Cutting Your Cigar in Two - Sacrilege or Necessity?

[Jesuscookies]

I never have. I keep many different sizes on hand for the time allotted to smoke.

If it's a NC, I don't see what the harm would be as seem to taste the same all the way through.

[lemmycaution]

Nooooooooooooo!

Don't worry, we haven't spoken since.

[groza]

Sometimes it scares me what people will do to cigars...I once gave someone a churchill sized cigar, he was happy that it would last him the whole week. When I asked him what he meant, he said "I'll smoke a little of it a few times a day, put it out, and relight it for at least a week."

That's just wrong on so many levels. Imagine taking the last sip of beer on sunday from a bottle you openend on monday!

[frenchkiwi]

I have cut a few cigars down in my time. It's always been on plugged cigars, and for some odd reason the blockage is almost always right around the band, meaning I usually end up with one mildly truncated cigar rather than two smokable halves.

However, just the other day I had to cut a PL Montecarlo that was plugged almost exactly at the halfway point. I managed to get both halves to smoke reasonably well and actually found my two little 3.15" x 33's a very convenient size... sort of a mini on steroids. I'll go against the consensus here, as I remember thinking to myself that in some circumstances this might be a better idea than lighting up a whole cigar knowing I don't really have time for it. I have not done this purposefully yet, but I don't see any sacrilege in it either.

Mind you, an inexpensive long-skinny like that Montecarlo seems the only realistic candidate for doing this unprovoked. Otherwise, I'd only resort to it with plugged cigars, or forced rationing like the 4-4⁵-4 incident.

Hmm some *Shocking!* stories coming out of the woodwork what with churchills and DCs being slaughtered... and *STOP PRESS* the Prez mutilating 8-9-8s (of course, if i had access to a huge stock of cigars and smoked top stuff dayindayout then i would not have much trouble doing this either).

But i'd have to say if there is one case where The Cut is both justified and necessary (from a utilitarian perspective at least!) it is the impossibly plugged cigar caused by a palpable knot somewhere in the middle. And if we apply the Last Resort rule, only after the bbq poke has failed. I felt entirely justified when a useless bunch of leaves became a satisfying Hoyo des Demi-Dieux... and would do it again if ever confronted with the same circumstances.

Of course, i agree with jacksfull that it helps if the condemned cigar is a cheap panatela!

[El Presidente]

i consider it akin to slaughtering whales or allowing catholic priests to run child care centres but i give you, as an example of how rife this despicable practice is, our own prez.

on the way to cuba a couple of years ago, we headed via chile for trout fishing. when we arrived, it was discovered that some of us had not thought to bring cigars. rob had a box of 8-9-8's which he offered to turn into 4-4 1/2-4's. i thought this on a par with drawing a mo on the mona lisa and expressed my view whereupon i was villified, villified i say. i had brought a few smokes, including some SLR DC's and the prez decided that they would be chopped. i made it clear that he could enjoy his 4-4 1/2-4's and i would not touch them and stick to those few SLR's i'd brought. but no, i was castigated in the strongest terms. it still stings.

in the end, we compromised. i got my way and he didn't (always a good compromise).

was i wrong?

should i have butchered my few SLR DC's? i think not but let me know.

Seriously is there no end to your rewriting of history?

We arrived at a beautiful trout lodge in Southern Chile where we were to fish for 6 days. To our dismay, only ken and I brought cigars...Ken enough for one cigar a day, I brought a box of 898 varnished. The other three...nil, nada, zilch.

Like Jesus feeding the multitudes, I conjured 75 cigars...a new 4-4.5-4 Partagas. I asked ken to enter into the spirit of sharing and sacrifice his DC's into Robusto's so that we could all see out the week in some cigar peace of mind.

Alas Ken ran and hid his cigars. ken pointed out there is no "I" in team. Macho pointed out there is a "U" in C***. I still shake my head at such a display.

It gets worse....while on our seemingly endless days of fishing in some of the most sensational scenery in the world, we would be enjoying our new 4-4.5-4 Partagas only to have ken beg for one of these cigars which he now disparages. At night he would clasp his DC lovingly ala Sméagol and his ring. "Ahh my preeeety...you are mine...all mine"

The shame of it all.

[Wicky]

Desparate times call for desparate measures

[Ben]

Must say I'm with Ken on this one. I'm all for sharing when there's enough to go around. But butchering a perfectly sound SLR DC.

Nup.

[cigcars]

Personally, never done it. I dont think that Id have the heart to do it either

Here Here!

[MIKA27]

I would never cut a stogie in half, like many here who have stated, I would and do have smaller sized cigars in my humi when time does not permit a larger one.

I once gave a friend a HDM DC.

We both enjoyed one each when around the 1/3 mark, he asked for the cutter. Without thinking I did and I almost jumped out of my chair when I watched him cut the burnt end off and placing the unsmoked portion in his top pocket 'For another day"... That was the last cigar he ever received for such sacrilage as Ken calls it.

A day or two later he called me telling me he re-lit the unsmoked portion and it tasted like crap and then commenced telling me my taste in cigars was not that great......

[Leopolis Semper Fidelis]

I would never cut a stogie in half, like many here who have stated, I would and do have smaller sized cigars in my humi when time does not permit a larger one.

I once gave a friend a HDM DC.

We both enjoyed one each when around the 1/3 mark, he asked for the cutter. Without thinking I did and I almost jumped out of my chair when I watched him cut the burnt end off and placing the unsmoked portion in his top pocket 'For another day"... That was the last cigar he ever received for such sacrilage as Ken calls it.

A day or two later he called me telling me he re-lit the unsmoked portion and it tasted like crap and then commenced telling me my taste in cigars was not that great......

If any friend of mine would even contemplate cutting a cigar in half, thirds, quarters, whatever, our friendship would be on the rocks. Fortunately, mis amigas/amigos know better!