Smoking
How to relight a cigar
To relight a cigar, tap off the loose ash, blow gently through the head to push out stale smoke, toast the foot evenly, then draw. Done within an hour, it tastes close to fresh.
Why did my cigar go out?
A cigar goes out when the ember runs short of air or heat, and the usual cause is simply waiting too long between puffs. A hand-rolled cigar is folded leaf and air. Leave it alone and the coal cools.
It happens to everyone. Conversation. A phone call. A long pour. None of that means you lit it wrong.
Some cigars go out more than others, though. A cigar kept too humid burns slow and smothers itself. A tight bunch starves the coal. If yours dies every few minutes no matter what you do, read the signs in our dry or too wet guide and the draw fixes.
The relight, step by step
A clean relight takes about a minute: clear the ash, purge the old smoke, retoast the foot, then draw while you turn the cigar.
- Tap off the ash. One firm tap on the ashtray edge. Don't grind it. You want a flat, open foot.
- Purge. Put the head to your lips and blow out, gently, once or twice. Stale smoke leaves through the foot.
- Toast. Hold the foot just above the flame and rotate it until the whole face glows. Char on the edge, faint glow in the middle.
- Draw and turn. Small, easy puffs while you keep rotating. No hard pulls.
- Check the ring. Blow softly across the foot. Dark patches still need flame.
- Give it a minute. The first two puffs carry the old char. Judge the cigar on the third.
Purge before you puff
Purging means blowing air out through the cigar before you draw, so the old smoke sitting in the filler leaves by the foot instead of landing on your tongue.
A cold cigar is full of it. Smoke that sat in the leaf for twenty minutes tastes sour and ashy. One gentle exhale through the head clears most of it. Two is plenty.
Keep it gentle. Blow hard and you spray ash off the foot, or puff out a loose cap. You can purge again mid-smoke too, any time the flavor turns bitter.
How long can a cigar sit before you relight it?
Relit within about an hour, most cigars taste close to how they did; left for several hours or overnight, they turn noticeably harsh.
The table below is our rule of thumb from smoking, not a lab finding. Thick cigars hold up longer than thin ones because there's more unburnt leaf behind the char.
| Time out | What to expect | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10 minutes | Barely any change | Tap, purge once, relight |
| 10 to 60 minutes | Sharper first puffs, then it settles | Tap, purge twice, retoast fully |
| 1 to 4 hours | Stale, smoky edge that lingers | Trim the char, purge, relight |
| Overnight | Sour and bitter, aroma mostly gone | Trim well past the char, or let it go |
| Last two inches | Hot, heavy smoke either way | Probably time to set it down |
Trim the char on a long-cold cigar
Cutting off the burnt end removes the tar-soaked char that makes an old relight taste acrid.
Use a straight cutter. Clip just behind the dark band where the leaf turns from black back to brown. You lose a quarter inch. You gain a clean face to toast, and a far better first puff. The same straight cut you use on the head works fine here.
Skip it on a quick relight. Ten minutes of rest doesn't leave enough residue to bother.
Which flame suits a second light?
Any flame will relight a cigar, but a soft flame or a cedar spill is gentler on a foot that already carries char.
A torch is fast and shrugs off wind. It also scorches. Keep its tip off the leaf and keep the cigar turning. With matches, let the head burn off first so you're not tasting sulfur. The full rundown of lighters lives in the lighting guide.
Stop relighting when the cigar keeps quitting
A cigar that goes out again and again is telling you about its humidity or its construction, not about your technique.
Three relights in the first half? Check the draw. If it pulls like a milkshake through a coffee stirrer, the bunch is tight or the leaf is wet. Fix the cause or move on. A cigar fought all the way down isn't much fun.
Pace helps more than any trick. A slow, steady puff about once a minute keeps most cigars lit. That's our working number, not a rule. Our smoke time estimator uses a similar pace to size up an evening.
Relight questions from the ashtray
Does relighting ruin a cigar?
No. A quick relight with a purge first barely changes the taste. The longer it sits cold, the more the old char sours the smoke, so trim the burnt end on anything left for hours.
Can you save half a cigar for the next day?
You can, but expect a sharper, staler smoke. Let it go out on its own, keep it away from your fresh cigars because the smell travels, and cut off the charred end before you light it again.
Should you knock the ash off before relighting?
Yes. Loose ash insulates the foot and hides cold spots, so the flame can't reach the leaf evenly. Tap it off and light a clean face.
Why does my cigar keep going out?
Usually too much moisture or a tight bunch. A damp cigar burns slowly and smothers itself, and a tight one starves the ember of air. Long gaps between puffs finish the job.
Relighting changes the taste, not the risk. The National Cancer Institute says there is no safe level of tobacco use.
Where the relight advice comes from
- Cigar: lighting technique and torch lighters, Wikipedia
- Cigar Smoking and Cancer, National Cancer Institute