For most Canadians, the luxury of comfortably enjoying a cigar outdoors disappears during the colder months of the year.

As I type this on a windy early November morning, I watch red leaves rapidly descend to the ground from the large Maple tree that stands beside our Hamilton, Ontario home.

Though it’s a brisk 9 degrees celsius outside (47 degrees fahrenheit), the sun is shining strong through cloudless blue skies, and thus, I’m contemplating having cigar outdoors.

After all, the Canadian fall scenery is breathtaking and would certainly be lovely to take in while enjoying a short smoke with a coffee.

Given the less-than-ideal temperatures, I’ll be bundling up proper; complete with down-filled vest, polar fleece lumberjack jacket (so Canadian, I know), touque (again, very Canadian), insulated Sorel boots and fingerless gloves (no thermal underwear just yet, but It’d probably be the smart thing to do).

Yes, I’ll be wearing pants.

As for my cigar, I’ll be reaching for something relatively short that can occupy no more than 45 minutes of my time. I’ll be on a work break, and as I’ve said – baby it’s cold outside.

Colder temperatures generally see me reaching for more medium to full-bodied cigars as they seem to better stand up to the intake of cold air than mild options.

Having said that, I’ve laid out 5 solid options for a short smoke. They are as follows:

SHORT SMOKE No. 1: Oliva Serie G Robusto

The Serie G by Oliva is a medium-bodied cigar made with authentic African Cameroon wrapper. It’s a short, box-pressed cigar with notes of cedar and coffee. The unique flavour notes of this wrapper are complemented by the natural richness of Nicaraguan Habano fillers.
Size: 4.5 x 50
Smoking Time: 30-40 Minutes

SHORT SMOKE No. 2: Toscano Toscanello

These medium-bodied half-cheroot cigarillos have a Connecticut wrapper to smooth things out, while Italian and Kentucky tobaccos provide an intense wood and BBQ note. A great Pirámide-shaped cigar for a short cigar sesh.
Size: Cigarillo
Smoking Time: 20-25 Minutes

SHORT SMOKE No. 3: Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story

A gorgeous short medium-bodied cigar that is expertly hand crafted in a classic Figurado shape. With an oily Cameroon wrapper, it’s premium aged tobaccos exhibits notes of dark coffee, cedar and nutmeg.

I’ll generally finish one of these at around the half hour mark.

Size: 4 x 49
Smoking Time: 25-30 Minutes

SHORT SMOKE No. 4: Oliva NUB Cameroon

Though short in length, don’t be fooled in thinking that you’ll be through a NUB in a mere 25 minutes. Given their thicker ring gauge (60), and the fact that they burn slowly, it’ll take me a full 45 minutes. In creating the NUB, Oliva aimed to capture the essence of the bottom 1/3rd of a typical cigar.
The Cameroon NUB is a medium-to-full bodied stick.
Size: 4 x 60
Smoking Time: 40-45 Minutes

SHORT SMOKE No. 5: H Of H Nicaraguan 4 x 60

Cloaked in an oily Nicaraguan wrapper, the H Of H Nicaraguan 4 x 60 is a well balanced medium-bodied cigar that utilizes a Brazillian binder and a blend of Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. It is an affordable alternative to a NUB.

Here’s the real kicker; the H Of H 4 x 60’s are made by Placencia S.A. – to whom House of Horvath has had a close partnership with for over 25 years.

Size: 4 x 60
Smoking Time: 40-45 Minutes

Final Remarks

In the end, I settled on a NUB Cameroon.

Given the unrelenting sunshine, I figured I’d likely be able to endure a longer stretch of outdoor time, and it turns out that I was correct in my assumption. A dark roast coffee in my thermal Yeti mug definitely assisted and was a great compliment to this robust cigar.

Had it been a partly sunny day, I’d likely have likely had a Toscanello.

For your next ‘cool weather cigar’, put on some coffee, bundle up and reach for one of these 5 options to enjoy some of the great outdoors – while it’s still possible!