A picture is worth a thousand words but here's what's in the shot:
Bottle of The Elmer T. Lee bourbon – one of my favorite bourbons but super hard to find in Hawaii
Insulated Green Bay Packers mug – Go Pack Go!
Green Bay Packers gnome Christmas ornament – hanging proudly on our tree
Those items alone would have sent me to 7th Heaven but NOOOOOO, my Secret Santa had to smack me down with 20 wonderful, top grade smokes:
Arturo Fuente Anejo #77 Shark – one of my Top 5 favorites
Arturo Fuente Magnum R44 – ditto
Arturo Fuente Opus X Fuente Fuente – nh
Arturo Fuente Opus X Lost City Piramide – nh
Arturo Fuente Opus X Perfecxion No. 77 Shark – what da! - nh
Arturo Fuente Opus X Perfecxion X – nh
Arturo Fuente Opus X Reserva D’ Chateau – nh
Avo Maduro Robusto – nh
Casa Mombacho Tierra Volcan Fino Long Corona – nh (…and never knew existed…)
Diamond Crown Maximus No. 4 - nh
Drew Estate UF-13 – nh
2x Hirochi Robaina Sublime – nh – excited to try - one to smoke now, one to stash for later
2x Litto Gomez Small Batch VI – nh – very excited to try – see above
RoMa Craft Cromagnon Anthropology - nh
San Cristobal Clasico – nh
Tatuaje 7th Capa – love Tats!
Tatuaje Novell Reserva – love Tats, especially love the Reserva line
Warped El Oso Papa – nh
Super over-the-top cigars that I will thoroughly enjoy, especially if my retirement plans in the next couple of years come to fruition.
Santa also wrote a very nice letter with small hints as to his identity but when I initially read it, was too overcome with shock over the box contents to catch them. However, when I got home and had a chance to fully check the contents, found something that tipped me to his whereabouts. My mystery Santa used some LA Times newspaper to act as packing material. Hmm, I know someone in LA that’s in the pass…. I then re-read the letter and those subtle hints now became evident:
“…but I find it impossible to look at, touch, let alone acquire, anything with the St. Louis Cardinals on it.”
Yeah, I’m a St. Louis fan and the BOTL I started to suspect does live in Los Angeles and is a Dodgers fan so given the Cardinals recent mastery over LA in the playoffs, that line made perfect sense.
But the hint that finally sealed it:
“Your Uniquely
Greek Secret Santa”
Greek? No, the guy I was thinking about ain’t Greek, in fact, he’s Asian like me…but wait…his CBid handle has Greek overtones. So that it's it! Without a doubt it’s gotta be the one and only Delta1. I then contacted Mr. Delta and he did confirm his red suit and beard identity.
Thank you again Al. Very, very generous of you and you truly made my Christmas one to remember.
And mahalos to TZ for putting this together. Really enjoyed participating in this.
