[Bill86]

I've had the most luck lopping the entire cap off, going at it viciously with a draw poker and then dry boxing them for 12-24 hours.

If that doesn't work then it wasn't meant to be and I just chuck it.

Sometimes too I've looked for the knot in the cigar, hopefully it's at one of the ends, and lopped off that much. Might waste 20-25 minutes out of the cigar but it might also save the rest.