Month: December 2017

More Bourbon-Themed Gifts

~ Bill Thornley ~ Leave a comment

As you finish up your holiday shopping, as promised here are a few more whiskey themed gift ideas. Helping to stock the bar is always a great option!

One website I visit over and over to look at all the great gifts they offer is Bourbon and Boots. One of the items they have that I just love are the rocks glasses with whiskey related sayings from writers, generals, presidents, & Hollywood stars. These are some fun sayings and makes drinking out of them even more festive.

Mark-Twain-Too-Much-Quote-Whiskey-Legend-Etched-Rocks-Glasses_1024x1024

Earlier this week I made a trip to my favorite liquor store – Hi-Time Wine Cellars. They have several seasonal gifts that you can buy through their website, or likely find at your favorite liquor store.  The first is the holiday bottle from Woodford Reserve. Woodford has been releasing a special Kentucky Derby bottle for years and this year they released a Holiday bottle. The painting on the label is named “Snowfall at Woodford Reserve Distillery.” It was painted by Thomas Allen Pauly. He also did the paintings for the last 2 Kentucky Derby bottles and was featured on my blog earlier this year. It is a very warm and inviting painting of a limestone barrel house at Woodford Reserve. His paintings are known for his attention to detail and the details show through here with the evergreens lining the warehouse wall. The label draws you to the bottle and partners well with the beautiful color of their bourbon. It invokes thoughts of a great sip of bourbon while sitting by the Christmas tree. This could be made even better with a fire in fireplace and a little early snow falling outside. These bottles are selling for $44.99 at Hi-Time Wine Cellars.

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Hi-Times is also offering a bottle of Woodford reserve with a branded rocks glass in a gift box for $26.99. It is a 750 mL bottle and 1 glass. That is a very good deal, and one any bourbon lover would appreciate.

WRGS

My final suggestion is from Makers Mark. I found a Makers gift set at Spec’s in Texas that was a bottle of Makers Mark and Makers 46 in the same box. You will find many stores have these holiday offerings. The offer at Hi-Time Wine Cellars has a box of with Makers Mark 46 and 2 glasses. This too is a very good deal at $31.97. You will pay more than that for a bottle of Makers 46 most of the year.

MM

Whatever you do, “drink responsibly this holiday season.” But do toast your friends with a glass of your finest bourbon and a gift that will remind them of your friendship for months to come. Merry Christmas to all, and a very Happy New Year!

Some Bourbon Gift Ideas

~ Bill Thornley ~ 1 Comment

With the holidays upon us, I will be spending the next 20 or so days sharing ideas for the whiskey lover in your life, or your personal bar cart. You will see a little bit of everything spirits related.   I hope to give you a lot of ideas for that last minute shopping, or those stumped for ideas. I made 2 stops over the weekend that were whiskey related and found some good deals that would make for good gift giving or just generally stocking up.

My first stop was Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s has always been known for their wine selection and wine bargains such as “Two Buck Chuck.” In California, and other states that allow it, have started carrying more spirits and I was intrigued by 2 in particular. They have their own Trader Joe’s branded Bourbon. It’s a fun bottle and label and has a beautiful deep mahogany color. There is no information on the bottle as to who distilled and bottled it. But I was told by one of their associates that she looked up the distillery code on the box and it is Buffalo Trace. When I got home I compared the color to the bottle of Buffalo Trace I have and it looks similar. At a price point of $14.99 it is certainly worth the risk. If not a great sipper at $14.99 it is still a good mixer. I will review in an upcoming blog, I haven’t opened it yet.

TJ Bourbon on Shelf

TJ Bourbon

The other is the Trader Joe’s Branded bottle of Glen Moray 14-year old Single Malt Scotch. Where do you find a 14-year old scotch for $29.99? My Aunt Pat loves Glen Moray and swears by its taste and finish against many other single Malt’s. I have to take her word for it, I am not a single malt guy.

The second stop I made was Total Wine. Total Wine has a totally amazing selection of wine. They also have a huge selection of spirits, and particularly whiskey of all kinds. During my visit i picked up one of my favorites to keep around for mixing – Evan Williams Black.Great to have handy for holidays parties! A 1.75L is on sale right now for $14.99. Stock up for the coming year at that price. Whiskey Advocate Magazine picked Evan Williams Black as their best bargain in bourbon a few years ago. The article suggested at the price point you can’t beat it for sipping or mixing. It’s a good bourbon, and for the holidays if you are making holiday cocktails it will go a long way at that price.

Evan Williams Black

They also have Elijah Craig Small Batch for $24.99. Whiskey Advocate just picked Elijah Craig Small Batch as their #1 Whiskey of the Top Whiskies in the world for 2017. Need I say more? Why are you still reading my blog and not in the car?

Elijah Craig

I strolled over to their wine section looking for whiskey barrel finished red wines. Are you seeing a theme here? I immediately saw a gift box from Cooper & Thief. It’s a bottle of their red wine blend in a box with 2 rocks glasses. On the box it says, “Red wine stashed in bourbon barrels. Enjoy in whiskey glasses.” I thought that was very creative. Why not enjoy a wine finished in bourbon barrels in whiskey glasses, makes sense to me? And they are good looking etched glasses to boot. This set sells for $30.99. I first saw this California wine in Richmond when we were visiting our daughter. Total Wine’s description of the wine is, “A daring red blend aged for 3 months in bourbon barrels which produces a complex and smooth, well-rounded wine. Dark and jammy with bourbon-inspired flavors that give way to soft tannins and a long, lingering finish.”

Cooper3

My last offering today is 1000 Stories. You may have seen it elsewhere it has a very broad distribution. I bought several bottles the first time I saw it and I love it. It’s a bourbon barrel aged Zinfandel. They have an American Bison on their label and 1000 Stories is involved in American Bison conservation. To bring the story home, bison used to roam Kentucky, and the Midwest. To me, aging the wine in bourbon barrels, and having a silver bison on their beautiful black label brings it all home for me.

1000 Label

Happy shopping! Let me know what great gift ideas you have, or see, while out on the trail.  I am heading back out later tonight. I will let you know what I find. Cheers, and stay tuned.