The first time that Elvio came to the annual meeting of the Spanish Club of Miniliquor Bottle Collectors, was in Madrid, in 2012. He put a huge table full of his old minis, especially bourbons and whiskeys and offered us an old Spanish brandy for the Auction and thus contribute financially to the funds of the Club. Since that year, I think we have enjoyed his attendance in all meetings, always accompanied by his dear Emma, and always loaded with minis in his large Citröen, for which he had to do a few thousand kilometers in the round tryp .
The curious thing is that he always almost sold very few minis, which was not an obstacle, so year after year he never missed his Spanish meeting, that always granted him the affection, admiration and gratitude of the CECBL community.
Elvio was not only a collector but an enthusiast of minibottle collecting, which led him to produce his own minis, under the ALPA brand, and to the general trade of these bottles. ¡ How many times he told me about his trips to Spain and other countries with the car fully loaded with minis to fulfill the orders of the most important liquor stores in Madrid and Spain specialized in this product, such as Licorilandia, La Bolsa de los Licores and many others ! He even told me about his tricks to get around the customs and convince the agents and Civil Guard of the innocence of his collector's hobby.
I think we all have in our collections some of the pieces produced by him, and if they were very valuable for us until now, they will be much more from now on.
I personally met him at the St Louis Show and at the collector's meeting organized by Giuseppe Savocca in Sicily, and I would surely have come across him in any other country.
This year we will not be able to count on with his attendance at our meeting in Granada, but I can assure that he will be present, as always.
Surely now he is preparing a trip through the heaven and he will share his table with other great collectors who have also left a very deep imprint in our hearts, among which we highlight our dear Derman Villegas, who will surely welcome him wherever he stays.
We will always remember you, dear Elvio.
CECBL
Elvio's photos in the meetings of Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia and Bilbao.