Is my cigar ruined?

[SilentRampage34]

Last night I was almost done lighting my cigar and my lighter quit on me, maybe 5 seconds before I was done. I couldn't get the lighter to cooperate, so I returned to my room and put the cigar on my shelf. It's foot is lightly singed but doesn't smell of old cigar. Do you think I'd be able to smoke it tonight without it tasting awful?

[NCRadioMan]

Be sure to purge(blow thorugh the cigar with the flame at the foot) upon lighting or cut the singed foot off before lighting. It may be fine. Also, always have some matches as backup.

[FriendlyFire]

IMO, I found in many cases that since the whole Cigar becomes a filter of the smoke while you smoke a cigar Once I finished smokeing and let it lay around it got that stale smell. So I would lite it and see for your self, try it.

[ZedR2]

All you can do is try it , if it tastes Ok smoke it , if not toss it but do what they said above and cut the end off first ...

[publicdomain]

Doesn't hurt to try. Good luck!

[stfoley]

I usually cut the end using a razor-sharp knife (my Palio won't fit around many of the cigars I smoke beyond the cap area).

An alternative if you aren't good at keeping knives that sharp is to buy a pack of single-edge razor blades from a grocery store or drug store (the shaving isle, the hardware store ones are actually not as sharp...utility edge vs. shaving edge...yes, there are razors that use single-edge blades).

The thing is, the sharper your blade, the less damage to the cigar will occur when cutitng that section off.