking a cigar is an amazing process during which you enjoy the aromas of tobacco leaves. These are not cheap show-offs, the point of which is to snatch as much nicotine as possible somewhere in a gateway or on a stairwell.

True connoisseurs of these tobacco products treat their smoking as a special ritual. That is why, in order to enjoy the process, you need to know a few simple rules.

Types of cigars

Real cubans can be made by machine or rolled by hand.

The first option is a product in which the part through which the smoke is drawn in, the so-called head, is cut off. Such products do not require additional manipulations before use.

In handmade cigars, the head is sealed, which means that it must be cut off first.

Trimming

So, if your hands are holding a copy of “hand made”, you will not be able to start tasting a bouquet of tobacco aromas without cutting off the head.

Of course, you can tear it off with your teeth, unscrew it, pierce it, in a word, do anything that will ruin the product.

If the correct technique is not followed, the cigar may not only draw poorly or burn unevenly, but it will simply unravel in your hands.

To avoid such embarrassment, stock up on a cutter: a special device that will help you carefully trim your Havanese thing.

Types of cutters

Cutters are divided into several types:

1. Scissors.
2. Guillotine.
3. Punch.
4. V-punch.

The most popular of them is the guillotine. It is usually equipped with one or two blades and cuts off the head by a few millimeters.

Scissors cut no more than 3 millimeters from the end of the cigar. This is necessary so that it does not unfold during smoking.

If the cigar has a straight configuration, like a cigarette, using a punch is a good option for making a hole. This device does not cut off the ring in the cigar; instead, the punch makes a hole several millimeters in diameter.

A V-shaped punch makes a deep cut of a similar shape.

Whatever type of device you prefer, make sure that its blades are sharp enough.

The most convenient and versatile tool is the guillotine; the main thing is that the blades fit tightly to each other, otherwise the cut will crumble. But the choice of device, of course, depends on your capabilities and preferences.

It's hard to believe, but there are times when a good tobacco product is easier to get than a cutter. In this case, we can recommend two options:

• make holes with a toothpick;
• cut off the head with a very sharp knife or blade.

Do not use scissors, a fork, an awl, teeth or other improvised means for cigars - this will only ruin the cut and will not give you the expected pleasure from smoking.

Lighting rules

So that you can enjoy the unsurpassed aroma of leaves of several varieties of the best tobacco while absorbing smoke, light your cigar with ordinary wooden matches, a cedar chip or a gas lighter.

If you want to use a gasoline lighter, keep in mind that instead of a refined tobacco smell, you will have to be content with the spicy aroma of gasoline.

Tobacco leaves have the ability to absorb all odors! This is why it is important to give up cardboard matches and candles.

1. Bring the cigar to the flame and light it on one side. Then, rotating, smoke it evenly throughout the entire ring.
2. After this, press the product tightly with your lips and, lifting it above the flame source, sip the smoke. This must be done without stopping twisting the cigar.
3. Once you are sure the cigar is fully lit, blow on the tip a couple of times to distribute the heat evenly.

Smoking

True gourmets and connoisseurs understand that the main thing in a cigar is not the nicotine. That is why they are never smoked in a puff, not to mention the fact that the acrid smoke can burn the larynx and lungs.

Proper smoking means filling your mouth with aromatic smoke and enjoying its taste.

If you want to take a puff into your lungs, buy cigarettes at the nearest kiosk. And cigars are an exquisite product, you need to be able to smoke them beautifully. Treat this process as if you are savoring old wine or a delicacy - without haste, respectably and with pleasure.

Frequent puffs will overheat the cigar and it will smoke faster. If you bring it to your lips too rarely, it may fade.

Don't copy the gangsters from the movies who hold the cigar with their teeth - it will get wet from saliva and will pretty much spoil your pleasure. But you can’t even barely touch the cut if you want to feel the full taste of smoke.

The cigar does not need to be extinguished; it is left in the ashtray to die out naturally. If you want to pamper yourself again, just smoke again. In this case, the main thing is not to let the product cool down - re-smoking after a long pause will make even the most expensive Cuban cigars taste disgusting.

The method of smoking rolled tobacco leaves is such that the heat in them must be maintained all the time. If the extinction occurs prematurely, carefully remove the remaining ash with a match, and, when lighting, direct the fire to the resulting depression, allowing it to cover the entire diameter.

I bet you don't even suspect that war has been declared on you. The enemy is standing at the gate of your humidor. He is gluttonous and prolific. James Bond himself could envy his ability to remain undetected and invulnerable for a long time. Having been drawn into a military conflict with him, you can carry out one successful operation after another, in response he will mobilize even greater forces. He is a representative of a large family of tobacco bugs that can quickly turn your priceless cigars into a sieve.

State of emergency

Surprise is the tactic of the aficionado's enemies. There can be no talk of any preliminary diplomatic correspondence, much less an official declaration of war. The outbreak of hostilities within a single humidor will not be written in newspapers or reported on the radio...

A tobacco bug flying inside a humidor is a rather rare phenomenon; most likely, a black mark for the cigar owner will be the reddish dust that has come from nowhere at the bottom - the result of the digestive activity of saboteur bugs. In this case, you need to carefully examine each cigar, and if holes are found on the surface of any of them, then the problem is tobacco. You have been attacked.

It is best to part with a damaged cigar once and for all, while there is still hope of saving the rest. Insidious beetles, taking advantage of the ignorance of an inexperienced smoker, are capable of playing a cruel joke on him. He can find out about the “labyrinths” chewed inside the cigar only at the moment when, sitting comfortably in a chair with a cigar, he takes the first puff and... smoke comes out literally from all the holes! What if there is still a caterpillar inside? How do you like an aromatic cigar with the taste of burnt protein?

At first glance, it may seem that intricate moves appear in cigars by themselves. However, it is very simple to refute their mystical origin: just turn the cigar over with the hole down and lightly tap it on the table surface. With a successful combination of circumstances (if the insect did not have time to make legs), you will be able to shake the enemy out of the lair and take a closer look.

Soldiers of the invisible front

The oval, reddish-brown beetle, about the size of a pinhead, which is most often found in a cigar box, belongs to the order Coleoptera and is scientifically called Lasioderma serricorne Fabr. It is also known as gorjo del tabaco, or carcoma del tobacco (tobacco weevil), also known as tobacco beetle (tobacco beetle).

The life cycle of the tobacco weevil, like all beetles, consists of four stages - larva, caterpillar, pupa and adult - and lasts from 10 to 12 weeks. He can settle in tobacco in a plantation warehouse, a tobacco factory, or a cigar store. It is quite difficult for it to put larvae into a rolled cigar due to the dense cover sheet, but it is possible. If there are no other options, he places them on the defenseless cuts of the cigars.

However, it can all start back in the drying sheds. The tobacco weevil waits patiently until the drying period of the tobacco ends, because even a slight dampness of the leaf deprives its existence of any joy. It’s as if he’s specially predicting the time when the entire harvest will be harvested, the workers will be paid, and contracts will be concluded. After which the insidious creature unfolds its sabotage activities. Every day, each female Lasioderma, who finds herself in the right place at the right time, lands on cigar raw materials a landing party consisting of hundreds of larvae, invisible to the naked eye (each size is 0.5 mm). The mother no longer has to worry about the future fate of her “children.” Wherever they are thrown by the will of the tobacco merchant, a well-fed future is guaranteed to them, which means they will fulfill their destiny - to be fruitful and multiply.

The first metamorphosis - the transformation of the larvae into small caterpillars - occurs after 5-10 days, depending on temperature and humidity. This is the longest and most dangerous stage of insect development. Caterpillars begin to actively gnaw through complex labyrinths in cigars or destroy leaves that have not yet been processed. White caterpillars look quite cute: miniature (4 mm long), with a yellow stripe on the head and a small chestnut tassel on the tail.

Favorable temperature for further development of tobacco weevil is +24° C and above. At a temperature of +15-16° C, the caterpillar does not die, but seems to fall into a lethargic sleep until suitable weather sets in outside its “house”. 5-10 weeks after this happens, thin cocoon walls begin to form around the caterpillar, and it gradually turns into a pupa. Some tobacco beetles need 10 days, others - twice as long, to start gnawing tobacco leaves and get out. There are also those who can wait for the right moment for several years.

The further behavior of adult individuals absolutely refutes the general opinion that the tobacco weevil feeds exclusively on tobacco. Having become hungry while sitting in the cocoon, the beetle agrees to everything more or less edible that is found in the house: with great appetite it will eat cereals, pasta, and grain. And having had enough, it will go looking for its other half, so that everything will repeat itself from the beginning: larva - caterpillar - pupa - adult. If infected cigars do not go on a long journey to Europe, but remain in the producing country, then in warm climates the Lasioderma life cycle manages to reproduce 5-6 times a year.

The tobacco weevil's closest relative is Catorama tabaci Guerin, a native of Cuba that is not eager to leave Liberty Island. He has taken a liking to the tobacco plantations near Havana, Falcon, and Santa Clara, and he has every reason to claim the title of gourmet, because he prefers Cuban tobacco to all varieties of tobacco.

Cubans call Catorama the "big tobacco worm" because its caterpillar is slightly longer than the weevil caterpillar - 4-5 mm. For tobacco growers, Catorama poses a much greater danger. It happened that these bugs turned huge warehouse stocks into tobacco dust. And the holes it leaves in cigars are larger than those made by Lasioderma. In all other respects, the homebody Catorama is not much different from its cosmopolitan and omnivorous brother.

The name of another lover of chewing dry tobacco leaves in Latin sounds intriguing and therefore beautiful - Ephestia elutella. Not a single living language would stand on ceremony with it - tobacco moth - it is both in Russian and in English - tobacco moth. Its beige caterpillars leave only veins of the tobacco leaf. To be fair, it should be noted that the moth competes with Lasioderma and Catorama only on the plantations of Cuba, the Antilles and the southern United States, and does not claim a warm place in the humidor.

Weapons of mass destruction

In war it’s like in war. Tobacco producers counter the survival instinct with new scientific achievements. Institutes specially created for this have been studying the habits and habits of the enemy for more than a hundred years, helping tobacco producers build tactics and strategies to combat beetles. They even tried to lime them with the help of biological weapons: predatory insects that fed on tobacco weevils and large tobacco worms were purposefully bred in the fields, but this had virtually no effect on the pest population. The most common method of exterminating tobacco beetles is to place special traps in the warehouse that use a natural enzyme that attracts the beetles to each other. Each “trap” is filled with sticky liquid - so the beetles will never get out of it. At large enterprises, the amount of “catch” is studied at least once a day. Traps, in addition to performing their direct function, play the role of unique indicators: by the number of weevils caught, the owner can judge the source of the spread of the infection and the size of the infection (it is believed that each female manages to lay about a hundred eggs). And in this case, one cannot do without larger-scale “military operations” - fumigation and freezing.

Manufacturers conduct tobacco reconquista at every stage of cigar production: leaves are fumigated (fumigated) in drying sheds, at the tobacco factory just before cigars are rolled and packaged, in port warehouses and airports. The essence of the process is as follows. Tobacco leaves, finished cigars or boxes of cigars are placed in a sealed, airtight room, which is filled with either gas or a special chemical composition. As a result of this treatment, most beetles die - from larvae to adults. The substances used in fumigation evaporate within three days. They are harmless to smokers and do not in any way affect the taste of cigars. Fumigation is considered the most reliable, which is carried out immediately before shipping containers with cigars packed in boxes, however, it does not give a 100% result.

Recently, cigar makers have become increasingly willing to use freezing cigars. Firstly, you can do without any chemicals. Secondly, this method is considered the most suitable when it comes to proper handling of the cigar. Thirdly, fumigation does not always provide a 100% “healing” effect. Cigars are placed in the freezer for 4-5 days, and even the most tenacious dolls cannot withstand temperatures of -25° C. True, only large manufacturers and distributors can afford such a luxury: medium-sized, and even less so small suppliers cannot afford freezers .

Many reputable sellers acquire freezers and freeze batches of cigars several times. But even all these precautions do not save cigars from the invasion of tobacco beetles. This means that it is possible that sooner or later your humidor may become a defensive fortress.

In the area of ​​special attention

The best defense is attack. Prevent the strike of the hunter for your cigars. To do this, you just need to follow a few simple rules.

Beetles will only eat cheap or low-quality cigars under the threat of starvation. The more expensive and more flavorful the cigar, the more likely it is to be contaminated. Therefore, when purchasing a cigar, it is necessary to carefully inspect it. Often, buyers take a whole box of cigars - then the inspection must be done at home.

It’s also worth checking your home humidor more often. Experts do not recommend storing cigars from different vintages in the same box.

Pay attention to the microclimate in the humidor: at a temperature of +22° C and a relative humidity of 70 percent, the beetle will feel as if in a luxury room in a five-star hotel, where the price includes not only breakfast, but also lunch and dinner.

The cover sheet quite reliably protects the cigar from the penetration of the female weevil inside, where she usually lays eggs. Therefore, the most vulnerable point of a cigar is the cut. It is best to wall up your cigars so that getting to them is as difficult as before Kashcheev’s death: they should not be stored in a humidor without boxes, but in the box they should lie so that the cuts of the cigars rest tightly against the wall of the box. Even if the insect can get into the box, in the worst case it will only slightly gnaw the cover sheet, and it will have nowhere to deposit the harmful larvae.

If one fine day you nevertheless discovered signs of a beetle in your humidor (rot, holes in cigars, reddish dust) or an insect flew towards you in person - do not despair, the battle for cigars is not yet lost, although you suffered some losses. An adult beetle does not gnaw holes and is dangerous only because it can, having met another adult beetle, begin procreation. You are more likely to run into a female because the male does not live long after mating. And the future “mother” has a more important task - to find food for herself and as soon as possible to find a pile of tobacco dust, the remains of a tobacco leaf or a hole in a cigar in order to lay a clutch of eggs.

The best way to finish off invaders is to freeze them. Cigars from the humidor should be placed in some kind of airtight container (for example, a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid intended for storing food) and put in the refrigerator. It is better to freeze all the cigars from the humidor at once, even if some of them do not have a hint of the presence of a beetle. If at least one cigar gets sick, you know: the enemy is somewhere nearby. It's better to be safe than sorry. The same rule should be followed when storing cigars in freezing or cooling mode. At low temperatures (16-18°C below zero) the bugs die in 4-5 days, at 4-5°C below zero - after about a week, and at positive temperatures in the refrigerator they can last for two to three weeks. So the longer your cigars sit in the refrigerator, the greater the chance that the bugs will freeze and will not come back to life. While your cigars are sitting in the refrigerator, it's time to start cleaning your humidor. The outer and inner surfaces should be wiped with a mixture of ammonia and water so that the liquid gets into all the cracks. Ammonia will easily corrode the remains of the weevil family and will quickly evaporate without leaving any odor.

When it comes time to bring your cigars out of the cold, be extremely careful and take your time. The temperature should rise gradually. First, transfer the container with cigars from the freezer to the refrigerator for several days, then to a cool room, and only then to the humidor. Do not open the container until the cigars have adjusted to room conditions. This precaution will not be superfluous. The cigars have become dry in the refrigerator and must slowly gain moisture. Sudden changes in humidity will cause the cover sheet to collapse. Therefore, the humidity in the humidor should increase gradually. Otherwise, a dry cigar will very quickly gain moisture and burst.

As you can see, the process of dealing with cigar pests is quite simple, although it does require some patience. But even after you are sure that the Lasioderma or Catorama in your humidor is gone, do not relax - the tobacco beetle does not sleep.

Answers to 10 most frequently asked questions about cigars. For beginners, this material will be useful, and experienced aficionados may remember something interesting from their cigar life.

Question No. 1

– Many cigars are sold in packaging. This can be a cellophane wrapper, glass or aluminum case. What's the best way to store them? Do I need to unpack my cigars before putting them in the humidor or storing them in the packaging?

– Cellophane packaging for cigars was introduced by many manufacturers in response to the requirement of some states to provide individual packaging for individual cigars sold at retail. The purpose of this requirement is to minimize damage to cigars during transportation, and also as a necessary condition for issuing excise taxes on piece products.

All packaging (cellophane, glass, aluminum), when sealed, prevents moisture from entering the cigar. During long-term storage, it is better to remove the cigar and, already in the humidor, set it to the required level of humidity. On the contrary, in case of frequent transportation, cellophane or glass packaging will certainly provide the cigar with greater safety.

Question No. 2

– Many Aficionados enjoy smoking a fresh, freshly rolled cigar. Are there any special conditions for storing these cigars in a humidor?

– Such cigars become practically unsuitable for quality consumption after just a couple of days. They start a natural fermentation process, and, as a result, a sharp ammonia flavor appears in the taste. This fermentation lasts from several months to a year, after which these cigars are completely ready for smoking.

Question No. 3

– What to do if there is too much humidity in the humidor? How to save cigars and restore moisture balance?

– This is possible, especially in the summer. By placing 3 cedar strips (down, middle and top) in the humidor, you will quickly restore the desired level of hydration. Cedar strongly absorbs moisture.

It is absolutely forbidden to leave the humidor open!

This can lead to extreme changes in humidity and the cigars will go from too wet to dry in a very short time. It is also important that there are not too many or too few cigars in the humidor. It is best to store the number of cigars in it for which it is designed.

Question No. 4

– What is the best way to trim a cigar? Guillotine, cigar scissors or gimlet?

– It is believed that the best option for cutting a cigar is a guillotine. The fact is that the guillotine leaves the most even cut diameter.

Scissors were invented a long time ago. At that time, cigars were much thinner than modern diameters. There is a risk to do inaccurate cut and damage the cigar.

The gimlet also has its drawbacks. They can make a hole that is too deep and the smoke will be hot; moreover, too much resin will flow through the hole, changing the true taste of the cigar.

However, in this matter it is better to gain your own experience by choosing a tool for cutting cigars to suit your aesthetic taste and temperament.

Question No. 5

– What does it mean if cigars develop plaque over time?

– It happens that a white substance forms on cigars and is easy to shake off. This is usually a trace of the oils contained in tobacco leaves.

If the substance has a bluish color, it means that the cigars have become victims of mold due to being stored in too much humidity.

Question No. 6

– Small holes appear in the cigars. What to do about it?

“Perhaps there are bugs in the cigars.” Despite the efforts of manufacturers, they sometimes end up in cigars. The bugs die when the cigars are briefly frozen. Cigars can be placed in the freezer for 3 days, then moved to the refrigerator for one day, and finally transferred to a humidor, slowly increasing the temperature in order to avoid the formation of cracks from a sudden change in temperature.

In addition to bugs, small wood mites found in cigar boxes can also be pests. But they, as a rule, die quickly and do not cause serious harm to cigars.

Question No. 7

– Should you remove the paper ring from a cigar when smoking?

- It's a matter of personal preference. There are no rules about this. The most important thing is that when removing the ring, the cigar is not damaged.

Question No. 8

– Can gas or gasoline lighters be used to light a cigar?

– There is a popular belief that using gas or gasoline lighters is highly undesirable because the cigar can absorb vapors from volatile liquids. Better instead use butane-based lighters, since the gas is odorless, or ordinary matches.

However, this popular opinion is not true. Laboratory work, held as part of a lecture « » Oleg Chechilov proved that the cigar does not lose its unique properties from fire of any origin.

Question No. 9

– Why do they dip a cigar in cognac or rum?

– The famous habit of Winston Churchill, which had a purely medical aspect in its nature, laid for many decades the foundation for this tragic misconception for cigars. WITH A cigar soaked in rum or cognac, like any alcohol, loses its true taste and properties.

Question No. 10

– They say that it is correct not to finish smoking a cigar, leaving it halfway.

– Traditionally, with You can leave the cigar after smoking two-thirds of its length. Further, the smoke becomes too hot and the amount of tar becomes too high. All this somewhat distorts the taste of the cigar and prevents you from enjoying its true aroma. On the other hand, at the end of the cigar its most strength is collected, and many people, on the contrary, like it.

In this case, there is no rule.

Roman Semenikhin
Especially for CIGARTIME©

Smoking in the car is not a good idea, but sometimes it is difficult to resist this harmful habit.

Firstly, smoking in a car is simply dangerous because it is distracting, a person relaxes, acrid cigarette smoke can get into the eyes and at a critical moment a cigarette can lead to disastrous consequences. The second unpleasant moment is the side effects of the well-known addiction - not very pleasant inside the car, ashes lying everywhere and, most unpleasantly, burnt places.

A piece of tobacco can fall onto the seat upholstery, you can accidentally wave your hand and put out a cigarette on the A-pillar, some especially lucky comrades even burn through the ceiling!

What to do in this case? After all, a burnt seat is not at all aesthetically pleasing. For many people, the interior of a car is a kind of calling card. In addition to the appearance of the car, the second thing that almost any person pays attention to is the well-groomed interior of the car.

The burnt hole must be repaired. There are three ways. The first - high-quality, but expensive - will turn to specialized services offering services for restoring the original appearance of the car.

The second is less expensive, but much more complicated, to purchase an upholstery repair kit.

This path is different in that it has an 80% chance of sending you to . Without certain skills, making high-quality repairs on your own will not be easy.

But fortunately there is a third option. It only requires accuracy, a minimum set of tools that you can find at home and a minimum of time. However, the result will pleasantly surprise you!

Required tool:

Razor

Small container

Fabric glue

Tweezers

Scissors

Textile

Restoring burnt seat upholstery

Option #1 if the hole is small.

Step 1

In an inconspicuous place, for example, at the bottom of the seat, take a razor and shave off the required amount of upholstery fibers.

Step 2

Collect the fibers in a small container. The fibers of the upholstery material will look like simple fluff.

Step 3

Fill the cigarette burn hole halfway with glue.

Step 4

Using tweezers, drape the extracted material onto the glue. Don't compact it!

Step 5

Reapply a thin layer of adhesive over the fibers. Be careful! Avoid contact with undamaged areas.

Step 6

Using tweezers, add more fibers until the hole is completely filled with them.

Option #2. If the damage is more serious.

Step 1

Take a piece of any thick fabric. We will use it as a substrate. Cut out a rectangular patch. Round the edges. This will make it easier to push it into the hole and straighten it under the upholstery.

Step 2

Take fabric glue and a needle. Apply glue to the needle and process the patch as shown in the video (43 seconds). Carefully apply glue so that the scarf does not move from its place.

Step 3

Apply glue to the resulting backing. You can also use an external patch, as shown in the video. This doesn't change the essence.

Step 4

The most crucial moment. Gluing a piece of fabric to the seat upholstery. Where can I get material for the patch? Usually it can be cut from the bottom of the seat.

For high-quality repairs, it is very important that the pattern of the external patch matches the overall pattern of the seat. Here you will have to measure seven times, cut once. You will succeed, we believe in you!

Step 5

We press the supplied scarf. We wait a couple of minutes.

Ready! Your seat is like new! Congratulations!

Before lighting a cigar, it must first be prepared. The tricky part is cutting the sealed end of the cigar correctly. After all, the uniform draft when smoking will depend on the correct cut.

- a special ritual is akin to the ancient sacraments of the American Indians, only in modern society it does not carry a religious meaning, as it was with the Mayans, but a desire for pleasure. So, we have a cigar in front of us, let's start smoking. The first step is to remove the cigar from the box or packaging - tube or cellophane. The first controversial issue among many aficionados is the cigar bow. There is no general rule now - whether to remove it before starting smoking or not - since this is a personal matter for everyone. It is advisable to remove it carefully, but if you leave the bow, it will not be a serious crime.

Before smoking, you need to trim the sealed edge of the cigar. The cut must be made with a confident movement so that the hole is smooth and provides good traction when smoking. The cut point is where the “cap” of the cigar smoothly rounds and slides onto the wrapper sheet. This is approximately one millimeter from the edge of the sealed end.

It is important to know that the cigar must be cut so that its internal contents are exposed to you and the wrapper leaf does not unfold. If you cut it incorrectly, the wrapper may unravel, and then you will simply ruin the cigar. Under no circumstances should you bite off the tip of a cigar, as is shown in some Hollywood films about gangsters, as this will completely ruin the cigar. And in general, this is bad form.

The cut should always be smooth and provide free traction, and not be torn, otherwise

pieces of tobacco leaf will get into your mouth or stick to your lips, which, you see, is not a very pleasant sensation. The cut should be slightly smaller in diameter than the cigar itself, but large enough to provide good draw.

You can make a cut in several ways using special tools, which you also need to purchase in advance. Firstly, you can use the most common accessory for cutting - a cigar guillotine. It is a small device with one or two blades and a round hole in the center. Having placed the edge of the cigar into the hole of the guillotine at a right angle, it is necessary to cut the cigar in the intended place with sharp pressure.

The second tool with which you can perform surgery on the “organism” of a cigar is cigar scissors. The good thing about such a tool is that it makes it much easier to make an even cut than using a guillotine.

There are also punches that are designed not to cut off the “cap” of the cigar, but to make a small hole in it. As a rule, punches are designed for smoking cigars, so to speak, on the go or when you have little time. A punch is a small stainless steel cylinder in a leather or plastic case, sometimes in the form of a keychain. By the way, Winston Churchill used the punch. A small keychain was always attached to his watch band. The method of use of a punch is somewhat reminiscent of a corkscrew for opening bottles. Only this is not a spiral, but a round knife that is screwed into the sealed part of the cigar. Using a punch, a small round hole is cut in the cap. A small cut will affect the flavor of the cigar as it will appear richer. If you want to experiment, you can cut identical cigars using a punch or a guillotine. Due to the difference in the size of the inlet, a cigar cut with a guillotine will appear softer to you. You can use a punch to make a figured hole in the “cap” in the form of a figure eight - then the taste of the cigar will also become softer.

The punch, like the first two tools, can be used to make a hole in straight Parejo cigars. Figurados-shaped cigars are cut only with scissors or a guillotine. You can also make a hole in the “cap” of a straight cigar in the shape of the Latin letter V; a punch with a V-shaped blade will help you with this. The cut from it has the shape of a bird. This cutout guarantees the safety of the main part of the cigar’s “cap,” and the useful cutting surface is increased due to the V-shape of the hole itself.

When using a punch, you do not need to cut the cigar too deeply, as it is possible to deform the structure of the tobacco leaves of the filler, and this can cause poor draft of the cigar and lead to the accumulation of unwanted tobacco oils from the cut part of the cigar. The main thing is that the blade of any cigar trimmer you choose is sharp, otherwise you will simply shred the tip of the cigar.