The advice often given to new cigar enthusiasts is that your cigar should have shoulders when you cut it. This is very true, but recently I’ve been asked what it means and why it’s important. To make sure we don’t overlook anything, let’s discuss about this idiom and what happens during the cigar rolling process that makes shoulders valuable.

What Shoulders Mean

Essentially, leaving shoulders on your cigar means that you are leaving rounded edges after making your cut. Theoretically, this should mean that you haven’t cut below the cap and are at low risk for your cigar unraveling.

If you are flat-topping your cigars, there’s a very good chance that you have or will experience the wrapper of the cigar unraveling and causing all sorts of problems. Most of the time you’ll get lucky, and the unraveling will stop at the band – forming a makeshift bandage holding everything together. But when it’s time to take the band off, everything falls apart. Literally.

Why Shoulders Are Necessary

Once the wrapper is applied to the cigar, a cap is put in place specifically to hold the wrapper together. The cap is dabbed with cigar glue to make sure everything stays in place, and generally is wrapped around the head of the cigar three times to form a triple cap. This allows you to cut the end and still maintain the structure of your cigar.

It’s very common to only apply cigar glue to the cap while finishing the cigar. When rolled and cut properly, there’s no need to use glue elsewhere.

Cut Only As Much As Needed

The cigar world is all about balance. You need humidity to keep your cigars fresh, but too much will introduce mold and unwanted flavors. You need to ignite your cigars, but too much heat will make your cigar taste acrid. And you need to cut your cigar, but cutting too much will cause headaches.

I like to start every cigar with a small cut to see if I like how it draws. If it’s a little tighter than I prefer, I’ll give it another chop. If you find that you’re having trouble with this, I recommend you search out a Perfect Cutter that has a backstop and will help you cut the right amount every time. You could also check out a v-cutter to remove any guesswork from the equation.