How to Put Out a Cigar (Do’s and Don’ts of Cigar Smoking)

There are as many ways to put out a cigar as there are cigar smokers. I’ve seen our brothers in arms do all sorts of weird things to put out their smokes, from spitting on the ground and grinding the cigar out to using cigar snuffers or just holding the burning cigar until it’s extinguished.

Extinguishing a cigar means putting out the lit cherry at the business end of the stick. You can do this many ways – smashing it into an ashtray, dipping it in liquid, using a purpose-built cigar extinguishing gadget, or just letting it burn out on its own. Because cigars are really hot, putting them out is often a safety issue. There’s also the consideration of what to do with a partially smoked cigar.

I wanted to learn more about the proper and improper ways to dispose of a stogie, so I figured I’d write a post covering all the ways of putting out a cigar. I learned a lot along the way.

The Wrong Way to Put Out a Cigar

Some smokers love the end of a cigar. I’ve noticed this is particularly true among fans of darker, richer, and stronger flavors and effects. If you see an old guy with a huge oily cigar, you can bet he relishes the last inch or two. Others, like me, are a bit wary of a cigar’s ending. Not only does the experience turn more intense, but you also have to worry about what you’re doing to do with it when you’re done. Is there an ashtray? What do I do with this thing if I’m in the middle of the golf course and there’s nowhere to dispose of it? Can I save the back half of a cigar if I’m interrupted mid-smoke?

Let’s start with all the wrong ways to put cigars out.

Here’s what not to do when it’s time to extinguish your smoke:

Don’t throw a lit cigar on the ground. Unextinguished cigars and cigarettes were once the primary cause of dangerous urban fires, including the infamous Hartford Circus Fire that killed more than 150 people, many of them young children. You may think the ground is an innocuous place to put out your smoke, but wind and other environmental factors mean you never really know when your butt will lead to a fire.

Don’t throw a lit cigar in a trash can. It’s insane to have to say this, but we’ve all seen the little trash fires at bars, clubs, and restaurants. Some smokers mistake trash cans for ashtrays, maybe because ashtrays often top these cans? Be very careful not to be one of the world’s worst cigar smokers by tossing your butt into the trash.

Don’t put a lit cigar anywhere you wouldn’t build a fire. Let’s just stick with this rule of thumb rather than make a list of all the places you should NOT extinguish your cigar. Don’t put your cigar there if you wouldn’t want a roaring fire in a certain place.

The Right Way to Put Out a Cigar

The right way to put out a cigar is to starve it of oxygen.

Fire requires oxygen. The burning cherry at the tip of your cigar is just a controlled fire. Depriving it of oxygen by not drawing smoke through the cigar will eventually extinguish it.

Newcomers to cigars have probably experienced a cigar going out from under-smoking it. The same principle applies to the natural extinguishing of a cigar. Once you stop smoking it, it goes out.

I’ve read up on the topic and even asked a few veteran cigar smokers for their input, and they all agree – the best way to put out a cigar is to let it go out on its own.

How to Let Your Cigar Go Out on Its Own

The lit end of a cigar is extremely hot – as much as 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, up to 1,600 degrees during a typical draw. That’s about as hot as a burning wood fire. Letting a cigar go out on its own is akin to letting a campfire burn itself out, requiring the same safety considerations.

If you want your cigar to extinguish itself naturally, you need to be sure you’ve put it somewhere safe. A large ashtray made of a fire-safe material, so long as it isn’t perched perilously close to something flammable or likely to fall over and break, is a perfect place to let a cigar go out.

An added benefit of letting cigars burn out is that you can save the remaining smoke for later. In fact, if you ask some smokers, this is the main benefit of letting your cigars extinguish naturally.

How to Save a Cigar for Later

Half-smoked cigars are not everybody’s thing. The debate over so-called “next-day cigars” reminds me of a movement among wine lovers who believe most wines are better a day after being opened. I’m not here to debate the relative merits of lighting a stick you’ve already smoked some of – that’s for a different post. But I’ll say this: if you find that half-smoked cigars are acceptable, you can cut your smoking budget in half.

Here’s some more advice about half-smoked cigars:

DON’T put them back in your humidor. At least not without sealing them in a strong smell-proof container. The oils and other odorants from a cigar that’s been lit, not to mention the aromas and flavors of the resins on the unburnt tobacco, are going to affect the other cigars in your collection.

DON’T smash the cherry into bits. If you’re planning on saving and smoking this cigar later, you want to let the cherry burn out into ash on its own. Then, once the cigar is no longer lit, you can brush or blow off the burnt bits, and you’re left with a relatively clean space to light.

DO store your half-smoked cigar in an airtight container. In a pinch, even something like a properly sealed Ziploc bag will work, though you’re better off shopping for an affordable purpose-built bag for cigars.

DO expect a more fragile cigar the second time around. The wrapper, already one of the most fragile parts of the cigar, will be weakened considerably by the heating and cooling-off process. When you go to light your cigar half, you should be careful not to crack or break the wrapper, or you’ll have a smelly mess all over your lap.

Cigar Extinguishing Gadgets

Over the years, cigar gadget makers have created a fleet of tools for hobbyists to use to properly and safely end a smoking session. As with any product line, some are great, others not so functional, and still others too complicated or expensive to be of any practical use.

Cigar snuffers are the best-known such devices. Some of these require an ashtray. Others are more like stands where cigars can rest while they burn out, elevated away from anything dangerous. Some look like tubes. Others are metal tripod creations that look more at home in a science fiction movie. Price points vary, too – you can spend a few bucks or several hundred on cigar snuffers.

A luxury cigar snuffing market exists, featuring snuffers with fancy materials and technology. Antique snuffers, made of old materials, are popular auction items, though it’s not likely that people are using these several-thousand-dollar antiques to actually extinguish a smoke.

Whatever the gadget, the concept remains the same. Use a non-flammable material and other space considerations to create a sort of safe zone for your burning cigar. These devices not only allow you to save a partially smoked stogie, but they’re also fire prevention gadgets that have no doubt prevented many cigar-related fire disasters.

Conclusion

If you’re coming to the end of a smoke, you have some choices. Do you dip the cigar in a cup of water kept at your side expressly for that purpose? That’s how my dad’s done it for decades, and it’s sometimes how I do it, so long as I’m not planning to smoke it again.

Maybe you prefer the “grind it into the ashtray” technique. That’s certainly effective and puts the flame out faster than letting the cigar go out on its own.

However you put your cigar out, remember to consider fire safety. I’m a big advocate of second-day cigars and really enjoy the changed characteristics of a half-smoked stick, so I’m always careful to put the cigar out in such a way that I can enjoy it more later.

I want to start a short series on cigar gadgets. If you know of a great cigar snuffer, drop me a comment, and I’ll review it.