How to Quit Cigars and Cigarillos: A Step-by-Step Plan

If you want to know how to quit cigars, you have probably noticed that most quit-smoking advice is written for cigarette smokers. A cigar habit looks different. It may be one premium cigar on the weekend, or a pack of cigarillos a day, and the triggers, the ritual and the nicotine hit are not the same. This guide gives you a plan for each kind of cigar smoker.

It follows the National Cancer Institute’s cigar fact sheet and the NHS and Smokefree.gov quit advice. It is also honest about one gap: there is little research on nicotine replacement for cigar smokers, so you will see “ask a pharmacist” where other guides invent doses. If you are comparing the risks first, our cigars vs cigarettes comparison covers that.

Which cigar smoker are you?

The right plan depends on three things: what you smoke, how often, and whether you inhale.

Inhalers and non-inhalers

The National Cancer Institute says most cigar smokers do not inhale, unlike nearly all cigarette smokers. That does not make cigars safe. It says cigar smokers have lower rates of lung cancer, coronary heart disease and lung disease than cigarette smokers, but higher rates than people who do not smoke cigars. Cigar smoking causes cancer of the oral cavity, larynx, esophagus and lung, and the NCI notes that all cigar and cigarette smokers, whether or not they inhale, directly expose their lips, mouth, tongue, throat and larynx to smoke.

It also matters for quitting. Even without inhaling, the NCI says high levels of nicotine can be absorbed through the lining of the mouth, and that a single cigar can potentially provide as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. So do not assume a cigar habit is easy to drop just because it feels casual.

Step 1: Count and price your habit

Start with numbers. For two weeks, write down every cigar or cigarillo.

• How many per day or per week, and the type.
• When and where: after dinner, on the golf course, at the bar, on the commute.
• Who you were with, since cigars are often social.
• What it cost, including the humidor, cutter and lighter if you want to see the full price.

Smokefree.gov splits triggers into two kinds. Emotional triggers are the intense feelings, from stress to excitement, that you have learned to connect with smoking. Pattern triggers are activities you link with smoking, such as drinking coffee, driving, taking a work break, drinking alcohol or watching TV. For most cigar smokers the pattern triggers are the loud ones. Read its guide to knowing your smoking triggers for the full lists.

Step 2: Do you need NRT?

Nicotine replacement therapy, or NRT, delivers measured doses of nicotine to relieve the cravings and withdrawal symptoms of quitting. This is the area where you should be most careful with what you read online.

The National Cancer Institute says strong and consistent evidence shows NRT can help people quit smoking cigarettes, but that limited research has been completed on its usefulness for people who smoke cigars. Its advice is to ask your doctor or pharmacist about NRT, and about counseling, telephone quitlines or other methods. I found no official dosing guidance written specifically for cigar smokers, so this article gives no patch strengths and no “one cigar equals X” conversions. Anyone who offers you a table is guessing.

A way to think about it

• If you smoke occasionally and rarely crave between cigars, behavioral tools may be enough. Changing the occasions is often the main task for this group.
• If you smoke daily, or feel withdrawal when you skip, talk to a pharmacist about NRT. The Smokefree.gov guide to NRT lists patches, gum and lozenges as over-the-counter products in the US, and inhalers and nasal sprays as prescription products. The NHS guide to stop-smoking products says many people do not use them for long enough, and advises at least 12 weeks, or longer if needed.
• If you also smoke cigarettes, treat that as the priority and follow the 8-week science-backed quit plan.

Our comparison of NRT options lays out the products so you can have a better conversation with the pharmacist.

Step 3: Replace the ritual

A cigar is a ritual: choosing, cutting, lighting, sitting down, slowing down. If you remove only the nicotine, the ritual is still looking for a home. Smokefree.gov’s advice for pattern triggers is to break the association with the trigger and transfer the feeling to another activity.

• Find a replacement. Smokefree.gov suggests chewing gum, eating sugar-free candy or sucking on a straw.
• Keep your hands busy. It suggests squeezing a handball, doing needlework or holding a worry stone.
• Change your routine. For example, drink your coffee at a different time.
• Keep the pause, lose the smoke. If the best part was sitting outside for twenty minutes, keep the twenty minutes with a coffee, a walk or a podcast.

iQuit is a quit-smoking app, free on Google Play and the App Store. Its daily missions give your day a new structure, and the craving log lets you record the trigger and intensity each time, so you can see which occasions are hardest. It supports cold turkey and gradual reduction, which suits both the occasional and the daily smoker.

Step 4: Plan for occasions

Occasional cigar smokers rarely fail at home on a Tuesday. They fail at a wedding, on the course, at a bachelor party, after a big dinner. Plan each one in advance.

• Golf. Fill the cigar pocket with something else, such as gum, nuts or a straw. Tell your group you quit.
• Weddings and celebrations. Decide in advance whether you will step away when the cigars come out, and who will check in on you.
• Bars and lounges. The NHS advises avoiding the places and situations that make you want to smoke for the first 28 days. Skip the cigar lounge.
• Celebrations and wins. If a cigar is how you mark a win, choose another marker before the moment arrives.

When someone offers, use a short script: “I quit. I will take a coffee.” You do not owe an explanation.

Step 5: The first two weeks

The NHS guidance on nicotine withdrawal says symptoms are usually strongest during the first week, especially the first 3 days, and last 3 to 4 weeks on average. Those symptoms include strong cravings, trouble concentrating, restlessness, trouble sleeping, irritability and feeling anxious or low. The NHS notes that they do not last. If you want the full picture, read the stages of nicotine withdrawal.

1. Quit day. Remove cigars, cutters, lighters and ashtrays. Do not keep a “special occasion” cigar.
2. Days 1 to 3. Expect the strongest cravings. Keep your replacements close and use a craving timer, a walk or ten slow breaths.
3. Days 4 to 7. Re-test one trigger a day with a plan.
4. Days 8 to 14. Rehearse your first occasion without a cigar, even if it is only a dinner at home.

If you smoke daily, the NHS says that reaching 28 days smoke-free makes you 5 times more likely to quit for good. That statistic is about smoking in general, so read it as a goal, not a promise about cigars.

Cigarillos: the daily-habit plan

If cigarillos are a daily habit, your plan looks more like a cigarette quit plan than an occasion plan.

• Count the day. How many, and what time is the first one? Plan especially for the first one of the day.
• Talk to a pharmacist about support. Because evidence for cigar smokers is limited, a pharmacist can tell you what is sensible for your pattern. Our guide to quitting roll-ups follows the same logic for another non-cigarette product.
• Use a quitline. The NCI lists its Smoking Quitline at 1-877-44U-QUIT for individualized counseling, printed information and referrals.
• Remove the cues. Throw away the packs, wraps and lighters, and avoid the shop where you usually buy them.

A slip is not a verdict. If you smoke one, write down what happened, change one thing and go again. iQuit’s streak shields and slip recovery are there for this moment, so you do not have to start from zero emotionally.

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