Holiday Gift Giving 2025

The holidays are upon us and it is the time of the year when people want to purchase bottles of whiskey for gifts. There are a variety of reasons for the gift giving. It may be that you want to take a bottle to a party or give a bottle as a secret Santa or maybe to a whiskey loving good friend or relative. I thought I would suggest a bottle of Bourbon and a Bottle of Rye whiskey in three different price points – under $50.00, under $100.00 and over $100.00.

The under $50.00 is easy. The Bourbon is Old Grand Dad Bottled-in-Bond. It is about $25.00 or less and is an excellent Bourbon to take to a party or give as a secret Santa. For the Rye whiskey I have picked Michter’s Rye Whiskey. It is about $45.00 but worth every penny. It is a barely “legal” rye with a high corn content, but still has a great rye whiskey flavor.

The under $100 category is a bit harder to pick. There are a multitude of excellent whiskeys to choose from. I have settled on the Peerless Toasted Oak Bourbon at $87.00 for the Bourbon. For the Rye whiskey I chose the Willett Family Estate Rye at $54.00 MSRP. These whiskeys make a solid gift for any whiskey lover.

The over $100.00 category is also harder for me. There are several great Bourbons that fit into this category, but I find it hard to justify spending that much money when there are a multitude of great whiskeys for under $100. The one that I do feel is worth the money is the Michter’s 10 year old single Barrel Bourbon. For the Rye whiskey I chose Kentucky Owl 10 year old rye. Both are excellent products but they can be hard to find and often have inflated prices.

As a bonus pick, I thought I would recommend a Bourbon for the cigar smoker. I have found that the Four Roses Bourbon at 80 proof (and a marriage of all ten of the Four Roses recipes) makes a great pairing with a cigar. I have yet to find a cigar that did not bring out additional flavors in the Bourbon and the Bourbon always enhances the smoke of the cigar. When you consider the under $20.00 price range for Four Roses, It makes for an excellent gift.These are my suggestions for holiday gift giving this year.