Ah… a delicious smoke. But, before you smoke a cigar you need to light it. And before you can light it you (usually) have to cut it. As with everything currently, that has evolved into a special skill. Below are a few tips that may help you acquire it.
First, note that there are lots of various kinds of cutter available today. There are guillotine cutters, wedge cutters, hole or torpedo cutters combined with the very old-fashioned method of simply biting off the head.
The latter method is generally not recommended except in ‘emergencies’. You can almost always find a sharp knife if you haven’t got anything else. Biting off the end leaves it ragged and usually too large. That causes the head to deteriorate as you smoke and overwhelms you with what should be a more subtle experience.
Debates continue about which kind of cutter is better, but it often comes down to matters of taste, literally.
Properly used, a good guillotine cutter will slice off a small section of the head, called the cap or flag leaf. That leaves a clean, circular hole that may be made the ideal size. It offers you ample drawing power, but avoids making the hole too small so tars don’t accumulate near the head. That gives a smoother, better tasting smoke.
They are available in two basic types. The single blade and also the double. Single will do the job just fine, but can be a little harder to use properly. Double-blade guillotines have a blade in each direction and clamping before slicing makes the effort easy and accurate.
Wedge cutters are often criticized since they produce a wedge-shaped notch at the head. Hence the name. That, so the critics contend, leaves a shape that is prone to collecting tars and prone to collapse from chewing the end. That leads to a less satisfying smoke.
Well, perhaps experiences among cigar smokers differ.
Wedge cutters offer a solid end that is much less prone to unraveling than a circular hole. Done correctly, tar build-up is negligible and wedges retain their popularity. That suggests that taste effects – if any – haven’t been outweighed by other considerations.
In decades past, a pocket knife would have been useful to make the wedge, but this is unnecessary today. There are dozens of good, moderately priced wedge cutters in the marketplace now. Just don’t penetrate too deeply. You need to create a large enough hole for ample draw, one that allows pulling from the core and the rim both. Take care not to cut too deeply, since that will produce a hot smoke.
The same principle holds for guillotine cutters. Just look for where the curve of the head starts to flatten out, and err assisting too little rather than too much. A slice about 1/10th inch is good. With a guillotine cutter you could make a second cut.
Piercers, lancers, hole cutters… there are many names. Old-timers have even used a nail. The idea is to poke a hole about a millimeter in diameter into the end. These do tend to concentrate tars near the end, in case your hole is large enough then it’s about the same as using a guillotine and cutting only a thin slice.
In every case, make sure the instrument is sharp and you use a swift, sure motion. Otherwise, you’ll end up tearing the end rather than cutting it.
Now, light and enjoy!