New Member Cutting Techniques

[bharrington423]

Hello I'm new to the forum and relatively new I'd say to the cigar smoking world. Been smoking for about 2 years and work at my favorite cigar shop now and have been smoking a lot more recently. Normally when I smoke in the shop i V-cut my cigars and smoke them down to the band and then stop. I do not normally like the heat that is produced by smoking much lower than the band. Recently I have started smoking my cigars down a bit further and have noticed a metallic and harsh taste that seems to become prominent after smoking for awhile. I thought it was my ash tray or maybe from the can of Coke I normally drink with a cigar. Tried changing these two factors and still get a metallic nastiness from my cigars after smoking for awhile. One fix I found is to cut the cap off the cigar if this harshness occurs. Why do my cigars taste this way when V-cut?

[craig]

Tar

[bharrington423]

Better to guillotine cut to start? Any cigars that will do this more often than others?

[badwhale]

Better to guillotine cut to start? Any cigars that will do this more often than others?

http://www.cigarsmokers.com/threads/...053#post173053

[craig]

I'm guessing smoke slower, purge (blow out through the cigar slowly) more frequently as the cigar burns down, and/or use a bigger cut - either cross the V (two cuts, but you will get more unravelling), or use a guillotine.

[cigarman87]

When you vcut a cigar it forces the smoke through a smaller openening, resulting in a tar buildup the longer you smoke it. I generally only v cut a box press cigar.

[Devil Doc]

"A gentleman only smokes 1/3 of his cigar."
Zino Davidoff.

I guess that makes me less than a gentleman, but I already knew that. Ditch the V-cutter and get a guillotine cutter.

Doc

[Paddy]

"A gentleman only smokes 1/3 of his cigar."
Zino Davidoff.

I guess that makes me less than a gentleman, but I already knew that. Ditch the V-cutter and get a guillotine cutter.

Doc

Agreed, I've never bothered with a V-cutter. As far as only smoking 1/3 of a cigar, I guess if I was a Gazillionaire
like Zino I'd bin them after a 3rd as well.

[bharrington423]

thanks guys. the advice and knowledge is a good welcome to the forum.

[badwhale]

"A gentleman only smokes 1/3 of his cigar."
Zino Davidoff.

I guess that makes me less than a gentleman, but I already knew that. Ditch the V-cutter and get a guillotine cutter.

Doc

Makes me much less than a gentleman. Maybe we should think of them as someone else's cigar that we just bought... Unless it's totally horrible, I burn my fingers just to smoke down to the last drop.

[craig]

IIRC, the quote is, "a gentleman never relights his cigar after it is two-thirds smoked."

(I realize that many cigars taste like sh*t when re-lit, but I haven't had that experience relighting milder Cubans. I'm not saying that they taste the same, but they don't taste bad to me. YMMV.)

[FindingRelevance]

I have never truly enjoyed the V-Cut. I am personally a punch kind of guy. Yet, on bigger gauges, I will use the double-blade, or Guillotine. I, also, smoke mine down to the very last inches. I think that the better cigars can taste good from start to finish (to the fingers). Welcome to the forum! Happy smoking.

[fuzzycrabs]

Welcome to the forums from another new member!

as for your post, as stated the tar is the culprit. I've tried a V-cut once or twice, and I personally found that it is easier to get a good draw from a guillotine cut, even on the higher ring sizes. I've seen the double V work, but I think that it's only slightly different that a guillotine in terms of how much you cut the cap.

[CptnBlues63]

IIRC, the quote is, "a gentleman never relights his cigar after it is two-thirds smoked."

(I realize that many cigars taste like sh*t when re-lit, but I haven't had that experience relighting milder Cubans. I'm not saying that they taste the same, but they don't taste bad to me. YMMV.)

I've had a few go out on me and relit them immediately with no change in taste that I could detect. But keep in mind, I'll never be a cigar reviewer for cigar afficiando either........my palate is not that refined..........LOL

I suspect if you smoked 2/3's and let it go out and then set it in your ashtray for a couple hours, it would probably taste like crap if you relit it. I wouldn't know. When it's time for a cigar, I make a committment to myself to sit for the duration of that cigar and not do anything (short of a real emergency) that would interfere with smoking said cigar. With the real good ones, I'm burning my fingers like everybody else.

I use a double bladed guillotine cutter. I have a couple buy my favorite at the moment is the XiKar. You mentioned another brand I'd never heard of Craig and I passed that along to Santa and I suspect I'll find one under the tree or in my stocking this x'mas..........lol

I've never used anything else with the exception of the Swiss Army Knife cutter I bought off Ken. I've used that a couple times while out camping (works great...thanks again Ken!). It's more like a scissor than a guillotine I suspect because of it's design, but it does have two blades...........

[craig]

When you get the Palio, I'd suggest using a small round file or some emory paper to smooth out the edges cast in the plastic composite body. For that reason, I'd suggest the basic black (unpainted) version.

A Xikar is cool, but the Palio just seems better-engineered to me. Both cut just fine. I guess I'd say that a Xikar snips, but the Palio slices. I like to take off as little of the cap as possible in Cubans, as these generally have flat-cut filler under the cap. The draw seems better when the cutter doesn't touch the filler (again, in Cubans). In most non-Cubans, you want to cut into the filler, and the Xikar's design does seem to give a bit of leverage for doing that.

Anyhow, the difference is a matter of personal preference.

[angelinajohn]

I am using double bladed guillotine cutter and i think it's the best cutter for cutting the edge of my cigar.

[prophetic_joe]

I am using double bladed guillotine cutter and i think it's the best cutter for cutting the edge of my cigar.

It's the cap of the cigar and stop spamming the board. I am pretty certain you will soon feel the ban hammer.

[Disney Lincoln]

From what i've seen, they don't really cut the new members around here. You might get a light hazing, but nothing like a Florida band member or anything. If a new meber needed to be cut I don't know that a specific technique would be used.


This angelina biotch looks like she'll find out how new people get cut pretty soon!

[ggiese]

From what i've seen, they don't really cut the new members around here. You might get a light hazing, but nothing like a Florida band member or anything. If a new meber needed to be cut I don't know that a specific technique would be used.


This angelina biotch looks like she'll find out how new people get cut pretty soon!

Yeppers! Cut as cleanly as a double bladed cutter, angelina's john was...

[CptnBlues63]

When you get the Palio, I'd suggest using a small round file or some emory paper to smooth out the edges cast in the plastic composite body. For that reason, I'd suggest the basic black (unpainted) version.

A Xikar is cool, but the Palio just seems better-engineered to me. Both cut just fine. I guess I'd say that a Xikar snips, but the Palio slices. I like to take off as little of the cap as possible in Cubans, as these generally have flat-cut filler under the cap. The draw seems better when the cutter doesn't touch the filler (again, in Cubans). In most non-Cubans, you want to cut into the filler, and the Xikar's design does seem to give a bit of leverage for doing that.

Anyhow, the difference is a matter of personal preference.

I think I"m getting the basic black one. I'm pretty sure that's the one I linked for the wife. I'll definitely tune it up if it needs it, thanks for the advice. I'm looking forward to trying it.