The opportunities are endless. It could be a wedding, salute to an employee’s job well done, birth of a child, winning the lottery, and even welcoming the purchase of a new car that’s courtesy of your Uncle Fred. We’re talking about sniffing a cigar here, folks. And the tradition is nothing new. Men, perhaps even women, have been smelling and smoking cigars since Biblical days. Taking a “sniff” of a cigar you purchase or one handed to your by your boss as a gift; nearly every person, even before thanking them, will certainly put that cigar beauty up to your nose, and take a good sniff like you’ve seen it done in movies and on TV; even though you haven’t a clue why!
The experienced cigar smoker can often have trouble buying singles. The smell of the shop’s humidor can be overpowering. A partagas can smell like straw, but be a really good smoke. And if you’re not careful, different cigars in the same box can smell better than others making your “sniff” test even more challenging. Ergo, the major question arises to the experienced smoker as well as the “rookie” and that is, will the initial smell be less important than what happens after lighting; or should you keep sniffing a bunch of cigars before buying? The final choice will remain yours, but keep in mind, that in some stores, if you pick one or two cigars and sniff both, you BUY them.
Actually, the smell of a cigar will give you a clue as to its, well, smell. For some smokers, the real question before the house of common sense is: “how should a cigar smell before lighting?” That brings up the question: “What should the sniff of a cigar NOT smell like before buying? In this case, the answer would be an ammonia aroma which’s a clear sign of a poorly fermented product. You’ll be able to know the smell difference with a couple sniffs and one of the best cigar sniffs you can enjoy is the aroma coming from a new box of Havanas; (think: a barnyard sniff smell.)
Note: Personal preference rules when buying and smoking cigars. So, inspect the cigar, sniff it, look for imperfections, take in the tobacco scents that give you an “oh-so-good” feeling yet taste the cigar end before making your cut.