Butane Lighters

Why butane is the only choice for cigar lighter fluid, and we mean the ONLY CHOICE! This next is from an email sent by one of our regular customers, who found his favorite torch lighter fluid-less and decided to substitute something else instead. It’s a cautionary tale worth taking note of. “Never think for a moment that it doesn’t matter what you light your cigars with. I found out the hard way when my torch ran out of fluid. Figured I’d give the barbecue lighter a shot, being that it was right at hand (I was smoking outside) and I didn’t feel like running to the store. What a mistake! I don’t know what’s in those lighters, but whatever it is, it’s nasty! I noticed an off taste right away once I got lit and started puffing, kind of a gassy, oily taste, and it didn’t go away, it kept getting worse. What a waste of a good cigar! You won’t find me cutting corners again, ever.” We don’t know for sure what’s in barbecue lighters (we won’t mention brand names, but the letter B comes to mind) but from our customer’s taste description it’s almost assuredly not pure butane. If you do a little digging on these products you’ll see them described as good choices for lighting barbecues and candles. Nothing about lighting cigars, or even cigarettes, which right away pretty much tells you what you need to know. You’re better off using a plain old sulfur match if you’re stuck for ignition. Be sure to let the sulfur burn out before bringing it close to your cigar. An even better approach, if you happen to have some extra Spanish cedar lying around, is to cut a thin strip of it, light it, and use it to light your cigar.