Smoking
How to hold a cigar
Hold a cigar lightly between your thumb and one or two fingers, on the head half, near the band. No single grip is correct. Just don't squeeze it, and don't clamp it in your teeth.
Four grips, and when each one fits
The grip that works is the one that supports the cigar's weight without pressing into it, and that depends mostly on the ring gauge.
Boveda's smoking primer names three of these, the pinch, the pen and the flute, and says flatly there's no right way to hold a cigar. Agreed. Here's how they compare.
| Grip | How | Suits | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinch | Thumb underneath, index and middle fingers on top | Most sizes, especially thick ring gauges | The steadiest grip for a heavy cigar |
| Pen | Rests across the middle finger, thumb and index on top, like a pencil | Coronas and mid-sized parejos | Easy to turn the cigar between puffs |
| Flute | Laid along the fingers, fingertips on top, like holding a flute | Long, slim cigars such as lanceros | Spreads support along a thin body |
| Cigarette | Between the index and middle fingers | Cigarillos and thin cigars | Awkward and pinchy on anything fat |
Fat cigar? Pinch. Long skinny one? Flute. Everything in between, whatever your hand settles into. Unsure of a cigar's ring gauge? The ring gauge converter turns the number into millimeters you can picture.
Why a light touch matters
A hand-rolled cigar is loose leaf held in shape by a thin wrapper, so pressure from your fingers changes how it draws and burns.
Squeeze, and you compress the filler. Compressed filler means a tighter draw. Tighter draw means harder puffs, and harder puffs mean a hotter coal. One bad habit, three problems.
Pressure also cracks wrappers, especially on a cigar that's a touch dry. A split that starts under your thumb can run toward the burn. If yours crack at the lightest touch, the leaf may be short on moisture: the dry cigar checks tell you fast.
Think of holding a pen you don't want to leave fingerprints on. That much.
Where should your fingers go?
Your fingers belong on the head half of the cigar, roughly where the band sits, well clear of the lit foot.
That spot balances the weight, keeps your knuckles away from the heat, and keeps falling ash off your hand. On a long churchill, slide your grip a little toward the middle so the foot doesn't droop. On a short robusto, hold right at the band.
Keep the foot level or tipped slightly up when you're holding it in the air. Tip it down and the ash leans, then lands on you. The parts of a cigar guide labels head, band and foot if you want the map.
Hands, not teeth
A cigar should touch your lips only for the puff, and it shouldn't be clamped in your teeth between puffs.
Teeth crush the head. A crushed head pinches the draw and can tear the cap loose. Holding it in your mouth also soaks the head with saliva. A wet head tastes bitter, and the soggy leaf can start to unravel.
The film-star move, cigar parked in the corner of the mouth while you talk? Looks great. Smokes badly. Puff, take it out, enjoy the taste, put it down.
Should you leave the band on?
The band can stay on or come off, and Wikipedia's cigar entry notes that it "may be removed or left on."
If you take it off, wait. Bands are glued at the seam, and on a fresh cigar the glue can catch the wrapper. Twenty minutes or so of smoke warms the cigar and loosens it. Then slide the band toward the foot, or tear it at the seam. Never rip it off cold.
Lounge customs around bands, and what people do with them, are in cigar etiquette.
Where to rest a cigar between puffs
Between puffs, a cigar belongs in an ashtray rest, lying flat, with the foot over the bowl.
- Do use a rest wide enough for the ring gauge, so it doesn't roll.
- Do keep the foot over the bowl so ash falls in, not on the table.
- Don't stand it on its foot. The coal smothers and you get a mess.
- Don't balance it on a table edge or chair arm. The US Fire Administration warns that many things in a home can catch fire if they touch something hot like ashes.
- Don't lay the head in the ash. You'll taste it.
Resting it is also how you pace it. A cigar you're always holding gets puffed too often. The full smoking walkthrough covers pace, and the ashing guide covers when to roll the ash off.
Worried about the smell on your fingers? Wikipedia notes cigar holders were historically used "to protect the hand from acquiring the odor of a burning cigar." Soap works too. More in getting cigar smell out.
Grip and resting questions
Is there a correct way to hold a cigar?
No single grip is correct. Any hold that supports the cigar without squeezing it, and keeps your fingers away from the lit end, works.
Can you hold a cigar like a cigarette?
With a thin cigar or cigarillo, yes. With a thick cigar, the two-finger hold pinches the body and tires your hand, so a thumb-and-fingers pinch works better.
Should you hold a cigar in your teeth?
Not for long. Clamping crushes the head, soaks the cap and tightens the draw. Hold it in your hand and bring it to your lips for each puff.
Which end of the cigar do you hold?
Hold it on the head half, the end with the band and the cut. The foot is the end you light.
Where the grip advice comes from
- Cigars 101: pinch, pen and flute grips, Boveda
- Cigar: bands, holders and ashtrays, Wikipedia
- Smoking fire safety, U.S. Fire Administration