Cigar smoking essentials

Cigar smoking is an equipment-intensive sport. There are, for example, three methods of cutting off the tip of the cigar - the guillotine, the bullet or punch cut, and the V-cut - each with its own special cutter.
Because fluid-based lighters and sulfur matches can transfer their noxious chemicals to the cigar's taste, serious smokers use butane micro-torches - called "burners" - whose bright blue flames serve as a beacon when seen through a shop's haze of smoke.
Humidors - many handpainted - keep cigars at their ideal temperature (70 degrees) and humidity (70 percent). At some shops, regular customers get lockers inside walk-in humidor rooms. Many just keep their smokes in the ornate, flip-top cardboard boxes that remain the most visible link to the cigar's colorful past.