Cigars are supposed to be about relaxation and reflection. You could throw in some socializing and celebrating. But the path of a cigar smoker is often a simple one.

Sure, some bad habits might creep in along the way (like loading up cigars when you know you have plenty to smoke and no place to put the new ones).

Some habits are forgivable. Some, on the other hand, land you squarely in the realm of WTF?

Here are the seven deadly sins of cigar smoking – avoid them, or prepare for eternal damnation to the lounge’s worst seat behind the dumpster outside.*

*Ok, that sounded a little heavy-handed. Maybe a lesser punishment should be invoked…I will let you decide if the punishment fits the crime.

Sin #1 –  Ash Tapping Too Soon

We’ve all seen it: the nervous smoker flicking off ash like they’re stoking a campfire.

Relax. The ash is meant to hang on longer than your love for the Dave Matthews Band. A long, solid ash isn’t just about looks — it helps regulate temperature and keep the burn even. Besides, there is the long-ash contest, so you could just start training for that.

Punishment: This is pretty minor. Just empty the ashtrays for a week, and we will call it good.

Sin #2. The Instagram Flex

A beautiful cigar and a glass of bourbon? Great. Fifteen photos of the same cigar from slightly different angles with hashtags longer than the stick itself? That’s not sharing, that’s a scream for attention.

Smoke the cigar — don’t stage a photo shoot that drags into the second-third, or third-third. And, whatever you do, DO NOT use this glass in the shoot.

Punishment: Smoke 10 cigars without one photo of your cigar, your drink, or your dog. You do that, you can have the phone back from big Tony.*

*Full disclosure: I don’t know who ‘big Tony’ is, but I feel every lounge should have one.

Sin #3. Is This Plume or Mold?

Nothing divides a lounge like nagging people with the age-old question: Is this plume or mold? Look, Sport, no amount of zooming in is going to change the outcome. It is mold.

Punishment: You have to smoke your ‘plume’ cigar completely. Ok, I take that back. That probably isn’t healthy. How about you go to the Bad Pairing article and have to do one of those as punishment?

Sin #4. Cutting Crimes

The straight-cut so deep it decapitates the cigar. I might put a punch-cut on a 60-ring gauge on this list, but hey, at least you can still smoke it. If you decide to go full Anne Boleyn on your carefully crafted cigar, I have nothing to say other than you have lost the right to complain, compliment, or criticize anything about that cigar.

Punishment: I feel like you should have to watch a terrible horror movie at the same time as you smoke this abomination. C.H.U.D. comes to mind.

Sin #5. Licking Your Cigar Before Using Someone Else’s Cutter

Yes, cigars are social – but not THAT social.

This is one of the worst things you can do in a lounge environment. And no, using the lounges provided cigar cutter does not make this any better.

Please don’t do it. Period.

Punishment: Wash your mouth out with Jeppson’s Malört.

Sin #6. Not Buying a Cigar IN The Lounge.

Every lounge has that guy: walks into the lounge with his large suitcase, humidor filled with deals he/she found online. They then sit down, open the case, and pull out a cigar, all while enjoying the wifi, water, and television of the lounge.

Hey, this is not a library paid for with taxpayers’ dollars. This is someone’s business. Go buy a stick and smoke one of those. Each shop owner has their own set of ‘house rules’ so get to know them. Personally, if you really want to smoke that stick you brought with you, I think you still go buy one or two…and ask if it is ok if you smoke your own. At least you still purchased something.

Punishment: Sentenced to sit next to that guy who monologues about crypto.

Sin #7. The Cigar Mooch

Hey, we all get stuck in a situation without cigars. Sometimes an unplanned opportunity just pops up. Sometimes you leave your travel humidor on top of your car when you drive off (hypothetically speaking, of course).

But you can’t be that person who always bum cigars from people.

Punishment: Buy a box of good cigars and give most of the box out to friends. Bonus points if it is something the lounge just got in that everyone wants to try. You get to watch your buddies smoke them while you sit there nursing a yard-gar from the bargain bin.

Cigar experiences are meant to be enjoyed, not abused. Commit any of these seven sins and you’re not just short-changing the cigar – you’re torturing everyone around you.

Keep it classy.