How to Light a Cigar the Right Way (Torch, Match, or Cedar)

Lighting a cigar is a two-step job: toast, then light. Done right, the cigar burns evenly all the way down. Done carelessly, it canoes — burning down one side — and tastes harsh for the first inch. The whole process takes about a minute.

Step 1: Toast the foot

Hold the cigar at a 45-degree angle and bring the flame close to the foot (the open end) without touching it. Rotate the cigar slowly so the outer edge of the foot blackens evenly all the way around. You're not lighting it yet — you're warming the tobacco and charring the rim so the real light catches evenly.

Step 2: Light with gentle puffs

Now put the cigar in your mouth, keep the flame just below the foot, and draw in slow, gentle puffs while rotating the cigar. The goal is a complete, glowing orange ring. Pull the cigar away and look at the foot: if one spot is dark, touch the flame to that spot and puff again until the whole circle glows.

Torch, match, or cedar spill?

A butane torch lighter is the practical standard: windproof, odorless, and fast. Soft-flame butane lighters work beautifully indoors and are gentler on the wrapper. Wooden matches are the romantic choice — let the sulfur head burn off completely before the flame touches tobacco, and expect to use two or three. A cedar spill (a thin strip of Spanish cedar, lit from a match) is the traditional method and adds a faint cedar note to the first puffs.

What to avoid: gasoline lighters (the fuel flavor soaks into the tobacco) and candles (wax and soot). A car cigarette lighter will technically work and will definitely ruin the first inch of your cigar.

Fixing an uneven burn

If the cigar starts burning down one side (canoeing), don't panic. Rotate the slow-burning side to the bottom — heat rises, so the bottom burns faster — and if that's not enough, touch the flame directly to the lagging edge while puffing. A well-made cigar corrects itself within half an inch.

Relighting a cigar that went out

Set a cigar down for twenty minutes and it goes out — that's normal, and relighting is fine within an hour or so. Knock off the ash, blow through the cigar once to clear stale smoke, then toast and relight exactly as you did the first time. A cigar left overnight is a different story: the stale flavors concentrate, and most smokers consider it finished.

Learn by watching

Lighting is one of those skills that clicks the first time you watch someone do it well. Any cigar lounge regular or staff member will happily demonstrate — lounges are social places, and teaching a newcomer the toast-and-rotate is practically a house tradition. Find one near you in our directory.