Toasting the foot: is it really necessary?

ApexAZ · 09-05-2014, 05:44 PM

I got an email from one of the major online retailers and it featured a segment on how to properly light a cigar.

It went something like this:

Toast the foot by holding the cigar above the flame and rotate. Then light the cigar by rotating it 360 degrees while puffing. This is simplified, really, but the thing that caught my attention was how they emphasized the point that if you do not do it correctly, it will lead to tunneling, canoeing and other burn issues. In a video, Nick Perdomo event went so far as to say that most of the complaints they receive concerning burn issues can be attributed to "Operator Errror".

Do you guys think this is reasonable? Sure if you don't light the whole foot you might get an uneven burn. But to blame burn issues solely on the lighting technique seems like a diversion from a potentially poorly rolled and/or kept cigar in my view. It seems like even the environment can affect burn, such as outdoor RH and temperature.

Sometimes I'll toast the foot, sometimes I'll just plunge the foot deep into the center of the blue flame without giving it much thought. But I always try to ensure the entire foot is burning with a cherry. Usually when I have burn issues it's some kind of tunneling or canoeing and I usually have to touch up several times throughout the smoke, so I attribute it to moisture problems.

I'm just curious what others thoughts are on this? Is it really fair to blame burn issues on the lighting technique? I'm sure it happens, but seems like an overgeneralization to say lighting technique is usually to blame.

09-05-2014, 05:44 PM	#1
ApexAZ Wandering aimlessly Join Date: Oct 2011 First Name: Brian Location: Sonoran Desert Posts: 1,299 Trading: (10)	Toasting the foot: is it really necessary? I got an email from one of the major online retailers and it featured a segment on how to properly light a cigar. It went something like this: Toast the foot by holding the cigar above the flame and rotate. Then light the cigar by rotating it 360 degrees while puffing. This is simplified, really, but the thing that caught my attention was how they emphasized the point that if you do not do it correctly, it will lead to tunneling, canoeing and other burn issues. In a video, Nick Perdomo event went so far as to say that most of the complaints they receive concerning burn issues can be attributed to "Operator Errror". Do you guys think this is reasonable? Sure if you don't light the whole foot you might get an uneven burn. But to blame burn issues solely on the lighting technique seems like a diversion from a potentially poorly rolled and/or kept cigar in my view. It seems like even the environment can affect burn, such as outdoor RH and temperature. Sometimes I'll toast the foot, sometimes I'll just plunge the foot deep into the center of the blue flame without giving it much thought. But I always try to ensure the entire foot is burning with a cherry. Usually when I have burn issues it's some kind of tunneling or canoeing and I usually have to touch up several times throughout the smoke, so I attribute it to moisture problems. I'm just curious what others thoughts are on this? Is it really fair to blame burn issues on the lighting technique? I'm sure it happens, but seems like an overgeneralization to say lighting technique is usually to blame.