To Cut or Punch Your Cigar
Up until about a week ago I have always cut my cigars. I have used guillotine cutters mainly because I thought that cutting the cigar this way gave a larger hole for the smoke to go through; and it does. But there are problems.
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1. You can cut too much
This has troubled me more with some cigars than others. For a while I smoked almost nothing but Rocky Patel cigars and if you cut those delicious sticks too much the wrapper can start to unravel. It wasn’t a problem with my humidor because other cigars in there didn’t have the same problem. If you cut too much off the wrapper can come off.
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2. The cutter can get dull
Now, I bet this will eventually affect my punch cutter but I don’t think it will happen as quickly. But once the blades on a guillotine cutter get dull it may not cut the whole way through the cigar and end up ripping the wrapper, which is never a good thing.
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3. More moving parts
The more complicated a tool is the more that can go wrong. It also makes the tool more expensive. I know that punch cutters can be expensive but, generally speaking, they aren’t as expensive as their more complicated brethren, the guillotine cutter. More moving parts means more that can go wrong and a higher price tag.
The purpose of this post isn’t to be a diatribe against guillotine cutters – I’m still going to use them. But, until last week, I thought they were the only real way to cut a cigar. I was wrong.
Punch cutters are easy to use.
You don’t have to worry about cutting too much off.
You don’t have to worry about maintenance as much.
You do get a good opening with your punch cutter.
You do get enough smoke coming through – if the cigar doesn’t have any technical difficulties.
I may end up using the punch cutter more frequently now. Whenever I do I will make a mention of it on the review. Maybe, after using punches for a while, I’ll get more exposed to the downsides of punch cutters. When that happens I will definitely tell you. Until then, I’m going to punch my cigars more often.
