Some questions from a frustrated newbie

[bobajob]

I think the whole '1 puff a minute' thing is overthinking things entirely. I've known guys that love to smoke their sticks napalm hot: I used to smoke with a guy who would literally do 2 to my 1. I'm quite a slow smoker by comparison, and I don't care if I have to apply a fresh match to an almost extinguished cigar because of it.

Sounds to me like you have a stick with a crappy burn. Happens to us all, and I generally just forget about it and move on...

[garublador]

I think the whole '1 puff a minute' thing is overthinking things entirely.

I don't agree. When people say that they're saying that most find that taking approximately one puff per minute keeps the cigar cool enough to avoid getting harsh yet still allows it to continue burning. There are all sorts of variables that will change the optimal time between puffs (rH, puff "technique," ambient conditions, RG, etc.), but it's a good starting point. Without some sort of guidance you just end up answering the question of, "How fast should you smoke?" with, "Whatever works best for you," which isn't an answer, it's just restating the question, which is useless.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that the best way to smoke is to use a stop watch and take a puff exactly every 60 seconds and that it's obvious that there will be a lot of variation. However, more often than not, people find that they get the best results when taking a puff about once a minute or so. That's very useful information when you don't know if the best way is to puff every 5 seconds or every 5 minutes. It really narrows down the time frame for experimentation.