Cold Weather Puffing
This was a frigid weekend in my neck of the woods. The thermometer dipped below zero for the first time all year (that's Fahrenheit, folks, not Celsius, and I saw an actual low of 4 below). That's the type of weather when you reach for your warmest coats, heaviest gloves and most peaty Islay malt. At night, while sipping my dram, I listened to the boards on my deck crack in complaint from the cold and heard the wind howl through the bare trees.
Temperatures of that nature are enough to drive a man indoors, and that includes my cigar. I love smoking outside, but not when the temperatures drop below freezing. It's uncomfortable, it's clumsy (hard to hold onto a robusto through mittens) and cigars just don't perform as well as they should. These are handmade items born in the tropics. When subjected to extreme cold, they struggle. Wrappers crack, moisture freezes, combustion slows. On top of all that, who really wants to puff away while shivering outside?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to forgo the cigar entirely. But this is the time of year to smoke inside. If you don't have a cigar-friendly home—and most of us don't—head to a suitable cigar shop or cigar bar. (Need to find one? We have an app for that.)
No cigar haven nearby? This is an ideal time to pay a visit to your buddy with the cigar-friendly man cave. Bring a bottle of Scotch. Peaty. Remember, it's cold out there.
Do you agree? Do you call an end to outdoor smoking when it's too cold outside? Or are you a hardier soul than me, and puff away, regardless of the cold?
