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SELECTING
Experimenting with Havana brands will introduce you to their different styles of flavour and allow you to establish your preferences. Once familiar with them you can choose the right brand to suit your tastes on any occasion.


When your mind is made up there is another point to remember. If you smoke more than one Havana a day subsequent cigars should be of equal or fuller flavour. Never follow a full cigar with a lighter one as you will not taste it. There are cigars for morning, noon and night.


The size, or vitola, of the cigar you choose should be guided by how much time you have available for it's enjoyment. A havana's flavour develops in the course of smoking, and often it's true potential not revealed until the halfway mark, so choose a vitola you will not be forced to part with at it's most enjoyable stage. Bear in mind that slow burning, heavy gauge cigars tend to offer fuller flavour than slender ones, even within the same marque.


STORING
Havanas are delicate products that develop and mature if stored in the right conditions. Their flavours become rounder and mellower with time. Furthermore, a Havana must be kept in perfect condition at the time of smoking, otherwise it will burn badly and taste harsh. Therefore, it is essential that Havanas are stored correctly right up until the moment of smoking.

To keep Havanas properly they should be stored at between 16 deg C and 18 deg C and in a relative humidity of 65 to 70 per cent. Placing your Havanas in a humidor that is designed to provide the correct level of relative humidity is the best way to look after them.

A simply and reliable way to test the condition of a cigar is to hold it between thumb and index finger and squeeze gently. If it feels firm but springy then it is in good condition; hard and brittle means too dry, soft and spongy means too wet.


CUTTING
The head of a handmade Havana is sealed with a cap of tobacco which helps to secure the wrapper leaf in place. Before lighting you need to create a broad opening in it, a job efficiently done using a guillotine cutter or special cigar scissors. Make your incision across the shoulders of the cigar, leaving a bottom part of the cap in place to avoid the wrapper unravelling. Piercing as a means of preparing the cigar is discouraged as the small hole it leaves offers a poor draw and can focus heat and oils. Removing the band at this stage can damage the delicate wrapper leaf. If you wish to take the band off, the best advice is to do so after smoking for around five minutes, when the cigar has warmed up and the band is easier to remove. Even then the band should not be pulled off, like a ring off a finger, but rather peeled off.

LIGHTING
Lighting is about following two simple rules; take your time, and do a thorough job. The whole of the foot of the cigar must be alight before you settle back to enjoy smoking, otherwise the cigar may burn down unevenly. The fatter the cigar, the more time will be needed to light it. Lighting can be done with a wooden match (once the head has been burned off), or a butane lighter, as both of these have odourless flames. Petrol lighters and wax candles should be avoided as their flames release aromas which interfere with the tobacco flavours of your Havana.

If your cigar goes out half way through, you need not abandon it, but simply re-light it. This is best done by first clearing any ash from, and then heating the end of the cigar in the flame. After such priming the cigar will relight at once.


SMOKING AND FINISHING
To enjoy a Havana you should not inhale the smoke. The true pleasure is to be found in appreciating the composition of tobacco flavours and these are best detected on the palate by your sense of taste. Relax with your Havana, and mull over its flavours.

Do not try smoking a Havana that has half gone out as it will only offer a disappointing mixture of hot air and thin smoke. Half lit cigars need to be coaxed back to full burn with a touch of relighting and a few vigorous puffs.

Don't flick the ash as cigarette smokers do. Allow a long ash to form. Its eveness shows how well your Havana is made.

There is no need to stub out your Havana. Just lay it to rest in an ashtray when you feel you have had enough. It will go out quickly of it's own accord. Let it die with dignity.