By Walt White

[Doc notes: The following article is Part One in a three-part series. For a look at accompanying photos, go to the “Burn Issues: Slideshow.”]

Premium cigars are a work of art. A hand-rolled cigar goes through many processes and many people will be involved in producing the fine smoke that you and I will eventually enjoy. Of course, not every cigar will attain to the perfection that was intended by the team of people who produced it. The goal of this article is to try and help those who, like myself, want to know the reason for many common burn issues. Issues such as tunneling, canoeing, runners, and the many other burn problems we all face from time to time.

Imagine yourself leaving work after a very long and stressful day. As you make your way home to start thinking about a particular cigar you had your eye on over the last few days. This particular cigar may have been a gift by a dear friend, or even something you picked up on a whim. The closer you get to home the more your curiosity climbs until you finally decide that tonight you are going to light up that cigar and let your stress melt away.

Finally you walk through the door and there is complete silence. The kids are spending the night at a relative’s house and your significant other isn’t due home for a few more hours. You decide to take advantage of the quiet time and retrieve that special cigar.

Below: An excellent burn with a consistent ash and thin black burn line.

As you nestle back into your smoking spot you begin to toast the foot of your cigar. Slowly the foot turns dark and smoke begins to float off of the burning end. After a few gentle puffs, your cigar is glowing cherry red and your stress begins to disappear.

The situation described above is a rarity for me, but I look forward to every chance I get to enjoy a fine cigar in a quiet and peaceful environment. A good cigar allows me to relax enough to forget about the stresses of the day and to enjoy some quality “me time.”

While I am enjoying my quiet time with my cigar, I often get caught up in the way the cigar is burning. Lately I have been fascinated by the way my cigar burns and often wonder what makes my cigar burn even and under control sometimes, while at other times I experience a bad burning cigar.

As with any great hobby, I often find myself reading everything I can get my hands on, but when it comes to finding information on why my cigar is behaving the way it is, I am shocked at how difficult it is to find a specific reason for a specific burn problem.

What does a bad burn look like and how do I avoid it?

Proper Lighting Technique

A bad burn has many different characteristics, the most common being a minor variation in the burn line. This generic form of a bad burn is characterized by a variation in the burn line of more than three eighths (3/8) of an inch. This specific figure is used because an absolute perfect burn is an incredibly rare find in a hand rolled organic product such as a cigar. Often times a variation of under three eighths of an inch will correct itself and become more even over a short period of time.

A bad burn line is likely caused by rushing through the initial lighting stages. The most critical part of cigar smoking is touching your preferred flame to the bare foot of your cigar for the first time.

To avoid such an occurrence take care and caution while toasting the foot of your cigar. To obtain a proper toast, hold your cigar between your thumb and middle finger while keeping the palm of your hand at a forty five degree angle to the floor. With your opposite hand, ignite your lighter and slowly bring the flame closer to the foot of the cigar. As you slowly move the flame closer to the foot, watch for any discoloration or smoke coming from the foot of the cigar. Once the foot of the cigar begins to emit a small amount of smoke, stop moving the flame towards your cigar. Usually, the flame tip will be just touching the foot or a slight distance away from the foot.

Once the flame is at the correct distance from the foot, slowly begin rotating the cigar between your thumb and middle finger. This will help you to avoid overheating a single spot of the foot. (You may alternately choose to move the flame in a circular motion around the foot of the cigar.) As you rotate the cigar slowly, move the lighter with a minor wrist movement to evenly darken the foot of your cigar. You will know to extinguish your flame when the foot of the cigar is uniformly darkened and you have a thin glowing burn-ring around foot portion of the wrapper.

Below: Avoid burn issues by properly lighting your cigar.

Now that the cigar is properly toasted, place the head of the cigar in your mouth and repeat the toasting process as you take gentle puffs. Be sure to rotate the cigar in your mouth as you puff; this will help with an even light. When you feel that the cigar is evenly lit remove if from your mouth and gently blow on the foot to see if you do, in fact, have an even burn around the rim of the foot. If the cigar is not evenly lit place it back in your mouth and repeat the lighting process until you are satisfied with the burn. By taking the time to properly light your cigar you will greatly reduce the chances of encountering more severe burn issues.

Burn Problems

In some cases, even after great care is taken to properly light your cigar, you still develop burn problems. One example of this would be an erratic burn due to wind. In most cases this is caused by smoking outdoors in windy conditions. As you puff on your cigar, wind blows along one side which will cause increased combustion.

Another form of burn variation can be caused by uneven humidity throughout the cigar. Often times this happens when a naked cigar (one without cellophane) is placed directly against another surface that is moist or has increased humidity. As the wrapper comes into contact with this surface it acts much like sponge, pulling the extra moisture from the surface and wicking it into the inner tobaccos. When this cigar is lit, the more humid (or moist, in some cases) side of the cigar burns much slower than the dryer side. This causes a burn variation much like the ones caused by wind.

In some cases a burn problem can be the direct result of poor rolling. This type of problem is most common when cigars are rolled by apprentice rollers. These rollers may sometimes roll the tobacco too loose, or too tight which will cause not only draw problems but a variation in combustion. If this type of burn problem is suspected, pay close attention to the draw. If the draws seems to vary from tight to loose, or vice versa, the tobacco could be rolled poorly and result in uneven combustion.

These types of burn problem, can sometimes be corrected by touching up the burn. Touching up a cigar is much like the initial toasting, but you only want to light the slow burning side of the cigar. If you take your time, and avoid over puffing while touching up the burn, the slow burning side will begin to burn slightly faster. Over time this can greatly increase the chances of the slow burning side catching up with the fast side, thus correcting your burn problem. If you have a tight draw and/or a plugged cigar, you can often use cigar draw correction tools like Henry’s Cigar Tools to restore a good draw.

At this point you should feel confident in your ability to distinguish a good burn from a problematic one. In addition, you should feel comfortable in your ability to properly light a cigar and correct some of the more common burn problems.

Walt White is one of the co-founders of the Stogie Review, a premiere cigar review blog.

Walt can be found on any number of online cigar forums and is constantly pushing the limits of web technology. This is his first contribution to the Stogie Fresh Cigar Journal.