2 March - The Buenos Aires Pipe Smoking Club

Lynne says...

Every second Thursday of the month a group individuals, consisting mostly of men, meet in an obscure bar in the heart of Buenos Aires´microcentre. They are all members of an exclusive society with one shared passion - tobacco.

The variety of tobacco available in Buenos Aires is astounding and the price even more so. Cigar and pipe smokers are faced with a huge variety of options to choose from and specialised shops are everywhere. The members of this particular club took their pipe smoking seriously. I watched as a rotund man in a smart suite lovingly cradled his ornate pipe in his hands whilst passing round two different pipes for his fellow smokers to admire. Another member unzipped his large leather holdall and produced several different packets of tobacco. They were passed around and sniffed as if they were vintage wine.

More men joined the group until around twenty men sat huddled around a few tables, sipping beer, smoking and comparing notes. Most of them were dressed in work attire although a few were more casual with open necked shirts and sandals. A young lad, the son of one of the members, moved around the table trying to attract someone´s attention but everyone was too preocupied with their pipes to pay him any attention. After a while, a middle-aged, well-dressed lady joined the group and after kissing everyone in greeting, settled down to light up.

"There are around 130 members", explained Gabriel, a member of the group who came over to talk to us, "and around four of our members are women. We smoke a variety of blends from Denmark, Germany and England. I have a friend in London who owns a tobacco store on St James´- he´s a millionaire" he added with a touch of pride. "You should pop by my store for a coffee". Kissing me goodbye, he handed me his business card and disappeared in a haze of tobacco smoke and expensive aftershave. I glanced down at the card in my hand - we had been talking to Gabriel Estrada, the President of Davidoff - one of the most luxurious tobacco brands in the world.