CIGAR ETIQUETTE
In 1967 Zino Davidoff outlined a protocol
for smokers in his noted essay for connoisseurs. It is a charter and code for
cigar smokers everywhere, and it remains as valid today as when he first wrote
it. Among his directives were the following dos and don'ts:
DON'T
- Use a penknife to cut or a lance to pierce the end of the cigar.
- Touch the flame directly to the foot of the cigar: Instead simply rotate it around the edge till it starts to burn, then puff lightly.
- Ask someone else for a light ('The lighting of a cigar should be a personal affair').
- Light your cigar too quickly or too slowly.
- Indulge in exhibitionism in lighting or any other aspect of smoking.
- Relight your cigar if less than one quarter of it is leaf.
- Put the cigar in your mouth to relight it.
- Just scrape off the ash and turn it in the flame for several seconds till it relights.
- Clench it between your teeth.
- Get the end of the cigar wet, chew It, slobber on it.
- Smoke too quickly.
- Use a cigar holder.
- Stick a toothpick or matchstick in the end of the cigar to help hold it in your mouth.
- Dunk your cigar in port or brandy, a habit attributed to Winston Churchill.
- Smoke while working.
- Hold a cigar between your index and middle finger.
- Smoke when you're walking.
- Smoke more than half the cigar.
- Put the cigar out by crushing it in an ashtray.
- Chain-smoke cigars.
DO
- Warm the foot of the cigar slightly before starting to puff on it.
- Remove the band carefully after lighting the cigar.
- Take your time smoking it; a puff a minute is about right.
- Hold the cigar between your index finger and thumb.
- Let the cigar die a dignified death; after it's smoked halfway, it will go out on its own.
- Dispose of the dead cigar discreetly and quickly.
- Wait at least fifteen minutes between cigars; anything less indicates obsessive behaviour.