From peat-heavy winter warmers to collector-grade indulgences, The Arbuturian’s tipples maestro Tom Bangay rounds up the bottles worth pretending are “for someone else” this Christmas – and a few you’ll secretly hope to keep for yourself…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! By which I mean, the time of year where you can legitimately spend hours browsing whisky and pretend you’re buying it for other people. On the off-chance you are buying for someone else, here are my picks for the 2025 festive season.
Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch 11
First, something seasonal. When it’s cold and dark, that means peat for breakfast, peat for lunch, peat for dinner and a peaty nightcap. When I was last in Edinburgh trying to track down remaining bottlings of the Longrow Red, I happened upon this as the next best thing. But this is no also-ran: it’s a gorgeous colour, with a bit of sweetness on the way in before the peat lands and rings your bell. Reasonably priced and highly recommended. Visit www.kilkerran.scot for details.
Eden Mill Whisky Collection
If your giftee has changeable taste, I can’t think of many better ways to cover their whims than this bundle from Eden Mill. You’ll get their single malt two big boys – the Sherry Cask and the Bourbon Cask – plus their (excellent) blend for those not ready for the single malt. They also throw in their smoked salt sugar syrup which makes for fine Old Fashioneds and Rob Roys, PLUS two Glencairn glasses and glass pipette. Even the most robust of family gathering will struggle to see all that off by New Years’. Terrific value, even better taste. For more information and inspiration, visit www.edenmill.com.
Tamnavulin 17 from Saltire Rare Malt
The bottling wizards at Saltire rare are going big on Christmas this year. Their tree is huge, they’ve already watched Home Alone, and they’ve launched a Christmas-themed 17-year-old single malt, drawn from a 2nd fill European Oak Hogshead, seasoned with Oloroso sherry. You can practically smell the chestnuts roasting. It’s no gimmick though – Tamnavulin 17 is a serious drink, bottled at 48.8%. It’s easy drinking (because Tamnavulin is always effortless) but incredibly good, and with only 247 – scratch that, 61 – bottles left, you don’t want to miss out. For more information, and to get your hands on the last few, visit www.edenmill.com.
Elements of Islay blend
An Islay blend? Have I completely lost the plot? Au contraire – I had this in Edinburgh recently and can’t stop thinking about it. It’s incredibly reasonably priced for a cask edit that crashes together fruitness and smokiness so elegantly. You could sip down the whole bottle with friends over a festive rewatch of Die Hard. A really solid addition to any whisky fan’s cabinet. Find out more at www.islay.com.
Pappy van Winkle Santa Edition
At the more challenging end of the pricing spectrum is the Santa edition from unimpeachable bourbon royalty, Pappy van Winkle. This is ‘Santa’ themed only in that they accidentally added red foil rather than black when preparing it in 2017, but its rarity and sheer quality mean it’s a superb choice for collectors. Needless to say, if you have the dollars in the bank to actually drink it … well, prepare your palette for something truly special. If any of my family is reading and wondering what I want for Christmas … this is it. Available from www.topbourbon.com.
Linkwood 15-year-old
Like ‘It’s a wonderful life’ or ‘Elf’, and certainly not like ‘Love Actually’, this is an absolute classic. Gordon & Macphail rarely miss with these independent bottlings, and this is a wonderful dram, matured in refill sherry casks for a gorgeous festive-adjacent finish. It comes in around 46% and is a classy number that you won’t want to share with relatives you don’t really like that much. Save it for your post-turkey digestive and enjoy. Available from www.royalmilewhiskies.com.
Craigellachie 19-year-old
This was recommended by a friend and when I tasted it to verify, I felt our friendship renewed. At 46% it’s a little more stiff than the 17-year-old, with biscuity-sweet richness but a smoky finish that shows off that charred oak. Grab it for the special someone in your life but then make them slosh a giant glass out for you when they open it. Enjoy! Available from www.masterofmalt.com.
Header photo by Jack Baxter (courtesy of Unsplash)
