Santa is Coming – Whisky Gift Ideas
It is that time of year again when our thoughts turn to what Christmas presents to buy and for whom. Listed below are a few suggestions that might help in your search for gifts.
Up first, it has to be membership of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS). You can give a gift membership for £100.00, this is an annual subscription and includes a bottle of SMWS Whisky.
Benefits of the Society include the use of all four venues, in Leith, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. Which also allows you to sign in three guests. There you can enjoy some Single Cask, Cask Strength Scotch Whiskies and some outstanding food. The venues also have a selection of other spirits including, Bourbon, Rye, Gin, Cognac, Armagnac, Rum, and single cask Whiskies from around the world.
The venues also serve coffee, draft and bottled beers, together with a selection of fine wines.
I cannot think of any Whisky lover (who is not yet a member) who would be overjoyed at receiving this as a Christmas gift.
Please check out their website for all the information you might need, SMWS.
Second on my list is a book –
“Malt Whisky Yearbook 2025”
Edited by Ingvar Ronde
This is the only reference Whisky Book that The Whisky Boys have on their shelf. It has all the facts, news, stories and distillery details, not only Scottish Distilleries but from around the world and includes tasting notes on many bottlings. All of the statistics are detailed and concise. It is a book that you can not only use as a reference guide but as a book you can browse through with a fine dram in your hand.
Now we have Whiskies we have enjoyed this year and would be ideal gifts or stocking fillers
My surprise of 2024
Scotland mixes it up with the Caribbean. As part of the Alchemy Series, this very fine dram has some well-aged Whiskies, malt, peated malt and grain, finished in rum casks and bottled at 46.3% Abv/vol.
It is also non-chill filtered with no added colouring.
The nose is full of Caribbean fruits, vanilla, a newly cracked open coconut, away in the background is a faint hint of smoke. The taste is sweet and gentle with Cadbury’s whole nut milk chocolate bar, more vanilla, a mix combining papaya, pineapple, banana chips, coconut and cashew nuts. The finish is medium to long, with the tropical fruits being in charge, at the end comes a puff of white pepper and then that faint hint of smoke.
One of the best things about this dram is it only costs £26.75 available on our Whisky Shop.
This fine and elegant dram surprised me. It is very enjoyable and one which will be in my Whisky cupboard most days.
Other Whiskies and Gins I have enjoyed and can recommend are:-
Aberlour A’bunadh
Ardbeg Wee Beastie
Kilchoman – Machir Bay
Deanston – Virgin Oak
Roe & Co Blended Irish Whiskey
Nc’nean Organic Single Malt
Ardnahoe Inaugural Release
Bunnahabhain 12 Years Old
Johnnie Walker – Double Black
Chivas Regal 18 Years Old Blended Whisky
The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
Harris Gin
Tanqueray No. TEN Gin
Tobermory Hebridean Gin
Barra Distillers Atlantic Gin
Hills and Harbour Gin
Beinn an Tuirc – Kintyre Gin
Glaswegin Original London Dry Gin – Premium Scottish Craft Gin
Roku Suntory – Japanese Craft Gin
Check out the Whisky Boys website and click on or shop where most of these Whiskies and gins will be available.
Let’s chat About some Whisky Distilleries. Remember most distilleries will be on winter hours for visits and tours. If you manage to have time to visit some distilleries over the festive period please check online for their opening hours.
A great gift from some distilleries is “fill your own”. This is where they have a single cask in the visitor centre and you will be able to fill your own bottle, label it and put any legend on it. Nicola and I have loved one of our favourite distilleries, Glen Moray, who have at least two casks in their visitor centre for filling your own.
Don’t forget to enjoy your drams responsibly.