John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Fidel Castro, Mark Twain, Bill Cosby, Babe Ruth and Al Capone.  What do they have in common?  Besides being Titans in there chosen professions, they are all cigar smokers.

Wrappers, Fillers?  Torpedoes?  Pyramid?  WTF…  There is as much to learn about cigars as there is about wine, so I’m going to keep it simple.

If you want to enjoy a cigar I highly suggest going to a local Cigar Shop.  Walk in, Breath Deep and ask for assistance.  Simply ask them, “I would like to enjoy my very fist cigar.  Could you help me select one that won’t knock me on my ass!”  They will escort you to the walk in humidor, don’t be overwhelmed, and start making suggestions.  Ask for a pleasant, but short, smoke.  They will bag it up and toss in a few matches for you too!  Don’t forget to have them cut or punch the end, because you don’t own the hardware for that yet.

Now on to lighting that sucker.  Examine the end of it.  Notice how wide the cigar is.  When you light a cigarette the flame will consume the entire end, not so with cigars.  You have to light it correctly to ensure an even burn.  Using a match or Lighter, apply the flame to the edge of the cigar and rotate.  You want to start the burn completely around the end of the cigar.  After you have started the light, take the cigar between your teeth and apply the flame to the middle of the cigar’s end.  Draw in air through the cigar, but do not inhale, this will cause the flame to light the middle of the filler.  As you do this rotate the cigar to ensure an even light.

Enjoy with your favorite beverage and companions!  I recommend not inhaling the smoke, it will send so much nicotine to your blood your eyes will start to water.  To smoke a cigar simply draw in the smoke and capture it in your mouth.  Roll it around a bit, and expel the vapors.  The important stuff will enter your blood stream slowly through the capillaries in your mouth.

If you don’t continue a regular draw on the cigar it will burn out.  Just light it up again!  If you don’t plan on enjoying all of your cigars right away, just keep them in the zip bag they gave you.  Place the bag in your refrigerator, it will keep about a week.

Here are a couple of Links if you would like a more information.