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‘Tis the season for gift giving. And if you have someone in your sphere — family or friend — who’s into cocktails, booze, or just alcohol culture, there are a lot of options out there. But with a lot of options also come a lot of metaphorical blind alleys and potholes. Gifts should never be about the mediocre! They should be wonder-filled and joy-inducing! Let us help you find those little slices of joy to give as gifts from the spirits world this year.
Below, we’re calling out a litany of great spirits-related gifts. These are all pretty spectacular. Though — to be fair — we’re starting simple and going deep and then “holy shit, really?!?!” extreme by the end. Translation: there’s something for every level of gift-giving on this list.
One quick note, while we are calling out very specific items, take this list more as a jumping-off point. If you can’t get the exact gift or it just doesn’t feel exactly right, use these gifts as inspiration to find something in the same vein. Sound good? Let’s dive in!
Liquor Store Gift Card
Price: Varies
The Gift:
This is the easiest gift you can get. It’s a gift card to your local liquor store. It’s kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure for booze. The best part is that you can go as small or big as you want with this one. $25? No problem — that’s a perfect “stocking stuffer.”
$500? Now, we’re talking real love this holiday season. The best part is that every good liquor store will have these available.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This really depends on who you’re buying for. If it’s an office Secret Santa, you’ll probably want to stick to whatever the budget limit is. If it’s for someone you know who loves high-end booze, then go nuts!
Square Ice Cube Tray
Price: $10
The Gift:
Big ol’ rocks make for great sipping. These ice cube trays make 1.75×1.75-inch blocks of ice. That’s a great size for pouring over a beautiful pour of whiskey or a measured and delicious cocktail. Moreover, the massive surface area of the ice cube means that dilution will happen at a much slower pace. Plus, it’ll look awesome.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is great for anyone who enjoys a good pour of any spirit or cocktail with a nice-looking rock in their glass.
It’s also a very affordable gift. It’s so affordable, in fact, that you can get two and still be at $20 all-in.
The New York Times Essential Book of Cocktails (Second Edition)
Price: $20
The Gift:
The New York Times has been writing about cocktails for literal centuries — and they’re pretty damn good at it. This updated version (from the first edition released at the end of 2022) contains over 400 classic and new cocktail recipes curated from the pages of The New York Times over the years. It’s an essential collection of recipes that covers true classics all the way up to crafty masterpieces of the 21st century.
It’s truly comprehensive while remaining accessible to the average cocktail novice or hardcore aficionado.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a great cocktail book for anyone looking to get into home mixing or into going out to find great cocktails in their local bar scene.
Glencairn Whisky Glass Deluxe Velvet Gift Box Plus 4 Glasses
Price: $50
The Gift:
The Glencairn is the perfect alcohol-sipping glass. It’s designed to give you the best nosing and drinking/tasting experience while focusing on profile notes. There’s simply no better glass for experiencing any spirit.
A set of four glasses is a great place to start. But you can up the ante on this one by adding The Glencairn Whisky Glass Deluxe Velvet Gift Box to hold those glasses, giving the whole gift an elevated feel.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the set of glasses you get for the spirits lover in your life who needs to up their game. These glasses are a must for anyone looking to truly expand their knowledge and palate.
Old Fashioned Cocktail Smoker Kit with Torch & Bar Stand
Price: $59
The Gift:
Cocktail smokers are fun (even if they add little to the taste of the final cocktail). This kit includes a cocktail smoker with a display stand, a smoking torch, and four wood chip flavors for your smoking pleasure.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is all about fun and presentation. So get it for a home mixer who likes to put on a show.
The Glenfiddich x Thierry Atlan Grand Cru Scotch Whisky-Infused Macarons
Price: $68
The Gift:
This is a limited edition set of 12 macarons. Bear with me, it gets very boozy. The macarons are made by New York’s premiere confectioner Thierry Atlan. Atlan uses Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23-year-old Single Malt Scotch (finished in rare French Cuvée casks) for the creme in the macarons. They’re delicious and have the perfect hint of great whisky (and cognac) layered into the perfectly brittle and moist macarons.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a great gift for the whisky-loving sweet tooth in your crew or family.
RIEDEL Nick & Nora Cocktail Glasses (Set of 4)
Price: $69
The Gift:
RIEDEL makes the best glassware out there, especially for bars. The Nick and Nora glass is a perfectly designed cocktail glass based on Nick and Nora Charles from the infamous The Third Man book and later film. Spirits specialist Zane Harris re-designed these glasses to give them the perfect balance for easy sipping without having to tip the glass all that much.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is for someone who’s getting into building a home bar with the best glassware.
Suntory Whisky Toki Japanese Whisky with Waterford Markham Hiball Set
Price: $98
The Gift:
This is old-school mixing with a glass highball set that leans into the Japanese vibes of highball culture. The set includes a full bottle of Toki Suntory Japenese Whisky with two Waterford Highball Glasses. It’s simple but elegant.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the set you get for the person who loves simple but good highballs. It’s very easygoing yet refined.
Blue Run’s 12 Days of Bourbon
Price: $99
The Gift:
Starting on 12/1 this year, Blue Run is releasing a special full bottle of their incredible Blue Run High Rye Bourbon that’ll come with a box of 12 samples of Blue Run’s limited releases. The set will also arrive with a tasting glass, flask, ornament, and steak service for two (alone worth $200).
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a great introduction to the good work Blue Run’s team is doing with their whiskey. Moreover, the price point is excellent for a single bottle of great bourbon, much less all the extras that you get with this set.
Travel Bartender Kit Bag
Price: $134
The Gift:
A full-on bar kit is a great gift for anyone this time of year. So why not take it a step further and go all-in on a travel-ready set?
This bartender kit comes with a 17-piece copper bartender set up with a classic bartender roll that makes it a mobile bar. The set includes:
- Rustproof 18 oz. and 28 oz. Boston cocktail tins (Premium SST grade)
- Double-sided Jigger with imperial and metric markings
- 10” Wooden muddler (made of beech wood)
- 10” Mixing spoon
- Hawthorne strainer
- Julep strainer
- Fine strainer
- 2x Liquor pourers
- Lemon squeezer
- Lemon zester
- Ice tongs
- Double lever corkscrew
- Bottle opener
- Lewis ice bag
- Canvas carrying bag
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the cocktail kit you get for a home bartender who’s looking to really up their game both in skill and aesthetics.
818 Margarita Cocktail Kit
Price: $142
The Gift:
This trendy set incorporates Kendall Jenner’s uber-trendy 818 Blanco Tequila with a full cocktail shaker set for mixing up the perfect margarita.
The set includes:
- 818 Blanco Tequila (full bottle)
- 2 piece Boston shaker
- Strainer
- Jigger
- Bar spoon
- Muddler
- Ice Tongs
- Rolf Glass Mid-Century Modern Coupe set of 2
Who It’s Perfect For:
You don’t have to be a Kendall Jenner fan to enjoy this kit. It’s great for marg lovers as is, since the tequila is legit. Though, if there’s a huge Keeping Up With The Kardashians fan in your midst, well, this becomes a no-brainer.
No.3 Gin Perfect Martini Gift Set
Price: $150
The Gift:
No.3 Gin is a phenomenal gin for martinis — it’s the house gin at the famed Duke’s in London for their martini service. This set goes beyond just “great” gin though. You’ll get two coupe glasses with a light teal hue. The glasses have a larger base to keep them steady while the bowl is extra thin on the lip to help with sipping ease. Moreover, the bowl is designed to be the perfect thickness, allowing the martini in the glass to stay cold about “50 times” longer than a regular cocktail glass.
Basically, you’re getting the perfect martini glasses and the gin to put in them.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is what you get for a true-blue cocktail enthusiast. The amazing glassware is worth the price of entry alone.
Jägermeister Single Bottle Tap Machine
Price: $199
The Gift:
There are a lot of serious items on this list so let’s lighten up the mood a bit. Yes, this is a Jägermeister tap that you can put on your countertop. Yes, that’s kind of awesome. The actual tap uses Peltier cooling technology to chill the Jäger to -18C/-0.4F as it flows from the pull tap and into your shot glass.
Who It’s Perfect For:
It’d be easy to say this is for the college-bound. But we’d argue that a true Jägermeister tap is a great addition to any home bar as a fun “let’s not take ourselves too seriously around the holidays” appliance. Plus, Jägermeister is delicious when it’s this cold.
The Craft of Holiday Entertaining Advent Calendar By Questlove and The Balvenie
Price: $225
The Gift:
Questlove teamed up with The Balvenie to create the perfect holiday hosting box and advent calendar for 2023.
The box includes:
- Limited-Edition “Quest for Craft” Playing Cards
- Bespoke Holiday Chocolates
- Glencairn Tasting Glasses
- Premium Marble Coasters
- QR Code to Redeem a Bottle of The Balvenie DoubleWood 12-Year-Old
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a no-brainer buy for any music and whisky fan you may know. It’s very bespoke and elegant with a nice party vibe (even if it’s just a party of two).
Cask Cartel The Bourbon & American Whiskey Holiday Advent Calendar 2023
Price: $379
The Gift:
Okay, let’s up the ante even more. Cask Cartel offers a ton of great advent calendars for various styles of whisk(e)y and spirits. Each set is wholly unique and offers a great assortment of truly quality booze. The only real drawback here is that this kind of needs to be a buy-now gift so it can be enjoyed over the holidays. That said, we have friends who enjoy these in January too.
If you’re looking for a great entry into American whiskeys, grab The Bourbon & American Whiskey Holiday Advent Calendar 2023. It’ll contain the following 24 premium American whiskeys (some of which are true bangers):
- Basil Hayden’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon
- Black & Gold 11-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskey
- Boulder Peated Malt American Single Malt Whiskey
- Bulleit Bourbon 10 Year Old
- Charlie Parry’s 3-Year-Old Bourbon
- Daddy Rack Small Batch Straight Tennessee Whiskey
- FEW Bourbon
- FEW Rye
- Four Roses Bourbon
- James Cree’s 8-Year-Old Cattle Ranch Whiskey
- Kentucky Owl Confiscated
- Legent Kentucky Straight Bourbon
- Luckenbach Road Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Luckenbach Road Straight Rye Whiskey
- Maker’s Mark 46
- Michter’s US*1 Bourbon
- Michter’s US*1 Sour Mash Whiskey
- Rabbit Hole Heigold Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Rebel Bourbon Tawny Port Barrel Finish 3cl Sample
- Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Bourbon
- St. George Breaking & Entering American Whiskey
- Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey
- Westland American Oak
- Yellowstone Select
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the ultimate gift for the bourbon, rye, and American whiskey fan in your life. They’ll be eternally grateful for such a deep dive into American whiskey.
VinGardeValise All-Purpose Suitcase Silver
Price: $380
The Gift:
Okay, this is a big outlier. But if you know someone who travels with bottles, then this is a must-have. The hard-shell case holds 12 bottles very safely in slots on both sides of the bag. The bag is fully FAA and TSA-compliant with a TSA-compliant lock. There’s also a “homing PIN” in case your luggage gets lost by the airline (it happens!).
The best part is that you can remove one side of the bottle packing and use it as a regular suitcase for clothes and whatnot. This allows you to take six bottles very safely and only check one bag. That’s a win-win.
Who It’s Perfect For:
As someone who travels with whiskey bottles all the time, I can assure you that this is a godsend gift.
Tickets For the 2024 Billion Oyster Party
Price: $175-$500
The Gift:
The Billion Oyster Project is a huge initiative to restore New York’s oyster gardens to their former glory. The project is supported by Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
Okay, that’s the boozy connection. But the Billion Oyster Party is a massive event in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard where dozens of oyster producers from all over America (and parts of Canada) gather to shuck oysters for adoring seafood fans while Talikser pours bespoke cocktails and free pours of their amazingly well-suited for oyster pairing whisky.
The event is a wonderland of seafood delights with an oyster heart that’s all about the Talisker. There’s truly nothing quite like it on Earth (trust me, I’ve searched long and hard to find an event like this).
This gift is a ticket to the Willy Wonka Factory of your oyster and Talisker dreams. General admission tickets cost $175, but you can get a VIP ticket for $500 that’ll give you almost two hours of feasting and drinking before the gen pop is allowed in. It’s 100% worth it.
Who It’s Perfect For:
If you know someone who loves Talisker and oysters, then this is an easy win and will endear that person to you for a lifetime.
A Bourbon Lore Experience
Price: Varies
The Gift:
This is the biggest swing of this list. Bourbon Lore is launching exclusive whiskey trips and events in 2024 that are second to none. Depending on the experience level (we’re talking anywhere from $10,000 to a $50,000 gift), whiskey lovers can enjoy luxury weekends in Scottsdale, Arizona, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, New York City, or Kentucky for a small-group adventure with incredible fine dining, bespoke local experiences, and access to whiskey nights full of the most elite and rare whiskey pours known. That last part is no joke. Luxury weekends will see iconic and impossible-to-find bottles of American whiskey opened and enjoyed — think 100-year-old extinct bourbon distillery bottles, A.H. Hirsch masterpieces, and bottles that you may never see again.
This is achieved thanks to Mason Blue Walker and Clay Risen (famed bourbon author and critic) combining their vaults and making them available to Bourbon Lore attendees.
Experiences are going on sale in December for 2024 experiences and are very limited and pricey (see above). Seriously, this is a gift that’s going to be in the tens of thousands, but I can assure you that the person you give this to will have access to whiskeys that’ll make up for that price tag in one weekend. And that’s before you get to the truly deep luxury of the actual trip.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is for the true whiskey connoisseur who understands and needs access to the rarest whiskeys in existence right now. You can check out the current bottle gallery here for proof of that. Maybe just make sure you get that plus one for any luxury whiskey weekend event.
