Cutting your cigar properly is the first step in ensuring that you do not have an uneven burn. You should also know your own preferences, as some smokers will allow up to ½ inch of uneven burn before attempting to correct it, while others will only allow up to ¼ of an inch.

Of course, while your tolerance for unevenness is a vital consideration, you’ll still need to know what to do to stop that uneven burn and ensure that your cigar lasts as long as possible. What options do you have? How can you save your cigar from an ignominious death?

First, you should know that many high-quality cigars can correct themselves if you just leave them alone. Usually, the uneven burn will be corrected within a space of ½ inch. However, if the cigar doesn’t correct itself, you will need to use your lighter to ignite the tobacco and wrapper in the area that is not burning. However, if the only portion of your cigar not burning is the outer wrapper or a very light layer of tobacco, you’re advised to leave it alone.

However, if you have a large amount of tobacco not burning, you’ll need to relight the cigar. Take out your torch lighter and light it. Hold the lighter just before the unlit tobacco, but do not touch the tobacco with the flame. Instead, you should simply hold it close enough that the lighter heats up the tobacco. Take an experimental draw on the cigar and determine if the area will ignite. If it will not, you will need to move the flame a bit closer and hold it for another moment. Take another draw and the tobacco should light. Smoke the cigar gently until the uneven burn is corrected and you’ll find you can still enjoy that smoke.