Well, today was the day. Drove down to my wife's aunt's place in Blaine for what turned out to be a day long wait for the FedEx guy to receive this beauty. The point of driving down was meant to be to inspect the box and humidor before signing off on delivery, unfortunately the girl at the front desk was new and the FedEx guy lazy so she actually signed for the parcel and it was left out at the office instead of to the door at the unit (where I was of course waiting for it). If the damage had been less superficial or less easy to repair then I would have been pretty upset. As it was I didn't feel like making a scene, especially give that it's a great advantage to be able to ship to my aunt-in-law's US address so I don't want to cause her any unnecessary problems. More on that below.
The Good:
Firstly I'd picked up a 3-pack of Padron 44th Ani's from klipsch which were waiting for me at the wife's aunt's place which had miraculously spawned a couple different Padron tag-alongs somewhere between RI and WA. Then on the trip home I ran into a great CBSA agent at the Pacific Truck Crossing. He was obviously having a good day, just enjoying the sun and his job, so even though I declared the full value of the humidor (and I had to explain to him why something that "just looks like a nightstand" could be worth so much money) he just waived me through without needing to pay taxes. Another $130 to add to the vacation fund for the trip to Cuba on Sunday
The smell of fresh cedar coming off this thing is just unbelieveable! It's almost like the first day of Christmas when you've just brought the tree inside and the house is filled with fresh pine.
Filled with empty boxes both for visual effect and to rehydrate the boxes so the cigars can go back in them.
Once seasoned and repaired the Aristocrat will move into the corner where the wine rack/printer stand currently sits.