Our first meeting of the year!

Hey, even Apple started out of a garage, right? The weather was around 9° so we started off inside downstairs to catch up. It had been a while since we’d seen one another. That was fantastic. Two other members were unable to attend, we hope to catch up with them next time.

Downstairs some new pipe acquisitions were shared, and we got caught up on all things pipe ‘n tobacco. Some new pipes were shown off and we had a little discussion around the purchasing of tobacco these days online and a little bit about taxation.

The newly arrived club pins arrived as well and we wore them with pride during this meeting.

Then, it was out in the garage with the heater on the stand to keep us warm. With the door closed and the heater on, it was quite toasty and pleasant in the garage.

Libations were enjoyed alongside some fine aged tobacco. The first bowls were chosen by Luc – some Grasmere Flake (Gawith & Hoggarth). Luc loaded his into a pretty stout looking Parker pipe he had picked up at an antique store for about $22 bucks – sturdy pipe and a great smoker.

Eric loaded up his 4th Generation briar dedicated to Lakeland type tobaccos and away we went. Heineken, Bushmills Prohibition whisky, some Norwegian Aquavit, and some Aberlour A’bunadh rounded us out.

Some sample tobaccos were handed out and we enjoyed some Rattray Marlin Flake from 2008 (opened and jarred in 2018). Before that we had some aforementioned Grasmere Flake. Eric was enjoying some Peter Stokkebye Sambuca aromatic when Luc arrived.

Chips, cheese, grapes, pepperettes, and sparkling water were also on hand.

It was a fantastic time with Luc catching up. He’s on board to be the official photographer for the club. We really are looking forward to growing our numbers. We kicked around a few ideas for meets and I’ll post about those soon.