[INFOGRAPHIC] How to Use Different Types of Cigar Cutters

Guillotine cutters pretty much come in two varieties. You have your dual or your double blade. As you can see, when you open it up, you literally have two blades, one on the right and one on left. And, there is also a single blade cutter which is less expensive. It usually has a slanted blade to cut through the cap of the cigar. I prefer to use a double blade cutter. It’s going to give you a better cut. It’s going to cut from both sides of the cigar. These will fit a variety of cigar ring gauges  They max out at around 54”, 58” in ring gauges depending on the cutter you’re buying. So, if you do like to smoke a larger ring gauge cigar, make sure you find a cutter that’ll accommodate you. Or, you might want to go to a cigar scissor or a punch cutter.

To use a guillotine cutter is very simple. What you’re going to do is take your cigar, and then you’re going to notice that there is a kind of line around the cap of the cigar. This is what differentiates it from the main part of the cigar. You never want to cut more than that cap off. Otherwise, your cigar can unravel. So, you’re going to take your cutter. Basically, open it up. Then, place it as far into the cigar as you want and snip.

There are two ways you can do this. Some people prefer to take their cutter and place it on the table, open it up, and stick the cigar in to cut it. And, you get the same amount cut every single time. But, traditionally, what you would do is, you would open it up. Put it in. Make sure you have as much of the cap in as you want. And, give it nice, firm, even pressure to cut the cigar. The more firm, the more even your pressure the better the cut will be.

The punch cutter comes in a variety of styles. This specific one is known as a bullet cutter because it looks like a bullet. But, they all work primarily the same way. What you want to do is expose the blade on top. You see it’s a round blade. This is one of the easier cutters to use. You’ll take your cigar and you’re just going to line the blade up with the back of the cigar. Make sure it is right where you want it. Then using firm pressure, you’re just going to slowly rotate and twist that cigar. As you can see, the cutter is cutting in nicely. Now, you can go in as deep as you want. Some people like to go all the way in.

Some people like to go in just a little bit. It doesn’t really matter. All you’re trying to do is to make a nice hole in there. If you want a little bit bigger, you can twist the cutter to enlarge the hole. But the standard size hole will be great for most people. You’ll just simply pull it out. Most of the punch cutters will retain the tobacco in its end. I’m sure you can see that there. Simply push the lever and all the tobacco comes out. It looks nice and clean. See the punch cutter makes a nice clean and circular cut.

Cigar scissors are perfect if you smoke a cigar that has large ring gauges  Those are the thicker cigar. This allows you to open up the scissor pretty much as wide as you need to, to get around the largest cigar. Cigar scissors do need to be cleaned regularly. And, it helps if you do sharpen them so you get a nice clean cut. But, what you’re going to want to do is look at your cigar. You’ll see the wrapper has a kind of line here that goes all the way around. That’s the cap. You never want to cut more than the cap of your cigar. You never want to go down below the line on the cigar.

Now, most people prefer to take just a little off the top. It’s really personal preference and over time you’ll find what you like best. So, you’re going to take your cigar scissor and open it as wide as you need to and you’re going to put it on the cap. Give it firm, even pressure, like so. Sometimes you might have straggling pieces you may need to cut off. Obviously, it has to do with the sharpness of your blade. It will pretty much it give you a really nice, smooth cut. It takes a nice bit of the cap off for someone who smokes a larger ring gauge cigar.

This is a v-cutter cigar cutter. It’s probably the least popular of all the cutters. But, it is, for people who like it like, they like it a lot. What it does is take a small little notch out of your cigar. If you look at it, you’ll see a blade in it and it looks like a half triangle. So it will make a nice notch in there. There is always going to be one blade in there and it’s very easy to use. What you’re going to do is take your cigar. Now, you don’t have to worry about taking off more of the cap than is necessary because it’s going to give a pretty consistent cut. It’s not going to really go down too far. It’s just going to take a little notch off the top.

So, you’re going to open up the cutter, place the cigar inside. Then, you want to make sure you have some nice even pressure on it to have a consistent cut. You don’t want to hold it too loosely or your v‑cutter will be all messed up. With nice, nice firm pressure, push the blade just until it touches the cigar. Then, make sure everything is lined up how you like, give it nice firm even pressure. Then, you’ll cut the cigar. As you can see, it made a nice little notch in there. Some people prefer to make a double notch which would be going in the other direction. Again, that’s personal preference; if that’s something you want to do. Again, as I’ve said it’s not the most popular type of cutter but it’s certainly one you should try because it might be one that you enjoy more than a traditional guillotine cutter or a punch cutter.

Perfect cut cutters come in a variety of names. Some people call them perfectos, some people call them perfect cuts. Basically, what this is is a standard guillotine cutter that you would normally see such as this one. But, this doesn’t have the through and through. It has a backplate on it. The reason for the backplate is, as you can see here, you literally get the exact same cut every time. You take the exact same amount off your cigar every single time. It’s therefore called the perfect cutter. This is a double blade cutter so it’s going to apply pressure from both sides. And, to use it, you’re going to take your cigar. And, you’ll notice on your cigar there’s going to be this kind of line of tobacco kind of near the end of the cigar. What this is is your cap. You never want to cut more than your cap off. You never want to go down into the body of your cigar or you’ll have some unraveling. So you just want to take a little bit off the top. However much is your personal preference, if you’re using a perfect cutter, it will take the same amount off every time.

You can use this type of cutter in one of two ways. You can put it on the counter top, open it up and use it. Or, most people would take the cigar, open up the cutter, and push it all the way up into that plate. Make sure you have nice, even pressure on the plate. Then, close the blades just a little bit. Close it just so you catch your cigar in it. Then give nice, firm pressure and cut your cigar. This is the cap of the cigar and the cutter takes just a slice of it off. It will give you a nice cut each time. You can only really use this type of cutter with most cigars. If you use it with a cigar with a pointed tip on the end, it’s really not going to work. So, if those are the type of cigars you smoke, you’re not going to want to use this type of cutter. But, besides that, it really does make a perfect cut and it’s really easy to use.