You guessed it, another day and another prize to give away for our Second Annual Stogie Review 12 Days of Christmas Contest! We are now at a point in the contest where we have a single contest which spans multiple days. In this case, days four through six all share the same rules. With all entries in, Brian Jerry and I will go through them and select a first, second, and third place winner. Those winners will be applied to the appropriate day and announced.

This grouping of prizes asked that you submit a Christmas story that included cigars. Last year we got some fantastic entries. If you missed reading them, you should really take a minute to read the stories of Doc, Pete, and Chris.

The contest this year had me a little worried. We didn’t receive any entries until the final day, in which a wave came in. Just like last year, we received some serious stories which really show what Christmas is all about, and we also received some funny ones that we couldn’t help but laugh at.

The winner of our Day 4 Contest has earned themselves a box of Jameson Cigar Company Black Label Robustos, generously provided by Brad Mayo over at Jameson Cigar Company. While his entry may have been fictitious, he had to me to the very end and I couldn’t help but laugh when I read it.

Brent’s Christmas Story:

Well, I learned the truth about Santa Claus in a very strange way. When I was a child I was at
an event with my family and Santa was there to meet with all of our little kiddos. Well, I was in line with my dad behind a guy with a little boy and the dad was smoking a cigar. The line was not very long, but boy the cigar was (now that I am a cigar smoker this thing must have been an “A”).

Well the man picks up his little boy and places him on Santa’s lap. All is going well when all of a sudden we start to smell something horrid. Well I look up at Santa and scream, his beard was smoking! All of a sudden Santa jumps from his chair screaming like one of his little elfs. He continues to dance around and finally runs outside.

I decided to follow him outside and watch him shove his face into a snow bank, putting out the fire in his white beard. I was so relieved I looked up at my Dad and said Santa is ok. BUT as the words came
out of my mouth, Santa stood up, grabbed at his scorched beard and proceeded to pull it right off his face! Eyes wide, looking horrified I recognized my barber, Ralph, dressed up in a Santa
suit.

Tears welled up, and I looked up at my dad and said “Why is Ralph the Barber dressed up like Santa?” That was the day I lost my belief in Santa and my youth, all thanks to a big long stinky
cigar!

And If you all believe that, I have a bridge to sell to you LOL. I live up north and Cigars have
never been part of Christmas for me until this year. My wonderful wife has been hounding me about what I want for Christmas, and I really have no needs, so I tell her to
surprise me. Well for the last couple of months she has been asking me questions when I look at the catalogs I get. She seemed really interested in what I liked and what kinds of cigars I enjoyed.

Well, turns out that I noticed when she was looking at her e-mail that there was a shipping confirmation for Cigars International. That’s why I love my wife. It will be a good Christmas

Remember, now that we have reached the portion of the contest where entry details are grouped together, all entries must be received the day before the first announcement. So, the deadline for days five and six have passed. Prizes for days seven, eight, and nine are still up for grabs. These prizes include a box of CAO La Traviata, a box of EP Carrillo Cigars Edicion Inaugural by EP Carrillo Cigars, and a box of Mi Barrio El Acere by EO Brands. For details on entering, take a look at the Second Annual Stogie Review 12 Days of Christmas Announcement.

With a a few more shopping days remaining before Christmas, don’t forget to pass along your Cigar Related Christmas List to friends and family. If your friends and family have never purchased cigars before, be sure to have them read our article on Giving the Gift of Cigars.