I’ve recently returned to cigars (and maybe pipes, except that I can’t seem to smoke a pipe worth a damn) after a hiatus, and am encountering at least a slight problem.
As I smoke along down, and get to about the last 2-3 inches or so–just a bit above the band on the Cusano 18 robustos I’ve been puffing–I start to notice a rather unpleasant burning sensation on my tongue. This occurs even as the cigar is slowly going out. What is this, and how can it be avoided?
In case it might be relevant: Both of the recent smokes I’ve had that’ve been affected with this problem have had slight wrapper breaches that led to some uneven burn and such, and at roughly the same time I develop the tongue-bite, I also start to have trouble keeping things lit. That may be either a symptom or a cause–I naturally draw a bit gingerly once this starts to happen.
What kind of cutter are you using? A bullet cut will concentrate the smoke on the tongue; a guillotine cut will spread it out. I find that bullet cuts do indeed get “bitey” near the end.
How often and how hard do you puff? I find a cigar will stay lit with about one puff per minute–sometimes a little longer, but rarely shorter. If I forget and it seems to be going out, I just relight. Puffing away like an old-time locomotive just to keep it lit is not good for the flavour and will cause bite.
You may also find that if you blow out through the cigar oh, every inch or so, you’ll have a smoother, more flavourful smoke. This gets rid of the sour-tasting “bitey” gases that build up as you smoke your cigar. Works for me, anyway.
As Spoons says, the cut is the most important factor here, although I won’t necessarily agree with him about the reasoning. The guillotine cutter is ideal for robustos. A wedge cutter is designed for smaller cigars, and will cause bitter tars to accumulate in the narrow part of the cut in robustos. A lance or bullet cutter can cause the cigar to burn too hot, and will also cause a build up of bitter tar around the cavity.
I’m going to guess that you’re not using a butane or gas lighter to light the cigar. That’s occasionally a problem, when heated but unburned gases condense on the tobacco inside the cigar.
Finally, and this can you take or leave as you see fit, many aficionados swear that you should never smoke a cigar more than two-thirds of the way down. At my favorite cigar bar in Tokyo, the owner used to come over and tell me that I was done long before I thought I was! (He’s used to me now. It only took me five years to train him. :D)
Terrifel: I know what you mean. Were it up to me, I’d switch my name over to LawMonkey, which is what I use mostly these days, but I don’t suppose that’s much better, is it? I suppose it’s at least a little bit easier to imagine, say, a chimpanzee with a cigar than a lemur, though.
I’m using a cheap and unremarkable double-bladed guillotine style cutter to get things going. As to my puffing, I don’t know for sure–I think I was running in the range of a a good long puff per minute or so, but it may be more or less. Again, it’s not something that I got in the early stages of the cigar–just towards the end. To that end, I admit that I’m using a zippo, with their new-formula fuel, but surely any effects from that should’ve dissipated after a good hour or so of puffing?
I’ll try blowing out. And if I have to accept not being able to smoke quite as far down as I’d like (which was only another inch or so in this case anyhow–burnt lips & fingers are no fun!), I’ll do that–but as a last resort.
