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There is a budget thread running, but I've started this as an assist to anyone like myself who does their smoking outside.
Wind is just a nuisance, cold isn't a killer, but cold plus high humidity are. It isn't Winter yet, but today here in Southend the humidity is 96%, that's 31% higher than the humidity of my humidors. Experience has taught me NOT to attempt to smoke large or expensive cigars in damp air. The act of smoking pulls in the moisture causing the cigar to choke, become marred and plug or worse to swell and burst. In simple terms Winter damps will waste your good cigars .... and because nobody really wants to be out in the cold longer than they need to be, the tendency will be to smoke your cigars a little quicker than you otherwise might, which in itself isn't conducive to really enjoying a smoke.
So what to do. a) check the BBC weather for your postcode before taking a Behike into the garden, and if you can afford it, buy an outdoor hygrometer. b) choose your cigars. If you want to smoke, don't waste anything valuable.
The budget thread is helpful, although I would say some of the smokes on it are too big. Perlas is about as big as I would chance during Winter. Short fillers I find tend to be less problematical than long. Ignore 'aficionado' snobbery, I'd rather smoke 5 Guan Compay (they really aren't that bad) for ?7 per pack than chance wasting one Bolivar PC. Think of it this way, smoke cheaper cigars during the Winter and you deny yourself nothing, in fact the reverse is true because you'll have added another 4-5 months to your quality stuff by the time Spring comes around.
Consider:
Partagas Chico. Quintero Puritos. PL Panatelas. Any Cuban Demi Tasse. RG Cigarritos and Perlas. Upmann CJ and Belvederes. Any Cuban Minuto. Boli Tubos No 3. Partagas CJ. Arturo Fuente Cubanitos. Indian Tabak Ten Little Indians. Davidoff Primeros (Dom: white tin, Nic: black tin).
A caution.
Double Perfectos perform dreadfully in UK Winter. As lovely as the Cuaba Divinos is .... leave those until after April.
Wind is just a nuisance, cold isn't a killer, but cold plus high humidity are. It isn't Winter yet, but today here in Southend the humidity is 96%, that's 31% higher than the humidity of my humidors. Experience has taught me NOT to attempt to smoke large or expensive cigars in damp air. The act of smoking pulls in the moisture causing the cigar to choke, become marred and plug or worse to swell and burst. In simple terms Winter damps will waste your good cigars .... and because nobody really wants to be out in the cold longer than they need to be, the tendency will be to smoke your cigars a little quicker than you otherwise might, which in itself isn't conducive to really enjoying a smoke.
So what to do. a) check the BBC weather for your postcode before taking a Behike into the garden, and if you can afford it, buy an outdoor hygrometer. b) choose your cigars. If you want to smoke, don't waste anything valuable.
The budget thread is helpful, although I would say some of the smokes on it are too big. Perlas is about as big as I would chance during Winter. Short fillers I find tend to be less problematical than long. Ignore 'aficionado' snobbery, I'd rather smoke 5 Guan Compay (they really aren't that bad) for ?7 per pack than chance wasting one Bolivar PC. Think of it this way, smoke cheaper cigars during the Winter and you deny yourself nothing, in fact the reverse is true because you'll have added another 4-5 months to your quality stuff by the time Spring comes around.
Consider:
Partagas Chico. Quintero Puritos. PL Panatelas. Any Cuban Demi Tasse. RG Cigarritos and Perlas. Upmann CJ and Belvederes. Any Cuban Minuto. Boli Tubos No 3. Partagas CJ. Arturo Fuente Cubanitos. Indian Tabak Ten Little Indians. Davidoff Primeros (Dom: white tin, Nic: black tin).
A caution.
Double Perfectos perform dreadfully in UK Winter. As lovely as the Cuaba Divinos is .... leave those until after April.
don TJ and the 
Coros
Jay, Ray Jay
Hey RJ? Go easy on the old hombre....he's from a different time; a different generation.
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