Christmas Spirits Gift Guide

Christmas is mere days away and there is no better way to get in the festive mood than by spoiling yourself or your loved ones with their favourite spirits. Whether it’s whisk(e)y, rum, vodka, gin, tequila or mezcal, our Twelve Days of Christmas Spirits aka Christmas Booze Gift Guide will soon get you into the festive spirit humming along to Christmas carols.

“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…”

1. Glenfiddich 125th Anniversary Edition

Glenfiddich 125th Anniversary Edition (Peated)

The Glenfiddich 125th Anniversary Edition is the first peated expression from the Speyside distillery. Made using local peat, it lacks the maritime and salty nature of Islay whiskies and has a lovely smoky character with vibrant creamy notes and a lingering finish. This limited edition comes in a commemorative metal box with a booklet and a scroll.

2. Havana Club Selección de Maestros Rum

Havana Club Selección de Maestros

Rum is a festive drink so take it up a notch with the Havana Club Selección de Maestros Rum (45% abv). The spirit is the result of an exceptional blend that a majority of maestros have to approve. The rum is matured in older white oak casks then finished in younger fresh oak casks. With toffee, spice, nutmeg and cinnamon on the palate, this sipping rum is liquid gold, and not one to be poured into Christmas cake or used in rum balls.

3. Del Maguey Vida Mezcal

Del Maguey Vida Mezcal

Del Maguey Vida is a single village artisanal Mezcal, 100% certified organic and made using original handcrafted methods. Twice distilled in small, wood-fired copper stills, it has smoke and roast agave aromas and flavours with a long, soft finish. Equally good in cocktails as well as a sipping Mezcal.

4. Germana Cachaça 2 yo

Germana Cachaça 2 yo

Germana Cachaça 2 yo (41.6% ABV) is an artisanal and popular spirit in Brazil that is aged for two years in balsam barrels, an indigenous type of oak. It comes in a distinctive bottle wrapped in banana leaves. With fruit on the nose and an initial sweetness on the palate, it is smooth and surprisingly easy sipping. It goes really well in a caipirinha on long, hot days which makes it ideal for the Australian summer.

5. Chivas Regal 18 yo

Chivas Regal 18 yo

With some whiskies, age matters and Chivas Regal 18 yo (40% ABV) is made from different single malt blends than its younger 12 yo sibling. Retaining its Speyside character, it has ripe fruit and dark chocolate on the nose with a smooth, lingering flavour of dark chocolate. Try it in these cocktails or sip on its own with an ice sphere.

6. Beenleigh Dark Rum

Beenleigh Dark Rum

Beenleigh is Australia’s oldest rum distillery and Beenleigh Dark Rum (40% ABV) is a quality sipping rum made to be savoured. Aged for five years in small, ex-brandy vat, it is smooth with a viscosity on the palate, spiced oak, toffee apple notes and a lingering smooth and floral finish.

7. Beefeater 24 London Dry Gin

Beefeater 24 London Dry Gin

Beefeater 24 London Dry Gin (45% ABV) is made from 12 botanicals which are steeped in spirit for 24 hours. The gin usesJapanese Sencha Tea and Chinese green tea in addition to grapefruit peel, Seville orange peel, lemon peel, juniper, coriander seed, liquorice, angelica root, almond and orris root to create an aromatic gin with hints of tannin from the tea. Good in a dry Martini and and in a gin and tonic.

Check out our Top 10 Gins guide for more gin reviews.

8. Jameson Select Reserve Irish Whiskey

Jameson Select Reserve Irish Whiskey

Jameson Select Reserve Irish Whiskey (40% ABV) is a new addition to the Jameson range, a small batch whiskey made from a high proportion of Irish pot still whiskey blended with a rare small batch grain whiskey. Matured in flame-charred bourbon barrels and sherry casks gives it a richer, deeper and more caramelised flavour with a long finish that lingers with a mix of oak and spice.

9. Maker’s Mark 46

Maker’s Mark 46

Take Maker’s Mark bourbon, age it a little longer inside barrels with seared French oak staves and you’ll get Maker’s Mark 46,  a 47% ABV spirit with caramel and toasted oak flavours with a long finish on the front of the palate without a hint of bitterness. Best sipped neat, on ice for maximum enjoyment.

10. Appleton Estate Rum 12 Year Old

Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rum

The Appleton Estate 12 Year Old rum has a minimum age statement of 12 years and is a full-bodied rum. It retains the top note of orange but has a little more vanilla and oak due to spending more time in the barrel.

11. Tequila Fortaleza Blanco

Tequila Fortaleza Blanco

Tequila puts a festive spin on any occasion, and with quality agave spirit, you can forget the lick-sip-suck. Tequila Fortaleza Blanco is made in the town of Tequila, Jalisco from stone-crushed 100% estate grown Blue Agave Tequilana Weber. The bottle is hand-blown by artisan glassmakers and topped with a handmade cap that resembles the piña, or the heart of the agave plant. Smooth-sipping with an earthy minerality, a hint of pepper, citrus and sweet agave, it has a medium lingering finish.

12. Belvedere Bloody Mary Vodka

Belvedere Bloody Mary Vodka

When hangovers become part of the festive cheer, Belvedere Bloody Mary Vodka can be your best friend in the morning. Made naturally by maceration of real fruit, herbs and spices (black pepper, horseradish, bell pepper, chilli pepper, vinegar distillate, tomato and lemon) sip it neat to appreciate the taste, then use it in a Bloody Mary or in these cocktails along with a hearty bacon and eggs breakfast.

“… and a partridge in a pear tree.”