How To Light A Cigar Using A Torch

Torches offer a ton of advantages when you’re lighting a cigar. Being able to control the flame from the torch can help you touch up parts of a cigar that may need to be touched up while you’re smoking. Torch lighters are fun, it’s like a cool spy gadget, well at least to me.

Pro Tip: Make sure to keep an inexpensive torch lighter handy that you carry everywhere and that’s mostly for sharing with friends. We all know sometimes lighters grow legs, and you definitely don’t want that to happen with your beautiful/expensive torch. 

If you’ve been smoking cigars for a while you know that there are a few ways to light your cigars. Matches, Cedar Spills, and torches, but in this blog, we are going to focus on torches. 

There are a few different types of torches, single, double, and triple-flame torches. In my opinion, I think triple-flame torches are a little much, we are lighting a cigar not a campfire. That being said I like to stick to single-flame torches and really take my time to light my cigar, it’s part of the fun. 

These are the steps to lighting your cigar with a torch: 

Make sure your flame is adjusted correctly to your surroundings, you want a low-medium flame or else you risk charring the hell out of your cigar and that's never fun, not only do you not get the correct flavors intended from the blend, but it can also cause a very uneven burn. 

Start lighting at least a quarter of an inch away from the flame. Again, do not incinerate the foot with a direct blast from your torch. This is a common mistake beginners make. Too much butane will ruin the taste of your cigar.

Watch as the binder and filler tobaccos begin to ignite. The goal is to create an even toast across the entire foot of your cigar. You want to think about this similar to toasting marshmallows, you want to evenly toast the marshmallow without setting the entire thing to flames.

In order to ensure an even toast, rotate your cigar over the flame so that it’s applied equally over the foot. You can also rotate your lighter around the foot to achieve the same effect.

Now there are a couple ways to do this step of the process, once the foot has been fully toasted, you can start drawing on your cigar, and hit the foot with your jet flame a few more times to ensure it's evenly lit. Or you can create a fanning motion with your cigar which will simulate as if you were puffing your cigar. This method is often used at cigar lounges when hosts light your cigar for you, it can properly light the cigar without it ever hitting your mouth. (Great party trick) 

Lastly, you can hold your cigar so that you can observe the cherry burning. Then blow on the lit end of your cigar. You should see a nice even red-orange glow across the foot of your cigar. If there are lingering dark spots that have not fully ignited, you can hit them with your torch a little longer, but still, maintain some distance between your flame and the cigar.

And that's it, as you are enjoying your smoke, remember to do longer draws in equal time intervals to ensure that your cigar is burning at a steady rate. You don’t want the cherry to get too hot or else the smoking experience will not be enjoyable. The blend won’t taste as intended, you might burn the tip of your tongue. If you don’t draw soon enough your cigar will go out and you’ll have to relight often and you’ll end up commenting on how much you hate cigars. We don’t need that kind of negativity here lol 

Remember this is an art, take your time with it and find the right pace!