Quality Cigar Experts

When I started smoking cigars, I didn't have a lot of role models to show me the proper procedures, so I naturally wasn't the smooth and genteel smoker you see today. One breach of cigar etiquette that I committed all through college came as I was finished smoking a particular stick. I'd usually treat it like a cigarette and grind it out into the cigar ashtray (or just drop it in someone's warm, half-empty glass of beer, which was always a joy to clean up the next morning).

Once I started smoking with older folks, I learned that I was committing a terrible sin in doing so. Crushing out a cigar causes it to smolder, and the resulting smell isn't pleasant for most people. It also means you can't pick it up later and smoke it again, so doing that to a half-finished cigar simply because it was my turn at the ping-pong table was a big waste. Instead, they told me to just leave the cigar and wait a couple of minutes to let it burn out on its own. Short, sweet, and classy.

I'm guessing most of you already knew that, but if you're a beginning smoker or know someone who is, don't forget to tell them what to do with their cigars when they want to finish for the night, or simply take a break for awhile. I know I would have appreciated learning that sooner, and most likely those around me at the time would have benefited from that as well.