Smoking a fine cigar should be a total sensory experience. One can argue for one’s favorite taste, but taste is an individual matter, and we take no sides here. However, one can enhance the preferred taste by careful attention to the aesthetics of the cigar.

Sight: Before lighting, survey the wrapper for consistent color, smoothness, and sheen. After lighting, inspect the ash. A firm white ash bespeaks good soil and more taste. The cigar should be burning evenly.

Touch: Experience will familiarize you with the texture of your preferred cigar’s wrapper, whether it’s a silky Cuban or a toothy Cameroon.

Smell: Savor the scent as you open your humidor as well as after you’ve lit your cigar.

Sound: Listen….the subdued crackle as you light your cigar, the soft exhalation as you release the smoke…these are the sounds of satisfaction.

Taste: The raison d’être of cigar smoking. Roll the smoke around your mouth. Let the rich bouquet of varied flavors bloom. Pause to enjoy the finish. And congratulate yourself on your great taste.