G.C. wrote:I've been smoking cigars for a long time and I never used to toast before lighting. I didn't even know what it was. I'd never heard of such a thing. But then when I started to look around at the different cigar sites on this new-fangled thing called, "The Internet"...., I noticed a lot of guys talking about toasting before lighting. One big name manufacturer even said it was important to toast because it served to "marry" the wrapper to the binder. So, I started toasting. What I got was a mouthful of what tasted like charcoal; not good, clean, tobacco fun like I had been used to. Not to mention, I didn't feel like I got as even of a light, especially on box-pressed cigars. I had more problems with uneven burn than I ever had before. So I went back to what I've been doing for about 50 years now. I just light the sucker and start toking on it. So, as for me and my sticks, hold the toast, please.
Totally opposite experience here.
I toast all the time and never get the charcoal taste that you get. Now granted, I hold my cigar a good distance away from the flame and let the heat do the lighting. Does take me a bit longer to light it but I don’t mind the extra time and fuel it takes.
FWIW, when I first started smoking cigars, I used to put the match or lighter up to the cigar, suck the flame into the foot and puff like hell. Didn’t always work, especially with matches, and I would get uneven lights. After I changed the when / why / where of smoking, it was easier to toast so I’ve stuck to that lighting method since.
To me, in the end, it doesn’t matter how you light your cigar, as long as you enjoy smoking it, that’s what it’s all about.