Spirits Gifts to Impress Your Friends and Loved Ones

photo by Christan Bardenhorst, via Flickr

photo by Christan Bardenhorst, via Flickr

A one-stop list of boozy gifts for the holidays

People say they have trouble finding the right gifts for the holidays. This is a first world problem that perplexes me. Surely you know where the liquor store is? Of course, there are so many choices and directions to go in that even booze shopping doesn’t sound fun.

Here’s a list of items that would make even the most discerning spirits connoisseur happy, at any budget.

When age matters

Let’s face it. No matter how much we all know it’s just a number, age still amounts to excellence with certain individuals. Here are a few less obvious routes to take with more mature spirits.

You can’t go wrong with Armagnac or Bas-Armagnac

Photo by Adam Baker via Flickr

Photo by Adam Baker via Flickr

Extra old cognac in snazzy packaging

  • Rémy Martin XO has new limited edition packaging designed by renown French Atelier Steaven Richard ($200). Or, if you can’t find this bottling, the exact same Fine Champagne cognac comprised of a master blend of 400 different eaux-de-vie aged up to 30 years still comes in its usual cut glass decanter sold in the cool, gold, secret bookshelf-like rotating panel box ($180) that satisfies the wow factor.

remy xo special.png

Irish whiskey aged in XO cognac barrels

  • Speaking of XO casks, Egan’s Centenary is a unique limited edition Irish whiskey bottling aged in extra old cognac casks, with a blend of older single malts and grain whiskey. (46% ABV, $100).

42 year old Canadian whisky

  • Canadian Club Chronicles 42 Year (The Dockman) is a 100% rye that’s comprised of whiskies barreled over 4 decades ago that is surprisingly juicy, spicy and vibrant on the palate, not musty. (45% ABV, $300)

Extra aged tequila

  • El Tesoro Extra Añejo is quite mature for an agave distillate—having spent 4 to 5 years in ex-bourbon barrels as opposed to the typical 2 for añejo—but the barrel influence enhances, not masks, the delicate flavors of the agave, making it perfect for tequila connoisseurs. (41.5% ABV, $200)

  • Gran Centenario Leyenda goes this route a different way, showcasing the art of blending by using tequila matured 4 years in ex-bourbon casks and marrying it with other older reserves. (40% ABV, $150)

Vintage Scotch

  • For The Glendronach Master Vintage 1993, Master Blender Rachel Barrie has selected Pedro Ximinez and Oloroso sherry casks from special warehouse reserves, all barreled in 1993 and bottled in 2018. It’s the Janet Jackson “That’s the Way Love Goes” (sophisticated, groovy number one song that year) of whisky. (48.2% ABV, $350)

For fans of smoky whiskies, or looking to dabble

Slightly smoky

  • Old Pulteney Huddart is a non-peated Scotch given a rest in barrels that once held peated whisky. It’s a style that doesn’t often work, but Pulteney gets it right as a balanced, smoke-accented dram. (46% ABV, $65)

Pretty and smoky

  • For notes of crème brulée cutting through the smoke: Bowmore 12 Year, which won gold in the 2019 NY International Spirits Competition (40% ABV, $70)

  • For notes of apple pie with smoke: Westland Peated, from Seattle’s Westland distillery, creates a stately American single malt take on the Scottish style with 100% peated barley. (46% ABV, $70)

  • For tangy BBQ smoke: Aerstone Land Cask 10 Year is one of the newest single malts bottled by William Grant & Sons (Sea Cask is the non-peated, non-smoky one), great for casual neat sipping or a smoky whisky sour. And dig that price! (40% ABV, $30)

Courtesy The Glendronach

Courtesy The Glendronach

The vindaloo of smokiness

  • This year’s release of Octomore (10.1) from Bruichladdich is as heavily peated as they come, at 107PPM, aged in first fill ex-bourbon casks for 5 years. (59.8% ABV, $225.00)

Gin is still in, and is catching up in the US

  • Bartender-approved, higher proof style: Tod & Vixen’s Dry Gin 1651 from Hudson Valley, New York’s Vale Fox Distillery is made by Roselyn Thompson, former distiller at John Dewar & Sons, with the full-bodied feel of an Old Tom with the clean finish of a London Dry. It’s perfect for a finger stirred Negroni to honor one of its main bartender consultants, the late Gaz Regan. (48% ABV, $40)

  • The Francis Ford Coppola family made a gin? Yes, and of course it’s well directed. Ada Lovelace California gin honors the early 19th century mathematician who is considered the first computer programmer, with an English style using 10 Napa and Sonoma botanicals. (40% ABV, $45)

  • Watershed Distillery’s Bourbon Barrel aged gin is made by taking their citrusy Four Peel Gin and aging it up to one year. The result is almost like a standalone Old Fashioned without the sugariness, and is good with tonic too. (silver medal, 2019 NYISC) (44% ABV, $45)

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Interesting Mexican spirits

  • Tequila: An unusual blend made from agave grown in both the Tequila highlands and lowlands La Historia de Nosotros (“our history”) Blanco balances that fine line between salty citrus and refreshing mintiness. (40% ABV, $40)

  • Sotol: It’s a shrub grown in Chihuahua, not a fruit like agave. Por Siempre is a fine example, distilled in an alembic copper pot still for round, earthy flavors. (45% ABV, $38)

Delicious cognac that tastes more expensive than it is

  • Ferrand 10 Generations Grande Champagne Cognac is a lustrous, spicy, yet velvety bottling worthy of celebrating 10 generations of the Ferrand family (the fetching packaging evokes the roots of the family tree), which was an integral part of the story of cognac from its beginnings in the mid 19th century. (46% ABV, $60)

It’s time to try pisco

  • Macchu pisco La Diablada is made from a blend of grapes that showcases the best of Peruvian terroir. Novices typically want to make sours out of pisco but this bottling is excellent sipped on its own. Although, sure, add it to cocktails too (here are some recipes). (40% ABV, $40)

Rumtastic

  • Massachussett’s Privateer takes the best cuts of rum for its Queen’s Share and barrels them for our lucky glasses. (56.2% ABV, $55)

  • Chairman’s Reserve The Forgotten Casks rum is made from casks that survived a devastating warehouse fire at St. Lucia Distillery in 2007, and were luckily for us salvaged and bottled. (40% ABV, $50)

Happy Sipping Whiskey

  • Old Scout: this high rye beauty from West Virginia’s Smooth Ambler is back. Also, gotta love their Youtube videos! (49.5% ABV, $45)

  • Sagamore Cognac Finish: one of the finest American ryes out there gets a rest in cognac barrels, and the result est très magnifique! (50.5% ABV, $60)

  • French Oak is a single malt whisky from Waco, TX distillery Balcones matured in French oak casks. You’ve heard of Tex-Mex? This toasty dram with an earthy, long finish officially makes Tex-French a thing (best with a big cube). (60% ABV, $90)

(Looking for more whiskey or American whiskey gifts outside the bottle? See our gift guide here.)

courtesy Suntory

courtesy Suntory

So you want vodka? These are actually kinda cool

  • Cutwater Spirits’ Fugu vodka is named after the spiked sea creature that has become a culinary delicacy. It won a gold medal in the 2019 NYISC. (40% ABV, $25)

  • Broken Shed from New Zealand is made from distilled clarified milk (New Zealand has a lot of cows), for a slightly creamy texture, with no added sugars. (40%, $30)

And who wouldn’t want a Highball set?

  • Suntory Whisky TOKI available in a gift set that includes a 750 mL bottle of that delicious blended Japanese whisky (silver medal, 2019 NYISC) along with a custom Japanese highball glass, wooden bottle glorifier and Toki Highball recipe card. Or you can just pick up that food-friendly whisky on its own to eat, drink and be merry. (43% ABV, $35)

If you’re still looking, or can’t make it to the package store, here’s a handy guide to what to order online. Happy shopping!

Featured, SpiritsAmanda Schusterdrinkwire, extra anejo, tequila, cognac, new york international spirits competition, giftsComment