Random questions frequently asked by novice smokers and aspiring cigar connoisseurs
I was told that I should cut my cigars, especially torpedoes, at an angle to aim the smoke directly to my palate to enhance the flavor. Is this true?
No - it's bullshit...
I've heard this too, and I'm still looking for the genius who determined that this advice was scientifically meritorious.
With a mouth full of smoke, it really doesn't matter if it's aimed at your palate when you draw or not. And if you're smoking your cigars properly, you should be rotating the cigar with each draw to help ensure an even burn; therefore, it's unlikely that an angled cut will remain in that position to direct the smoke to your tongue anyway. You want to enhance the flavor - RETROHALE!
By the way, you can get away with cutting a torpedo or other figurados with a typically smaller head at an angle to increase the surface area of the head to get more from your draw, but doing so with a parejo (a standard straight-sided cigar) is not advisable. You're asking for trouble by risking unraveling of the cigar wrapper while smoking. So just cut it straight using a guillotine or scissor cutter, or employ the other tools available for cutting, like a punch or a V-cutter.
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