Cigar Cutter Guide
By Jaffray Gurner

Cigar aficionados know that a great smoke starts with a clean cut. And with a handful of different cutters to choose from which ones work the best? Maybe you like a straight cut. Maybe your preference is a puncture cut. Or maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about! Whatever your reason, the following paragraphs describe the different cutters and their pros and cons.

The guillotine cutter is the most popular cut. It has a sharp blade enclosed in a flat case. The case has a round hole big enough to fit almost every cigar gauge. Stick the cigar in the hole and guillotine chop the end. This type of cut transforms the cigar-tip from roundness to flatness. It also allows the most air flow of all the different cuts. Guillotine cutters can be bought as a single blade or a double blade. In my opinion the single blade guillotine feels cheap and lacks the sturdiness of the double blade. No matter which guillotine cutter you use be sure to not cut more than necessary off the cigar.

The ‘V’ cut is another popular cut among cigar smokers. If you haven’t tried a v-cut I strongly recommend it. The blade of this cutter as a ‘V’ shaped groove that runs down the middle of it. Like the guillotine cutter, the v-cutter also has a hole to line-up the cigar before you cut. The v-cutter cuts a wedge down the middle of the cigar. The wedge is deep enough to give the cigar a nice draw and leaves the cigar round instead of flat.

The least popular cut is not a cut at all — but a puncture. The pinhole cut is created with a device that uses a thin drill. You manually place the tip of the drill to the tip of the cigar and twist until the bit goes in about a half-an-inch. I have never found this cut to work well. It makes the draw on the cigar very tough and I would have to make the puncture larger and larger to correct the problem. Leave this cut alone.

Another type of puncture cut that I would recommend is the punch cut. This tool has a cylinder shaped blade that is a little less than a quarter of an inch in diameter. You gently twist the length of the blade into the cigar and then remove it. Removing it leaves a small hole that gives an exceptional draw. Like the v-cut and the pinhole cut, the punch cut, too, leaves the roundness of the cigar. Keeping the roundness of the cigar or getting a straight cut is a personal preference — one does not smoke better than the other.

Finally, there is the scissor cut. Picture a pair of scissors but the end of each blade is shaped like a half-moon. The scissor cut is a favorite among tobacco shop attendants around the world. The great thing about the previous cutters I listed, is that the cheap versions work almost as well as the expensive ones. Unfortunately that rule does not apply with the scissor cutter. If you are going to use this cutter then you must pay for a good one. This cut gives a straight cut like the guillotine cutter and can cut most cigar sizes.

I recommend the guillotine and scissor cutters if you like a straight cut. If I had to choose between the two I would choose guillotine because of the price. The v-cutter gives a deep wedge cut that keeps the roundness of the cigar and allows a good draw. The pinhole cut and punch cut both produce puncture the cigar. If you want to try a puncture cut then go with the punch cut — it provides an excellent draw.