The holiday shopping season is upon us. If you’re looking to really make someone happy this season, liquor is always a good idea. It’s easy, fun, and generally hits every price point you’re looking for. To that end, we’ve assembled a handy spirits gift guide with our favorite bottles of booze, kits, books, and even bar gear. It’s a one-stop shop for pleasing any imbiber on your shopping list.
For this year’s spirits gift guide, we’re breaking down the gifts by price category. The cheap gifts are up top and the crazy expensive ones are down at the bottom. In between, you’ll find everything from special bottle collections to great cocktail kits to silly whiskey-themed holiday gear. Some of it is for the very serious alcohol aficionado and other gifts are for the passive drinker. It’s a wide net, is what we’re getting at, and we’ve made sure to tell you exactly who each item is perfect for.
Let’s dive in and find you that perfect spirits-related gift!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
- We Put A Whole Bunch Of Bourbons To A Giant Blind Test And Discovered Some Absolute Gems
- The Affordable Vs Expensive Blind Bourbon Bottle Battle
- We Blind Tasted Classic Bourbons And Were Shocked By The Winner
- The Best-Known Basic Bottles Of Bourbon, Blind Tasted And Ranked
- The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
The Budget-Friendly Stuff (Under $50)
Filthy Martini Kit
The Gift:
This is a great pack of ingredients. Filthy leans into non-GMO and sustainable practices while making a killer set of bar/cocktail garnishes, mixers, and accouterments. In this set, you’ll find: three pouches of Filthy Olive Brine, one Filthy jar of 12 olives stuffed with Wisconsin blue cheese, one Filthy jar of 12 olives stuffed with Spanish pimento pepper, and four Filthy stainless steel cocktail picks.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is great for the burgeoning home cocktail mixer who’s looking to really up their game with the good stuff to mix with. These are refined and tasty garnishes that’ll really amp up any martini from good to great.
Twist: Your Guide to Creating Inspired Craft Cocktails by Jordan Hughes
The Gift:
Jordan Hughes — better known as the High Proof Preacher on social media — just dropped his first book. The tome to at-home cocktail culture offers just over 75 recipes that range from classics to “create-your-own” riffs on modern craft cocktails. The book takes an easy approach that slowly builds your skills and bar cart as you learn along with the book.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a great book for starter at-home cocktail lovers that also works nicely for those who’ve mastered an old fashioned but want to go deeper. There are great recipes for making your own ingredients and integrating commonly learned kitchen skills into your home bar as well, which is a fantastic level-up for anyone’s home bartending game.
Asbach Dark Chocolate Squares with Brandy
The Gift:
These are classic and really hit a nostalgic spot for anyone looking for a little bit of booze in their holiday candy. The dark chocolate squares are filled with premium German Asbach brandy made with wine grapes along the Rhine River. The squares are dusted with sugar before getting individually wrapped up in gold foil.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a really good gift for anyone with a sweet tooth on your list. The dark chocolate offers the perfect counterbalance to the brightly-hued and dried fruit vibes of the brandy. It’s like taking a bite of bitter dark cacao and then getting hit with a burst of soft and boozy brandy with a hint of sugary sweetness tying it all together.
Cardenal Mendoza Solera Gran Reserva Gift Set
The Gift:
Sticking with brandy, Cardenal Mendoza Solera Gran Reserva is one of the best holiday brandy pours out there. It has a delightfully deep character (and color) that leans into holiday spice cakes, brandy-soaked raisins, and plum puddings next to sticky toffee pudding with a hint of nog spices underneath.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is for the brandy/cognac lover in your life. This is kind of like cognac taken up a notch to thick and juicy heights with a true holiday vibe from top to bottom. Check out our tasting notes here.
12 Days of Cocktails Cocktail Syrup Advent Calendar
The Gift:
This gift contains 12 unique cocktail syrups — for the 12 days of Christmas — and a 32-page cocktail book full of recipes for those syrups. Some of those syrups include wassail, cucumber lemon balm, tonic, and roasted pineapple with chili peppers. Each bottle of syrup makes about four cocktails, giving you about 48 total to enjoy over the holiday season.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is what you get for the cocktail lover in your life. It’s an easy way to amp up any cocktail with a unique and very tasty bar syrup that’ll help any spirit shine.
Editor’s Pick: Crystal Head Limited Edition Pride Bottle
The Gift:
Dan Akroyd’s vodka is as Canadian as the comedian himself. The vodka is made from Peaches and Cream Corn in Newfoundland. The distillate is filtered through a crystal known as a Herkimer diamond. The vodka is then cut with glacial water from Newfoundland and is bottled in a bespoke crystal head, colored with a rainbow to celebrate Pride worldwide.
Who It’s Perfect For:
Whether it’s the pride bottle or new Aurora bottle, these bottles are a statement piece and soon become the center of any stylish bar. Better still, the conversation point isn’t just about the bottle — the vodka itself has fared wonderfully in Uproxx’s blind taste tests. You’re getting a quality product in a bottle that grabs eyes, that’s a hell of a gift and a wonderful way to connect with new friends at any holiday party.
The Mid-Range Gifts ($50-$100)
Bevridge World Whiskies Collection
The Gift:
The second edition of the Bevridge whisky box set hit shelves just in time for holiday shopping. This edition has five whiskies (in 50ml sampler bottles) from around the world, representing every major whisk(e)y style. The whiskies in the mix are Benromach Organic Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Limavady Single Malt Irish Whiskey, Balcones Lineage Texas Single Malt Whisky, Frey Ranch Bourbon, WhistlePig PiggyBack 100% Rye Whiskey. The best part is that you can taste these whiskeys blind from the box with an excellent video guide from Bevridge to guide you along, which is easily findable in the box.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a wonderful box for anyone looking to expand their spirits and whiskey knowledge/palate. The Benromach sample is worth the price of entry alone since it’s usually over $100 easily these days for a full bottle.
Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey with The Glencairn Whisky Glass Set
The Gift:
This is a very straightforward gift. It’s a bottle of Eagle Rare 10-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (our review) with a set of two Glencairn crystal glasses, which are the best sipping/tasting glasses money can buy.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a foolproof gift for the bourbon lover in your life. If the giftee truly loves a good pour of the brown juice, then they’ll love this, especially since this is a semi-hard-to-find bottle (in some regions) that comes with the perfect glass to experience it with.
Boulevardier Kit
The Gift:
The Boulevardier is the bourbon-y sibling of the gin-y Negroni. It’s a little subtler and sweeter and doesn’t hit the same hard bitter and botanical notes of the latter cocktail. This kit is a simple assembly of Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, 1757 Vermouth di Torino Rosso (1-liter bottle), and classic Campari.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This really works for the cocktail lover in the now or someone just starting out. The flavors are bold. So there may be a little palate adjustment if Negronis aren’t already beloved. That said, this is an equal-part cocktail that needs little to no effort to make, making it easy on the novice home mixer.
Casamigos Cocktail Gift Set
The Gift:
This kit is a dailed-in set of mixers and flavored salts for making some great tequila cocktails at home. The mixers are Casamigos’ Blackberry Basil Smash Cocktail Mixer and Signature Margarita Cocktail Mixer with two salt canisters, Salty Sweet Orange Cocktail Rimmer and Pink Himalayan Salt Rimmer.
Who It’s Perfect For:
It’s always time for a light and fruity tequila cocktail, especially during the doldrums of winter when we wish we were on a sunny beach. This kit really helps the at-home cocktail wannabe amp up their game with quality ingredients that help them create truly refreshing tequila cocktails.
Jefferson’s Wood Experiment Collection
The Gift:
For this rare collection of bourbons, Master Blender Trey Zoeller worked on 13 different maturation experiments. Zoeller tinkered with char levels of oak casks, integrating wine casks, adding wood staves and cubes to barrels of whiskey, and other treatments to find something truly unique. The results were these five experimental whiskeys from Jefferson’s Bourbon.
The five bottles are:
- Experiment No. 3: “Crème Brûlée” – Aged in New American oak wine barrels with a low, deep impact toast profile which gives off a vanilla nut finish and smoky undertones.
- Experiment No. 4: “Chocolate Caramel” – Aged in new, standard whiskey barrels with a medium char, infused with heavily charred American oak cubes that exert flavors of mocha, dark chocolate, and caramel with hints of tobacco and leather.
- Experiment No. 6: “Vanilla Smoke” – Aged in new standard whiskey barrels that have a light-medium char and infused with lightly toasted American oak cubes that emit smoky honey and vanilla flavors.
- Experiment No. 10: “Southern Spice” – Aged in a custom French & American hybrid wine barrel with a low, deep impact toast profile that presents big, bold flavors of burnt caramel, plum, black pepper, and maple.
- Experiment No. 12: “Cinnamon Apple” – Aged in the original bourbon barrel with oak inserts that have been toasted over a long period of time to exert flavors of caramelized apples and plums with a bold cinnamon finish.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the gift you get for the whiskey drinker who’s always looking for something new and different. These whiskeys offer the gift recipient a chance to taste how various oak applications can greatly alter the final product, which is a great learning experience for any whiskey admirer.
Barillio Bartender Travel Bartender Kit Bag with Bar Tools
The Gift:
This is just cool. It’s a travel bartending kit that has everything you need for a home bar too. Plus, it comes with a Boston cocktail shaker, which is what the real pros use. Moreover, you can use all of this stuff at a home bar and then pack it up for easy transportation to that winter cookout, summer camping trip, out on a boat, etc.
The kit includes:
- 18/28 oz. Boston shaker
- European mixing spoon
- Muddler
- 3 pourers
- 0.75/1.5 oz jigger
- Julep strainer
- Hawthorne strainer
- Fine mesh strainer
- Zester
- Citrus squeezer
- Peeler
- Corkscrew
- Tongs
- Tweezers
Who It’s Perfect For:
This has the benefit of being great for a beginner or pro. The gear is legit and transportable in a slick aged canvas roll (like a knife roll that chefs use). At the same time, this is a really solid starter kit as it has everything you really need to get a start at making cocktails at home … or on a boat, at a campsite, in the woods, in your backyard … anywhere.
High-End Gifts (Under $500)
Jameson Whiskey Table-Top Tree
The Gift:
The Jameson tree is back, baby! This a small table-topper holiday tree made from empty Jameson bottles. To keep this from being just a decoration, this year’s tree comes with a bottle of Jameson Black Barrel Irish Whiskey to sip on as you light your Irish whiskey tree this year.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a prop, sure. But it’s a fun prop, especially for anyone looking to get that dorm-life vibe in their living room or kitchen this year. Or maybe you know someone who’s ride or die for Jameson. If so, get them this. They’ll probably keep it up all year or for the rest of their life in their basement whiskey bar.
Johnnie Walker Collection
The Gift:
You can never go wrong with giving the gift of Scotch whisky. This set includes four of the most iconic blended Scotch whiskies, well, ever. The set includes four 200ml bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label, Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve, Johnnie Walker Platinum, and Johnnie Walker Blue Label.
Check out our review of each of them here.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is for the regular Scotch whisky drinker in your life. A true diehard would probably prefer single malt whisky, but an easy-going Scotch drinker will appreciate these. That said, this included Johnnie Walker Blue Label which every whiskey drinker will like, it’s that good.
Knob Creek Small Batch Bourbon Humidor Gift Set
The Gift:
Cigars and whiskey are old partners. The tobacco flavor notes of a higher-proof whiskey often complement the spicier notes of a fine tobacco product almost too well. This set includes a full bottle of Knob Creek Small Batch 9-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey with an Ebony Humidor and a set of five cigars from five different tobacco houses across Central America and the Caribbean.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is for anyone for whom the whiskey isn’t quite enough. The added humidor and cigars make for a great sharing gift if you’re into that as well.
Holiday Entertaining Collection from ReserveBar
The Gift:
This gift falls into the ol’ “kill two birds with one stone” column. This is an instant home bar filler that’ll get someone’s bar cart on the right path.
The bottles/gear included are:
- Kavalan Classic Single Malt
- Dingle Artisan Vodka
- H by Hine
- Caorunn Gin
- Hirsch Bourbon Whiskey
- Denizen Aged White Rum 3 Years Old
- Pike Creek Canadian Whiskey
- Luxardo Original Maraschino Cherries
- 4 Markham Marquis by Waterford Double Old Fashioned Glasses
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is great for someone who always talks about getting a home bar set up but never really has invested the time (or money) to do so. In one fell swoop, you’ll have gifted someone with booze they’ll need to get mixing and pouring immediately.
Artingstall’s Brilliant London Dry Gin With Limited Edition Cocktail Kit
The Gift:
This set, from director Paul Feig’s gin company, is a classy AF gift. This feels (and looks) bespoke. There’s a gilded edge that works with the heavy wooden box, black velvet, and quality gear and gin.
The box includes:
- 2 gleaming martini glasses
- Matching cocktail shaker with strainer
- A golden bar spoon
- A stylish pocket square
- A beautiful cut glass decanter filled with hArtingstall’s Brilliant London Dry Gin
Who It’s Perfect For:
This gift is for the stylish cocktail drinker in your life. If you know someone who wears a chic suit regularly (and not just for work), this is the set for them.
Sagamore Spirit Collection Gift Set
The Gift:
Rye whiskey and American craft distilling are great partners in creating some seriously good rye whiskey these days. At the forefront of that movement is Sagamore Spirits. This kit includes three of their iconic bottles — Sagamore Spirit Signature Rye Whiskey, Sagamore Spirit Cask Strength Rye Whiskey, and Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye Whiskey — with a four-piece set of Markham Marquis by Waterford Double Old Fashioned Glasses.
Who It’s Perfect For:
If you know someone who really digs craft whiskey, then this is the play. Sagamore Spirits always delivers a great product that takes rye whiskey well beyond the “spicy notes” that it’s been known for since the 1990s.
The Premium Whisky Advent Calendar
The Gift:
This is a pretty expensive and awesome whiskey/spirit gift. This advent calendar is filled with 24 handmade wax-sealed 30ml bottles of whisk(e)y from Scotland and Ireland.
The incredible pours in this advent calendar are as follows:
- Balvenie 21-Year-Old Portwood Finish
- Caol Ila 18-Year-Old
- Glenfarclas 21-Year-Old
- Johnnie Walker Blue Label
- Talisker 18-Year-Old
- Dalmore Cigar Malt
- Singleton of Dufftown 18-Year-Old
- Glen Scotia 18-Year-Old
- Ledaig 18-Year-Old
- Loch Lomond 18-Year-Old
- House of Hazelwood 18-Year-Old
- The Glenrothes 18-Year-Old Soleo Collection
- Mortlach 20-Year-Old
- Tamdhu 15-Year-Old
- The Perspective Series 21-Year-Old, Berry Bros. & Rudd
- Jura 21-Year-Old Tide
- Arran Master of Distilling II, The Man with the Golden Glass
- J.J. Corry Anfa
- Whisky Works Quartermaster 11-Year-Old
- Crabbie 15-Year-Old
- Gulliver’s 47 10-Year-Old
- Egan’s Centenary
- Teeling 18-Year-Old The Renaissance Series 3
- Glenallachie 12-Year-Old 2009 (cask #5551) Drinks By the Dram Exclusive
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the gift you get for the true, hardcore, deep-in-their-soul whisky devotee in your life. The pours in this advent calendar are spectacular. The Mortlach 20, Talisker 18, and Dalmore Cigar Malt alone are worth the price of entry, and then you still have 21 more truly great pours to go over with this one gift.
“Sky’s The Limit” Gifts ($500 and Above)
Knob Creek Behind The Craft
The Gift:
This gift package includes a pretty staggering experience that you’ll likely never see again. First, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes, once-in-a-lifetime experience at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. with seventh and eighth-generation Master Distillers, Fred and Freddie Noe.
You’ll also get the below:
- The chance to choose a Knob Creek barrel (!) alongside the brand’s Master Distillers, that will end up bottled and on store shelves.
- A cocktail-making class to learn how to make the best Knob Creek cocktail at the new Fred B. Noe Distillery, a location not normally open to the public.
- Special previews of upcoming Knob Creek offerings.
- An intimate sit-down dinner with Fred and Freddie, including discussions of Knob Creek pairings that highlight its unique distillation process
- And more…we have to keep some of it a surprise!
Knob Creek will also send a special holiday box to the giftee to prep them for the experience and assure there’s something special to open during the holiday season.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the ultimate holiday gift pack for anyone even remotely interested in a truly unique bourbon experience.
Just to be clear, this is for the experience at Beam. Travel and hotel accommodations are not included. Tickets go on sale December 9th at Noon Eastern. There are only five experiences up for grabs.
Bozal Mezcal Advent Calendar
The Gift:
Speaking of crazy good advent calendars, this one kind of takes the cake. The calendar is populated with 24 200ml (that’s just above a 1/4 bottle size) of super rare, limited, and refined mezcals from the much beloved and lauded Bozal. The advent calendar also comes with two hand-made tasting copitas and two tealight candles for lighting when you’ve finished the calendar’s contents on the last day. This is to honor the mezcaleros who made this smoky spirit.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a great gift that will impress someone who knows their shit when it comes to booze. There’s a serious wow factor here that transcends the highest echelons of spirits knowledge and takes it somewhere new.
Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Lineup Collection Bundle
The Gift:
This is the whole Pappy line in one box. That’s wild, rare, and probably the best spirits gift on the planet right now — well, at least in American whiskey circles anyway.
That means the gift box will have the following bottles:
- Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year
- Van Winkle Special Reserve 12
- Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year
- Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13 Year
- Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year
- Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 23
Check out our reviews of each bottle here.
Who It’s Perfect For:
The whiskey investor or drinker. These bottles will increase in value, so there’s that. They’re also goddamn tasty, so there’s that too. This really is the ultimate bourbon gift that you can possibly buy in 2022.
