The Best Whiskeys for Holiday Gift Giving

As the popularity and appreciation for a craft cocktail and high-quality spirits have risen, more people have begun to appreciate them. Most of us have a person on our holiday shopping list who appreciates a good whiskey, but how do you choose the perfect gift? Sure, you could choose their usual brand and get a bottle of that, but why not branch out and find them a whiskey that may turn out to be their new favorite? We have some suggestions for you.

Roughstock Montana Straight Rye Whiskey

The double-distilled Roughstock Montana Straight Rye Whiskey is made from 100% rye grain mash bill and aged in heavily charred virgin American white oak barrels.

Toffee and spice permeate the nose with coriander, orange peel, and pumpkin spice. On the palate, there is fresh mint, more toffee, cinnamon, and slight butterscotch. The finish is a dazzling array of mint and toffee with a slightly smoky oak underpinning. Broad, long, deep, flavor throughout this whiskey with a strong finish.

In short, this is a dry yet spicy rye whiskey. Roughstock is Montana’s first distillery in more than 100 years and they’ve set a standard for the state.

Kings County Chocolate Whiskey

Straight from the oldest distillery in New York, the award-winning King’s County Distillery has a wide range of products, our pick is their Chocolate Whiskey. While a chocolate whiskey may seem like an odd choice, once you taste it, you’ll understand. It doesn’t taste like candy rather, it has more of a bittersweet taste like a good dark chocolate perfect for sipping or in a cocktail. If the chocolate seems like a stretch for your gift recipient, opt for the gift set which features not only the Chocolate Whiskey, but also the Bourbon Whiskey, and the Moonshine.

Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project

For more than 200 years, Buffalo Trace has been dedicated to crafting quality bourbon. Its most inventive experiment yet, is the Single Oak Project.

It started with 96 individually selected American oak trees. These trees were carefully chosen with special consideration for the thickness of the wood grain. Then, staves were made from these trees and kept close together for seasoning. Not just staves of the same tree, but staves of the same half of the tree, both bottom and top, were then made into single oak barrels and uniquely charred.

After that, the barrels were filled with five different whiskeys and aged. The result is an impressive and unique whiskey.

Michter’s 20

This is a limited run single barrel, bourbon aged 20 years. The limited production means you’ll spend more, but it’ll be worth it because a properly-aged bourbon delivers a more full-bodied mouthfeel and a long, lingering finish. Not only is this a high-quality bourbon whiskey, it is one steeped in history as it is produced by what is believed to be the first distillery established in what is now the United States – yes, it’s older than the country itself! The original facility, Bomberger’s Distillery, is located in Pennsylvania near Schaefferstown, but it has been in disrepair for years. However, it is now part of Michter’s Distillery which is located in Kentucky and they hope to refurbish the original Bombarder’s and open a micro-distillery at the site.

Balvenie 50

If money is no object for your whiskey lover, splurge on the bottle that retails (if you can get your hands on one) for $30,000-45,000, Balvenie 50. The 50 means that it has aged for 50 years. While Balvenie is known for great quality in their scotches that have aged 12 years, their 50-year-aged scotch is coveted by all who appreciate quality and their single malt scotches consistently rank as one the top investment-grade whiskeys in the world. Located in Dufftown, Scotland, and owned by William Grant & Sons, the Balvenie Distillery is also a dream destination for the aficionado.

Choosing the right whiskey for the whiskey lover on your list can be a daunting task, which will you choose? Some distilleries are moving toward making their operations more sustainable, for more on this, read about the trend of sustainable Scottish whiskey.