Finding the perfect gift for a whisky lover isn’t as easy as it sounds. With their knack for collecting all things whisky, it can be tricky to surprise them with something they don’t already own. Whether they’re an expert or just enjoy a good dram, you want a gift that speaks to their passion and adds a bit of novelty to their collection.
That’s where we come in. We’ve rounded up ten thoughtful, unique Christmas gift ideas that are sure to impress any whisky fan. From cool accessories to special bottles, there’s something here for everyone. Dive in and find the ideal Christmas gift to make their whisky moments even better.
Alternative Spirit Tasting Sets
While it’s not a given, there’s a good chance that your whisky enthusiast also has a taste for other spirits. Exploring new styles can be a great way to expand their appreciation—and yes, it can be a bit of an indulgence!
A top recommendation here is the Planteray (formerly Plantation) rum tasting set. This set includes six 10cl bottles that showcase a wide range of rum styles, all beautifully packaged in a cigar box-style presentation, with a helpful info sheet inside the lid.
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If rum isn’t their style, Ferrand also offers a Cognac tasting set. While simpler in presentation, it includes four 10cl bottles of varied Cognacs, each excellent for sipping neat or as an introduction to another dimension of spirits.
Buy the Planterary Rum Experience Box here, and the Ferrand Cognac Experience Gift Set here.
Cocktail Sets
You don’t have to love cocktails to enjoy spirits, but if your partner, family member, or friend has an extensive whisky—and possibly other spirits—collection, there’s a good chance they’re dabbling in cocktails or even getting creative with them at home. While it might mean a little more noise from ice being shaken or stirred, experimenting with cocktails can be a fun extension of their passion for spirits.
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If this sounds like something they’d enjoy, most major spirits retailers offer a wide variety of cocktail-making sets to help them dive in.
Rusty Barrel has a great range of cocktail shaker sets for beginners and aficionados.
Cocktail Ingredients
This is a huge area that can provide you with many gift ideas over many years! If you’ve already got the shaker, measurer, mixing jug, etc. you can lean heavily into other products that help make cocktails special.
So, you can explore different brands and styles of bitters – ranging from standard Angostura, to orange, cocoa, peach, ginger… everything! Then we delve into syrups and vermouth styles. Do they love an Old Fashioned cocktail? What about a wood smoker for that extra fancy step? This can keep the gift tree going for years, and for a cheaper price than a bottle of whisky…sometimes.
Glassware
You’ve no doubt already bought a Glencairn glass, a decanter, and probably a set of tumblers as well. But glassware always breaks, sadly, and there’s always a new style of glass kicking around the market these days.
A great example of this would be the NEAT glass. It has been around for a while but unites the idea of a blender’s glass and a tumbler into one simple design. You could also go for something as bold as the 1920s Professional Blenders Glass from The Whisky Exchange. It’s an intense-looking thing but has proven to be very useful when nosing whisky at home.
Buy the NEAT glass here for £12.99.
Hip Flasks
Between styles as classical as Aspinal leather-bound flasks, to glass-lined ones, and simple tweed-covered flasks – these have been very useful gifts over the years for any type of spirits drinker. Plus, they’re utilitarian gifts.
If the person you’re buying for is a keen outdoorsy adventurer, heads out to the golf course or other sporting events with friends and family, or if they want one to take to a wedding or big events, hip flasks are such a solid gift idea with a huge array of styles and covers.
A Whisky Tasting Event
Many whisky retailers or specialist whisky bars offer tasting events for small groups, making it a fantastic evening out with friends, family, or your partner. A private or public-led tasting that blends history, interesting facts, a bit of humor, and, of course, several drams to sample is an ideal way to spend an evening—just be sure to eat beforehand!
You can often customize the tasting to feature new styles, a range of whiskies from different regions, or even some unusual and unique selections. Reach out to your local whisky specialist or bar to see what they can arrange for you.
Whisky Books
When it comes to whisky, knowledge truly is power—especially when navigating its rich history and legends. While whisky lore makes for captivating stories, it’s important to have the facts straight about a spirit that’s intertwined with so much of the world’s modern history. There’s an impressive selection of books available from authors like Dave Broom, Michael Jackson, and Alfred Barnard, covering everything from whisky’s origins to distillery-specific stories and styles across countries. While some audiobooks are available on platforms like Spotify, you’ll find a wider selection in physical book form. The same applies to other spirits, like rum, Cognac, tequila, gin, and vodka, so there’s plenty to explore for any enthusiast.
An Online Course/Qualification
Does your whisky/spirits fan think they know everything about the field? Well, not only could you put this to the test, but they could also come out with an actual qualification at the end of it. There are a few different ways to go about this through the internet, but the best one by far is The Edinburgh Whisky Academy. It is a critically acclaimed and well-reviewed course that can give you a huge amount of history and detail for a fair price.
Purchase a spot on the Certificate in Scotch Whisky course by the EWA here.
Whisky/Spirits Memorabilia
Personally, I love an old whisky advert as a poster, even other classic adverts from Campari and Martini look fantastic when framed properly. The world of spirits memorabilia is huge, whether you’re looking at old adverts, ceramic jugs that were really popular in the 1980s for
some reason, Bell’s ceremonial decanters, vintage glassware, or even old scale models of racing cars covered in Johnnie Walker slogans and those classic Porsche Martini liveries. Some huge-reaching options for gift ideas like that.
A Bottle of Whisky!
If all else fails and they’ve got most of what is above, then a bottle of whatever their favorite whisky is is still a wonderful gift. If you’re unsure of what the favorite is and you’ve got no time to try and get hints, take a picture of their selection and take it to your local specialist. They can recommend something similar or something hugely different, depending on what they see in the picture. It might seem like a bit of a cop-out present, but it’s something they’re going to love!
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