I hope you all had a good year and a safe, healthy, and enjoyable holiday season. Now comes the
real winter!
I'm starting 2019 off on the right foot with a bowl from a four-year-old batch of McClelland No.24 "Matured Virginia", sort of as a way of saying goodbye. Although my experience with McClelland is quite limited compared to some of you folks who smoked it for years, I still managed to smoke just shy of twenty different blends of theirs, and No.24 is possibly my favorite - that and Beacon. And though I may not have smoked as much McClelland as some of you long-time pipers, I will miss them just as much. The husband and wife team that was Mr. and Mrs. McClelland was unlike any the industry had ever seen; a truly extraordinary duo of die-hard blending enthusiasts making blends for pipers, by pipers. So here's my salute to them.
I realize this jar's cap looks iffy, but rest assured, the seal is fit as a fiddle:
Anyways, here goes one bowl I've been saving for a while, and will be saving the rest of this gold for a long time to come; two bowls a year until it's history. I'm using my new Radice so it'll have the memory of at least one legendary blend's essence tattooed into it's chamber carbon and oils in its channel.
Happy New Year Everyone! And miles to go before I sleep.
Me? I slept soundly thorough the night, and awoke in health and safety, Dear Sweetie by my side. So far, so good. 
