Can you save a half smoked cigar? The short answer is yes, of course. The debate boils down to how much length of a cigar is really worth saving and do you really care what others think of your frugality.
Many have done it before, myself included. In the middle of a sublime smoke, the phone rings. You’re called away suddenly but you can’t take your cigar along for the ride. What do you do with a $30 Cohiba when you’ve barely finished the first third. That leaves $20 worth of cigar on the table. You wouldn’t toss a $20 bill out with the ashes just because you didn’t have time to spend it, would you? Of course not.
But, let’s keep a few logical considerations in mind. While saving a half-smoked cigar is acceptable, sticking it back in your humidor is an absolutely terrible idea, unless you’re in love with the charred, resin burned smell half-smoked cigars emit (even after they’ve stopped burning). Trying to re-humidify a half-smoked cigar isn’t really worth it, unless you can stick in a zip lock bag by itself with a humidity pouch. I usually won’t save a cigar I’ve started smoking more than a day anyway.
There’s a reason a cigar always tastes best when you smoke the whole thing in one sitting. The smoke and the oils in a premium cigar crystallize when the cigar fully cools off. Because of this, what you taste when you relight it won’t be the same as when you first lit it up. You might have to burn through a bit of charred, bitter flavor when you relight it, but hopefully that dissipates quickly and you can get back on track with a smooth and creamy finish.
