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« Views From a Smoke-Filled Room
Views from a Smoke-Filled Room
LOS ANGELES – "American smokers generally open their cigar with a dry bite of the incisor. Some – not the most refined – then spit out the piece they have just bitten off. Besides the fact that you need sharp teeth to use this method (or else you have to try it twice), it does not allow for much precision. I realize that some smokers have mastered the art of cutting a cigar with their teeth. However, I do not practice or recommend this method." So wrote the legendary Zino Davidoff in 1967 in his essential book, "The Connoisseur’s Book of the Cigar." Happily, times have changed and American smokers are more enamored of cutters than of using their teeth! Perhaps no instrument is so crucial in the enjoyment of a cigar and is, at the same time, so under-appreciated. Sharpness and control are the key. If you have a dull cutter – no matter what the brand or style – it will mash the head of your cigar and create an opening laced with tiny bits of loose tobacco, sure to end up in your mouth as soon as you light up. Yeeech! If you have a cutter which does not fit your hand well and cannot be easily controlled, you’ll end up with an angled cut. This "fade" style was a popular hairdo in the ‘80s, but it no substitute for a level cut at the top of your cigar. We’ll ignore, for today, all but the guillotine cutter which is the most prevalent style now in use. The V-cutter and the pierce have had their day and they still have their exponents. But the guillotine provides an opening all the way across the cigar to give you all of the flavor that’s in a blend. The best cutter of all time – sadly, no longer in production – was the P.G. Super Cutter designed by Paul Garmirian and manufactured in Sheffield, England. Its’ razor’s edge was 1/4,000th of an inch thick and sliced through any cigar with ease, leaving a perfectly flat surface. But there are good substitutes today. One of the most popular – and long-lived – is the Zino Double-Blade Cutter. It has holes for the thumb and usually the third finger on each side and has two curved blades which meet in the middle. It’s well-made, dependable and is reasonably priced at $45.00. However, the hottest cutters today come from Xikar, based in Kansas City. It has a variety of cutters which are based on a unique, heart-shaped design designed to fit in the "V" of your hand between the thumb and forefinger. By squeezing your fingers together, you force the two blades to cross-cut the head of the cut, creating the opening. Xikars come in a variety of styles and finishes, ranging in price from $39.99 up to $299.99. There’s even one model with handles made from 10,000-year-old mammoth tusk ivory! Noteworthy cutters are also made by Credo, especially its new Synchro cutter; the creative Belaubre family even offers a specially-designed wallet which has space for a Credo Synchro cutter inside . . . so you’ll never be without! (Rich Perelman is editor-in-chief of CigarCyclopedia.com, offering comprehensive daily coverage of cigars, accessories, issues, people and prices at www.CigarCyclopedia.com.) Rich Perelman 2/4/08
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