I was at the local tobacconist last night for a Partagas Spanish Rosado night. The General Cigar reps brought along "the last living link to the pre-Castro Cuban days," a Mr. Menendez (if I caught his name right). When he was given a cigar to smoke, he declined the offer of a cutter, instead he used his thumb nail to remove the cap.

Well today I'm at the Buick golf tourney in San Diego with a couple of cigars, but I forgot to bring my cutter or punch. So I tried the thumb nail trick. Worked like a charm. First on a 5 Vegas Grand Reserva panatela, and the small ring size didn't present any problem. Later I opened the end of a La Hoja Selecta maduro, and that was just as easy. I don't have a 'cocaine' pinky either.

"Cutters? We don't need no stinkin' cutters!"

So do you use your nail like a Punch and push in and turn in a circle? Or do you run it along the edge and take the cap off?

ajeroth

Well my tongue-in-cheek observation on this is that I have two really nice old box planes but my Makita power plane seems a bit more precise:-)

I used the outboard edge of my thumbnail to run multiple rings about where I would have cut it. The cap still didn't look cut, but when I pushed my nail under the slit it just popped off. No tobacco fell out, just the cap.

I don't think I'd turn down the use of a cutter like the cigar jefe, but in a pinch I know that I always have a cutter with me.

That is great info... Thanks for sharing

I sat next to Carlos Fuente, Sr. for lunch at the Big Smoke in Las Vegas. He did the same thing. He told me that he has never used a cutter, he just knocks off the cap to open up enough room for the smoke.

I never felt so honored as he demo-ed the process on my own Opus X.

While that does indeed work just fine ...

... keep in mind, that leaving part of the cap on when cutting your cigar, helps to keep the wrapper from unraveling while you smoke it.

Just a thought ...

Robert Harris in Honduras writes:

The other day I go down to visit my friend the master Estelo Padron in General's factory in Confradia for some coffee.

It's a regular thing where I practice my Spanish, drink some expresso with the old man and walk the floor of the factory. There are thousands of cigars either being rolled, wrapped, shaped or boxed.

Every time I go I notice that Estelo always bites the tops off when we sit down in the kitchen. No cutter, no pinky, nothing fancy. I asked him why and he said, "It's just tobacco." Go figure. By the way we smoked some Corinas EMS. Pretty damn good.

Robert Harris in Honduras writes:

The other day I go down to visit my friend the master Estelo Padron in General's factory in Confradia for some coffee.

It's a regular thing where I practice my Spanish, drink some expresso with the old man and walk the floor of the factory. There are thousands of cigars either being rolled, wrapped, shaped or boxed.

Every time I go I notice that Estelo always bites the tops off when we sit down in the kitchen. No cutter, no pinky, nothing fancy. I asked him why and he said, "It's just tobacco." Go figure. By the way we smoked some Corinas EMS. Pretty damn good.

I think as long as I pay for cigars I will use methods with less possibility for damage. I can however open a bottle of beer with my butt. Great part about this is people never take my beer.

How would it unravel if it never leaves my mouth? 🙂