Monday, November 29 1999
Q. What's the best way to deal with a cigar that is burning only on one side?
A. This type of sideways burn is called " canoeing." It's not uncommon and can be caused by anything from poor rolling, to the wrapper leaf itself, to breezy conditions - assuming you're smoking outdoors.
Rotating the cigar while smoking it helps in some instances, but if you've got at least an inch or more of unburned leaf, try the following repair technique.
1. Let the cigar go out completely.
2. Burn off the excess tobacco with your lighter, place the cigar back in the ashtray, and let it burn itself out completely again.
3. Clip the cigar about a 1/2 -inch behind the foot which will give you fresh tobacco to start with again.
4. Toast and light the cigar as usual making sure that you get a good even light across the foot. Blow on it to be sure all of the tobaccos are glowing evenly.
If the cigar keeps canoeing, toss it. It's not worth the time and effort, and eventually the cigar may turn bitter from too many re-lights rendering it useless anyway.
