The 10 Best Boozy Holiday Gifts to Give Your Friends and Family
A bottle of booze is always a good gift idea. Even better, a boozy gift set that comes with some nice tumblers or high quality cheese, or even a special limited-edition holiday bottle. Whatever you are looking for, there’s something out there that likely fits your criteria. So we’ve compiled ten of the best boozy gifts to consider this holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate.
1. Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Gift Set
This gift set has everything any rum lover needs – a bottle of Venezuela’s Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva, an excellent dark sipping rum aged for up to 12 years in barrels, and two glass tumblers in which you can enjoy the rum. Pour some and sip, or mix up an Old Fashioned, however you enjoy the rum this gift will impress.
Buy: Diplomatico Gift Set $39.00
2. Maestro Dobel 50
A nice bottle of tequila will be a welcome addition to anyone’s home bar, and this splurge-worthy bottle of cristalino should impress. Cristalino is an unofficial category that takes aged tequila and filters it to remove any color while retaining the flavor picked up by the time spent aging in oak. Maestro Dobel was an early leader in the category, and this expression was aged in American and European oak for three years before being filtered.
3. The GlenDronach and Point Reyes White Cheddar White Cheddar Pairing
The GlenDronach is a distillery in the Scottish Highland region making some of the best sherry cask-matured single malt whisky that you can find. This gift set pairs a bottle of the 12-year-old expression, aged in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks, with white cheddar cheese from California’s Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. Try the two together to see how the flavors complement each other.
Buy: The GlenDronach Cheese Pairing Experience $105.00
4. Glenmorangie Limited Edition 18 Years Old Expression
This beautiful new box was designed by Japanese artist Azuma Makoto, who incorporated a floral motif onto both the box and bottle’s label. The bottle in question comes from Glenmorangie, and is an 18-year-old single malt that is a star attraction of the distillery’s lineup. Aged in both bourbon and sherry casks, the whisky is rich with dried fruit, spice, and vanilla flavors.
Buy: Glenmorangie Azuma Makoto Edition $234.99
5. The Monte Manhattan Cocktail Kit
Surely your friends and family have had a Manhattan before, but maybe never one made with Italian digestif Amaro Montenegro. This kit will introduce you to the world of the Monte Manhattan, with mini bottles of Montenegro and WhistlePig Piggyback Rye, cherries, bitters, and a couple of glasses – everything you’ll need to whip up a batch of this aromatic version of the classic.
Buy: The Monte Manhattan Kit $69.99
6. Papa’s Pilar Rum 4-Pack Rum Tasting Gift Set
Papa’s Pilar Rum is a Key West brand inspired by the legacy of Ernest Hemingway that sources rum from different countries aged in a variety of cask types, including rye whiskey, sherry, and bourbon. This gift set is a great way to introduce someone to the rum, as it contains samples of four different expressions: Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum, Dark Rum, Sherry-Finished Rum, and the limited-edition Bourbon Barrel-Finished Rum. A QR code is also included which unlocks a virtual tour of the distillery in Key West.
Buy: Papa Pilar’s 4-Pack Tasting Set $47.99
7. Uncle Nearest and Markham Marquis by Waterford Glasses Set
Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is a fast-growing, Black-owned Tennessee brand that has been making waves over the past few years. The brand is named after the man now credited as Jack Daniel’s first master distiller, Nathan Green, who was a former slave. The distillery recently opened in rural Tennessee, but for now select barrels are sourced and blended together. This gift set includes two bottles, Uncle Nearest 1856 and 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, and four Markham Marquis by Waterford double Old Fashioned glasses. Pour a little to taste then try making a cocktail with the whiskey.
Buy: Uncle Nearest Gift Set $163.00
8. New York Distilling Company Classic Flask Set
NYC has been a hub of craft distilling for at least a decade now, and NY Distilling Company has been one of the best examples of this. This Brooklyn-based distillery makes rye whiskey and gin, and you can sample a few different expressions with this Classic Flask Set. Three bottles are included: Dorothy Parker Gin, a modern take on the spirit, Ragtime Rye, distilled from New York State grown rye, and Mister Katz’s Rock & Rye, a combination of rye whiskey, rock candy, dried cherries, cinnamon, and citrus.
Buy: NY Distilling Co Flask Set $65.00
9. Heaven’s Door Trilogy Collection
Bob Dylan entered the whiskey world a few years ago with his Heaven’s Door brand, a collection of sourced bourbon, rye, and Tennessee whiskey. Plans are underway for a distillery and performance space to open in Nashville sometime over the next few years, increasing the presence of this brand. This gift set contains mini bottles of the three flagship expressions to sample: Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Double Barrel Whiskey, Straight Rye Whiskey. Cue up some Dylan classics on the turntable and enjoy.
Buy: Heaven’s Door Trilogy $59.00
10. The Producer Mezcal
There have been many new mezcal launches over the past year, but one that stands out comes from The Producer. Well, two actually, as the brand has a duo of expressions available – Ensamble, a blend of Espadin and Cuishe agave made by Maestro Erasto Martinez using a traditional tahona wheel to crush the agave; and the more expensive Tepeztate, made by Maestro Celestino Sernas in copper pot stills in Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca. These are both fairly limited releases, but consider putting them together as a gift for your mezcal-loving friends or family.
Buy: The Producer Mezcal $46.99
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