Toasting the foot: is it really necessary?

[Dude Here]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

Those cigars that I smoke that have burn issues would probably have burn issues regardless of whether I toasted the foot or not.

I tend to toast the foot -- but more as a ritual than anything else.

Same here, it's more ritual to me than anything else. I was at an even last night and the shop owner offered to light my smoke for me. He shoved the big table torch about an inch from my face and I just lit the cigar that way. Burned just fine and required zero touch-ups. I tend to attribute burn issues to either poor storage or poor rolling/construction.