"Sweet Spot" of cigars?

Joined Mar 2007
482 Posts | 0+
Phoenix, AZ
I've read in several places that a cigar should be extinguished once it's half smoked. HAH! I say to that. In my experience it seems that most cigars have a "sweet spot" in the middle that provides the most smoking pleasure. For me it seems to be the middle 1/3 of the cigar. This gives it time to cool off from the light and settle in to what it was meant to me. Beyond this it starts getting a bit of a warm draw and maybe a slight bite from the buildup of tars and some nicotine. Has anybody else experienced this? And also, does anybody here actually pitch their cigar after it's only half smoked? It seems to me if I did this, I'd be missing out on half of the best part of the cigar.

Just tossing this out for discussion on a quiet wednesday evening. What are your guys (and gals) thoughts on this?

EDIT: Not to mention that with the prices of some cigars, I really want to get what I'm paying for. Throwing a few bucks away with each cigar just doesn't make good economical sense to me. But then again, I can be a cheap bastard!
 
hey, lets keep discussions of economics out of my cigar habit. if we start talking dollars and sense, my money grubbing self might have a change of heart.

oh yeah, and burn it to the nub.
 
In my experience and this varies from cigar to cigar, I find that a lot of cigars are best when:

(a) First lit.
(b) First inch.
(c) The point at about three inches left to one inch left.

I've never heard of anyone tossing a cigar halfway through. That seems rather pointless to me. And I'm with bdub, any cigar I smoke goes down to the nub.

Theres a picture here somewhere of Tiny Tim smoking about a half inch of cigar with a toothpick stuck through it so his fingers aren't getting burned. Good stuff.
 
I am definitely not above sticking a toothpick in a darn fine cigar. If you like it, why would you not want to smoke it all?
 
I have found this varies with cigar to cigar. There are some that I have smoked, that just won't let me smoke the last inch of so, they just get to bitter. Then there are some that just leave you wanting more!!

There you go!
 
i like fuller cigars in general. After the 1/3 - 1/2 way point most cigars tend to build. i think the sweet spot is with 1/3 left. it still isnt a hot smoke if you smoke slow but the flavor has built up quite a bit.

i would never smoke only half of a cigar unless i had to.
 
The only time I smoke half a cigar is when its plain old nasty. TeAma comes to mind...lol!

For me I like the transition of change that takes place through out a complex cigar no matter the strength. I love a cigar that changes proflie while I smoke and goes from one wonderful taste to another.
 
I find that the sweet spot is usually the middle half of the cigar. I hate wasting cigars too and the only time I stop smoking early is if the fire pager goes off and I have to run...

I tend to smoke robustos or smaller because I rarely have the time to smoke anything bigger.
 
For me the sweet spot of the cigar is all of it. I have been known to poke a long kabob skewer into the nub and smoke it till it falls apart.
 
hammondc said:
For me the sweet spot of the cigar is all of it. I have been known to poke a long kabob skewer into the nub and smoke it till it falls apart.


Awesome!!!!!!!!! Your my kinda mook brother!
 
It has been reported that Sir Winston Churchill only smoked his Q*bans halfway and then lit a fresh one. However, I am not Sir Winston so I smoke it to the nub unless it falls apart from me chewing the end of the cigar.
 
Most of the time I will smoke them down to the last 2 inches. But when I am sampling, I only smoke the first 2 inches, maybe even less.
 
I smoke my cigars rather slowly and there for I don't get a hot smoke. With that I will usually smoke them as far down as I can hold on to it. I really like it when it gets down to the nub, the flavors get intense and leave me craving more. The only time I will not do this is when the cigar turns out to be a dog rocket.
 
I'll smoke most cigars down to about an inch, unless its one that's so good I don't want to let it go. If its a bad one I'll try to stick with it for a little while just to see if it improves as it gets shorter. If not, I pitch it.
 
Just so nobody gets the wrong idea, I've smoked plenty of cigars to the nub. And usually to 1" if they don't get too hot. Hey, I already said I like to get my money's worth. I was more or less wondering if anybody else had a favorite "sweet spot" with their cigars. I'm also very happy to hear that nobody pitched them at the halfway point. What a terrible waste.

Keep on puffin'!
 
the last 2 or 3 inches are great for me. even bad cigars taste better to me at the end.

I believe (i cant remember his name right now) the man who created davidoff cigars was a 1/2 tosser...you know what i mean.

also i believe a lot of the "cigar raters" only smoke a couple of inches of the cigars they rate? weird if you ask me. :shock:
 
For me, most good cigars get better as they get shorter, with the best part being the last inch or 2.
I never thought of using a tooth pick or kabob skewer, what a good idea!
 
I have a real simple way to know exactlyu when to stop smoking it; its when I stop enjoying it. It may be because my fingers are burnign, or starts to get hot, or I just get kinda bored and want something new.