Brothers of the Leaf - Montreal Chapter

            Over the past decade, the terms BOTL and SOTL has developed from obscure abbreviations known to only a small group of enthusiasts to being synonymous with a worldwide Cigar culture. As with most slang born from the internet, the origin of the expression “Brother/Sister of the leaf” is impossible to trace. Looking back it should be no surprise why this term in particular term exploded in popularity. It incapsulates a sense of fraternity, curiosity and passion for our hobby, that is too often unfairly misunderstood by society at large. BOTL is not just a hashtag to label cigar porn on Instagram. Rather the term has been a vehicle to form grassroots clubs for enthusiasts via social media. This was the case for the Montreal chapter founded in 2014 by a group of passionate entrepreneurs and businessmen rallying under the banner of “BOTL/SOTL”.
             Recently I’ve had the chance to speak with Kosta Christopoulos & Nick Gomatos about their role as admins and the founding of BOTL here in Montreal 6 years ago; a community that is a major node of online activity in the cigar world today. We spoke about the happenstance development of the society on Instagram and Facebook, challenges faced, and prospects for future activity in an increasingly hostile anti-tabaco environment.

            In 2014, the cigar community had started gravitating towards Instagram, one day Kosta Christopoulos was searching to find if a BOTL Montreal Chapter existed, after seeing so many in the USA.  He stumbled across the Instagram page BOTL Montreal, with an email address looking for members, after some back and forth with the founder, Woody Ghsoubi, the first herf was organised. The day of the Herf I contacted Andy Kastanis and asked him to join me.   We formed a friendship with Woody… and created a team.  Later Woody would move to Lebanon and passed the flame for us to admin the group.  Over the years, there has been several admin, our current admin group consists of Andy Kastanis, Kosta Christopoulos, Nick Gomatos, Kosta Rigas, Prokopios Sotos and Franck Larivey.

Bulatovic: Did you have a clear mandate or idea of what you wanted from starting the society?
             Yes, we did, the goal from the very beginning was to create a forum on social media, where fellow BOTL’s can share there moments with other members, in a drama free environment, no arguing about politics, or which cigar is better.  Our mission was to be a group solely based on the enjoyment of cigars.  There is to be no selling, no advertising on the group pages.

 Bulatovic: What was the initial response to the community like?
The cigar community of Montreal was very supportive of our group, which led us to grow very quickly, as for the cigar retailers and lounges they where all very supportive and welcoming. When we started the Facebook account, our membership grew at a very fast rate. We did anticipate this response, because our goal was to be the largest cigar community on social media in Quebec.

Bulatovic: Were there any surprises or unexpected circumstances in the early days?

In the beginning, getting together was much easier, holding events on terraces etc, was welcomed by cigar friendly restaurants.  The everchanging and strict laws of tobacco smoking, is our largest hurdle, the cigar community in itself likes to gather and smoke together, which make this very hard under todays laws.

Bulatovic: From your experience is the “typical” demographic of the cigar aficionado changing as information becomes more readily available online?

We would say that the demographic over the years has changed, due to the fact that cigar smoking brings people of all races, ages, profession together.  The online community has only helped to bring people to share in their passion for the leaf.

Bulatovic: Relating to the underlying philosophy and spirit of “BOTL Montreal”, what is the most challenging thing about moderating and administrating this group?

The largest challenge is keeping this platform about sharing, sharing moments, sharing experiences and sharing our passion for cigars.  What does occur more often than we would like, is that people try to commercialize this passion, these posts are removed.  To go further we also closely monitor comments.  There is zero tolerance for negativity, insulting each other or even criticism of the fine lounges and establishments in our city. 

Bulatovic: What role have events and get-togethers played in the maintenance of the brotherhood?

Events do play a big role for our brother hood, unfortunately due to our current laws, there are very few places that can accommodate a large group like ours.  The events allow for people to get to know each other and have conversations in person. We did introduce last year a reoccurring event named “Meet and Greet”.  It is less formal, and with a smaller number of members, which saw old and new members getting together.

Bulatovic: Is there a memory or an event that you find particularly memorable or special in the brotherhoods’ history?

Our Second BOTL XMAS Herf in December 2015.  We had over 100 members participate in this event, there was food, cake and even a gift exchange.  It was truly a success and some great relationships have been formed since then.  It was a great evening.

Bulatovic: Looking at other BOTL communities, what do you think distinguishes Montreal from other cigar communities?

This is a tough question, I think just like how every city is unique, every group is unique. It is like asking the age-old question, Cuban or Non-Cuban?  But, one thing Montreal does have, we are still allowed to smoke indoors, and we have some great lounges, each of them as unique as Montreal itself.

Bulatovic: What have you been smoking lately, are there any “quarantine” smokes that you’ve been especially enjoying, or future releases you are looking forward to?

Kosta; Unfortunately, difficult times remind us that life is short, and tomorrow is never guaranteed, so personally I have smoked some of my older cigars, and what can be considered as special moment cigars.  One that comes to mind is a 2008 Trinidad Robusto Extra on a Wednesday night.  Cigars have always provided me with the time to self reflect. 

Nick;  I’m a fan of the Regional Releases by Habanos SA, in 2020 I’m looking anxiously toward the release of the Sancho Panza Grecia-Chipre as well as the La Gloria Cubana Belux (Belgium-Luxembourg) which features a discontinued cigar for LGC the Medaille D’or No. 2

Bulatovic: What are your thoughts on the plain-packaging laws adopted in Canada? Do you anticipate any changes in smokers’ habits as a result?

We think it will affect the Canadian retailers the most, we don’t believe that a cigar smoker will change his habits due to the packaging.  However, most cigar smokers are also collectors, some more than others.  Our feeling is that the purchases of special boxes (Limitada’s, Regionals) will be made outside the country. 

We believe these laws are senseless, as your average cigar smoker is not a teenager, and the laws according to the Government where put in place to discourage young people to pick up or stop smoking.  Also, in other countries like Australia, it did not prove effective.  I would have much rather seen similar laws as England, where hand made tobacco products were exempt.

            With most of us locked up in our homes during this surreal time, there’s never been a better time to reflect on the importance of online communities in keeping our passion and curiosity alive. To be a brother or sister of the leaf is a title to be earned, to partake in the good-willed spirit of comradery and inclusion symptomatic of our beautiful hobby. A spirit that will not be extinguished through these trying times.
           

To learn more about the BOTL Montreal visit their pages:

Instagram link

Facebook link

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This interview was conducted in Montreal and condensed for this article.  Photographs used by permission by BOTL.