See subject. Empirically, the tip of the cigar in mid smoke, if you tap off the ash, is conic when you are puffing rather quickly during the course of the smoke. That’s got to have something to do with the different the fuel/combustion products in all three cases–fast puff cigar, leisurely puff cigar, and lower fuel surface in cigarettes, for which I have never seen a conic burn puff in any oxygen rate (although perhaps it is also apparent on a much smaller scale)–right?
It’s the loose, shredded tobacco of cigarettes vs. the rolled leaves of cigars.
That “loose, shredded tobacco” is actually blended and reconstituted leaf sheet (as well as some percent of stem material), which is processed, rolled, and shredded. This is done for better economy (almost all of the plant is used) as well as to enhance nicotine delivery (the so-called “freebase nicotine” that is not bonded to planet material) and other adulterants which make the smoke more inhalable and enhance delivery. Part of that, of course, is to keep the ash at combustion temperature so that the cigarette continues to remain lit and deliver smoke even though air is not being forcibly convected throughout the tip, whereas a cigar (generally packed with moderately processed real leaf) requires a constant draw to keep burning.
Cigarettes are basically the hot dog of the tobacco industry. They’re processed, packed, and adulterated with all kinds of nasty shit you wouldn’t every consider putting in your mouth if you knew better.
Stranger
Another thing is the structure of a cigar it has six layers! Roughly, we have the first three: wrapper, binder, and filler. The filler itself is also composed of three parts: volado, seco, and ligero.
So, the wrapper will burn the fastest, followed by the binder, and then the filler. The Ligero is the leaf that provides the most flavor and also has the highest water content so it will burn slower. Hence the conical shape as the cigar burns the outer most layer the fastest.
The Master has an article on this, however, a Moderator will have to insert it until I get home as my work is blocking anything and everything (even Wikipedia) on cigars.
We used to lick the outside of cigars in an attempt to combat this phenomenon. Is that normal or a no-no for professional cigar smokers?
I sometimes wet or lick them, but its to stop a run. Where you get a part that is burning much faster than the rest. You can also sometimes just hit the side thats not burning with your lighter and burn off the extra wrapper.