On the First Draw

The first draw of a well-rolled, well-lit cigar is the only draw that comes from cool, unburned tobacco moving past your tongue. Every subsequent draw is shaped by the heat building behind it. If you want to taste what the maker actually built, you have to taste it in the first three seconds.

Draw slowly. Hold the smoke in your mouth — never inhale — and let it settle on the soft palate. Notice the temperature. Notice the weight. Notice whether the smoke is sweet, savory, mineral, vegetal. Notice what is missing.

The rest of the cigar is a long conversation with that first draw. Every change in flavor is a change relative to that opening note. If you do not pay attention to the first draw, the rest of the cigar will pass you by.

— Eric Schleien