Cigar Blog

Happiness is a good cigar

Got A Plug In Your Cigar?

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Before we go any further, do you have the vaguest idea what I am talking about? What are plugs in relation to cigars? Think about it, what does a plug do?

Now that I have got your brain working, let me help you out a little bit. Imagine yourself lighting up a cigar, excitement running through you…suddenly, when you inhale to take the draw, you seem to be having a lot of difficulty drawing the air in. What has happened? The chances are that you got a plug in your cigar.

So basically, a plug is a blockage that can sometimes occur when a cigar is manufactured. This is not the fault of anyone, really. These things just happen. There can be many reasons for a plug. One common reason, though, is that when a piece of leaf gets caught up with a stray stem and then they get pack too tightly before the cigar is rolled. The result is that this combination will block the air during the draw.

What can be done about this? The most common thing that seasoned cigar smokers do is that they massage the cigar which has a plug. Of course, this should be done very gently and very carefully. An additional suggestion would be to moisten your fingers a little bit before massaging the cigar. This would help keep the wrapper moist enough and not crack easily.

If it doesn’t work, then I suggest you get another cigar.

How Do You Relight Your Cigar?

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Smoking a cigar is one of the greatest pleasures in life. Some people think that it is not much different from a cigarette. After all, you have a stick (albeit of varying sizes) in your mouth, you puff, and so on. Then again, those who know nothing (or very little) about cigars wouldn’t know that there are key differences when it comes to smoking cigarettes and cigars. For example, most cigar smokers that I know do not inhale the smoke. If you don’t believe me, try inhaling cigar smoke and you will know what I mean.

Anyway, another key difference when it comes to smoking cigars and cigarettes is the relighting of one. Cigarettes burn quickly and easily so it is rare that you would have to relight one. But in the event that you do have to relight a cigarette, all you need to do is flick the ashes out and put a lighter to the tip.

For cigars, however, you have to be more careful. Naturally, you also need to get rid of the ash at the foot of the cigar. It has to be done carefully by tapping the cigar or gently rubbing it on an ashtray. Relighting a cigar entails more than puffing – you have to blow out the smoke THROUGH the cigar. This is so that the ash and tar build up can be removed. However, this has proven to be disastrous for some smokers as sparks can blow out from the cigar.

Another option then would be to cut about one fourth of an inch from the foot of the cigar. That would leave you with unburnt tobacco.

How do you relight your cigars?

Reviving “Dead” Cigars

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What in the world are dead cigars? I do not think that people technically use this term but I like to use it to describe cigars that have dried out. Sometimes, you buy a bundle of cigars and you do not smoke all of them within a short period of time. If you do not have a humidor, then the chances are that they will dry out. And sometimes, you buy dead cigars from shops. This actually happened to me just recently. I wanted to try this box of cigars from a shop I ran across at the mall. Stupid me, I wasn’t really thinking. I didn’t even check the cigars. I took it for granted that the quality would still be good. I was wrong. They were dry as a summer day.

So is there any solution to really dry cigars? The answer is yes. You see, it works both ways. If moisture can escape from a cigar, then you can also reintroduce moisture. How to do it? It is simple enough.

Get a plastic bag – the sealable type – and place the entire box of cigars in it. Make sure that you do not seal the bag entirely because you want some air to flow into the bag. You can then place a sponge that has been soaked in distilled water in the bag. Now take note the whole process will not be finished overnight. It takes time – weeks or even months. You have to patient because if you introduce moisture too quickly, what you will have are fat, soggy cigars that are useless. One last thing – make sure that you rotate your cigars.