Christmas in September

I have to be honest, I start getting excited about Christmas towards the end of Summer. This is not because I am dying to clean the entire house for company, including areas that no guest has ever, ever seen; it is not because of the food – though the food is amazing; it is not even because of the presents, at least presents from others.

It is because late Summer bring the first release of this year's Christmas Cheer from McClelland.

This unique blend is highly anticipated by pipe-smokers world round every year. These blends are typically Virginia in a flake form. There is something else in this blend, however, that makes it extra special: expectation and tradition.

On almost every pipe-smoking forum and every website that sells pipe tobacco, there is a virtual explosion when this blend is released. Many of those who purchase it do so simply because it is a tradition, while other have been drooling for months, waiting for this year's blend.

An interesting aspect of purchasing this blend is that it makes me not only excited for this Christmas season, when my brother and I will crack open a tin of McClelland's Christmas Cheer 2011 around the fireplace, but it makes me excited for Christmas 2021 and Christmas 2031.

Being a Virginia flake, this blend is physically perfect for aging, and being an annual blend, it is spiritually perfect for aging. I cannot tell you how much joy the thought of opening up a ten year old tin of Christmas Cheer with my brother brings me, though I have never yet had this chance. The past is connected to the present, and the present is connected to the future, all through the anticipation and tradition held within the 100g, red, delightful tin.