Christmas isn’t too far away now, and it seems there’s a non-chocolate advent calendar for every taste. From Lego to hot sauce, there are tons of options for tailoring an advent gift to your loved one. And who doesn’t love the joy of getting a small gift every day in the run up to Christmas day?
For the whisky fans in your life, Drinks by the Dram is offering a gorgeous advent set featuring 25 drams of carefully selected peaty whiskies for £129.89. That’s right, there’s even a door to open on Christmas day — technically, that’s cheating, but it’s unlikely whisky lovers will mind.
The calendar is beautifully presented in black with gold detailing, speaking to the attention to detail running right through it. The 25 wax-sealed drams cover a curated host of peaty whiskies from leading distilleries, both from Scotland and beyond. Laphroaig, Balvenie, Teeling, Ledaig and more are accounted for, surely covering some names and products that will be new to even the most seasoned distillery tourists.
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Drinks by the Dram has produced several well-regarded whisky selection boxes over the years. And if peaty whiskies aren’t to your taste, the brand also stocks a more general Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar with a broader variety. “Amazing selection of whiskeys. A much more interesting collection instead of the generic typical selections you get from other places,” said a five-star Amazon review for its 12-dram whisky collection.
“He was really impressed with the packaging, the tasting notes and the different whiskies. I would definitely buy this selection again,” another five-star review said of their Regions of Scotland Whisky Set.
The Islay Whisky Tasting Selection drew similar plaudits: “I got the set as a gift and everything from the thick cardboard of the box to the high-quality labels and wax seals on the mini bottles made it something special. Didn’t get to try the whisky but I was told (repeatedly) that it was excellent.”
On occasion, it seems the selections don’t quite match what’s listed on the box, with a four-star review for the Japanese Whisky Tasting Set noting: “Whilst there are 5 samples in the box the two that I particularly wanted to taste are not there, there are two substitutes in the box. Very disappointing.” Another noted that there’s a particular knack to unsealing Drinks by the Drams samples: “I had a couple that had floaty wax bits in them as it snapped off the screw cap into the glass, though this wasn’t much of a problem after I took more care afterwards.”
If you’re looking for something similar, this Whisky Tour of the World Miniature Set is £159.95 — a broad selection, with bigger samples than the Drinks by the Dram advent set. There’s also this £32.95 Single Malt Tasting Set from the Whisky Tasting Company, a more low-key option that nevertheless comes with a lovely selection.