Not really. The tree is fairly dry at that point, and burns brightly. It's a nice way to bring the new year in. Phil Collins had a song, "Alone again tonight", with the line 'The old year's gone/But it's not the new'. I think that really applies to the time after Christmas and before New Year's Day. My feeling is, "Isn't this damn year over with yet?!" I'm not a fan of Christmas anymore because it's oversold. I like to go to church on Christmas eve with my parents or my older brother, have a nice family dinner, exchange cards and gifts, and call it done. It all seems to start the day after Halloween though.
The scotch part of the equation is a manly-man thing, I think. Same with the cigars, but there is a nice earthy quality about them. We were created from the dust, or came from Mother earth; we are made of star-stuff. Some people are inclined to believe that I was formed from a high-methane content star.
