A bottle of bourbon is one of the easier Christmas presents to get right, as long as you know what the person already drinks. Someone who mixes a bourbon and cola wants something different from someone who stirs an Old Fashioned on a Friday night, and both want something different from a collector with a shelf of American whiskey. This guide picks single bottles from our bourbon range, leads with the Willett family of labels from Bardstown, Kentucky, and says who each bottle suits.
Quick picks
- Willett 12 Year Bourbon Special Edition at 60 per cent: a 12 year old Willett single barrel bourbon, for the collector or serious bourbon drinker.
- Rowan's Creek at 50.05 per cent: a Willett family label with a story on the bottle, for someone ready to step up from the everyday brands.
- Eagle Rare 10 Year at 45 per cent: a Kentucky straight bourbon with a ten year age statement, for someone who likes a name they recognise.
How to pick a bourbon gift: proof, age and what they mix
Three questions narrow the choice quickly.
How strong do they like it? American labels must give strength as alcohol by volume, and many give proof as well. Under the American rules, proof is twice the percentage of alcohol by volume, so 100 proof is 50 per cent. Bourbon at 43 to 45 per cent is easy to sip neat or over ice. Above 50 per cent it carries more flavour and more heat, and many people add a few drops of water or pour it over a large cube. If you are not sure, stay in the low to mid forties.
Do they care about age? American labelling rules require an age statement on any whisky aged less than four years, unless it is labelled bottled in bond, and the age on the label is the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle. Plenty of excellent bourbon carries no age statement at all. An age on the label matters most to a collector.
What do they do with it? A bourbon and cola drinker does not need a rare bottle. An Old Fashioned maker gets more out of a stronger bourbon that still tastes of itself under sugar and bitters. A Manhattan drinker may prefer rye, which we cover below.
Bourbon is a distinctly American product: under American law the word may not be used for any whisky not distilled and aged in the United States. Our guide to the types of bourbon explains straight, bottled in bond, small batch and the rest of the label language.
The Willett family: what the names on the shelf are
Willett Distillery, the trading name of Kentucky Bourbon Distillers Ltd, sits on Loretto Road in Bardstown, Kentucky. Willett says Thompson Willett established the distillery in 1936, that the family's whiskey legacy began long before, with Thompson learning the craft through his father and grandfather, and that the distillery remains family owned and operated by Thompson Willett's grandchildren. Willett names Drew Kulsveen as its master distiller and a fifth generation whiskey maker.
That family explains why so many different names on our shelf lead back to one place. Willett lists Old Bardstown, Kentucky Vintage, Johnny Drum Private Stock, Rowan's Creek, Pure Kentucky and the Willett Family Estate bottlings among its family's whiskey collection, and publishes mash bills for them on its own site. Our Willett bottles are together in Willett.
The rare one: Willett 12 Year at 60%
The display piece. Willett Pot Still Reserve at 47 per cent is the bottle to give someone who will keep it on show. Willett describes the bottle as an exact replica of the patented Willett pot still built by Vendome Copper and Brass, so the shape itself is the point. It suits the bourbon drinker with a home bar or a bookshelf that needs a centrepiece, and anyone who likes a present that looks the part before it is opened.
For the collector. Willett 12 Year Bourbon Special Edition at 60 per cent is the serious present in this guide. Its label reads Family Estate Bottled Single Barrel Bourbon, with the age, barrel number and strength written in: 12 years, and 60 per cent, or 120 proof. At that strength it is a bottle for slow, small pours with a little water, and for someone who already knows what they like in bourbon. If the person on your list reads labels before they read the card, this is the one.
Everyday Kentucky bottles that still look like a present
Not every bourbon gift needs to be rare. These three are for people who drink bourbon regularly and would rather open a good bottle than admire one.
The bartender's bottle. Old Bardstown at 45 per cent is, in Willett's words, the foundation for many of the cocktails at The Bar at Willett and a favourite among bartenders. Willett gives its mash bill as 72 per cent corn, 13 per cent rye and 15 per cent barley. It suits someone who drinks bourbon both neat and mixed.
Smooth and easy. Kentucky Vintage at 45 per cent blends two mash bills, 85 per cent of the 72, 13 and 15 recipe and 15 per cent of a higher corn recipe. Willett says the commingling gives "a mellow balance of flavor". It suits someone newer to sipping bourbon.
The easy one. Johnny Drum Black Label at 43 per cent is labelled Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Old Fashioned Sour Mash. It is the lightest of these three and suits the bourbon and cola drinker.
Over 50%, for the Old Fashioned maker
An Old Fashioned is mostly bourbon, so the bourbon has to carry it. These three are all above 50 per cent and suit someone who stirs their own.
Rowan's Creek. Rowan's Creek at 50.05 per cent, or 100.1 proof, has a label Willett says was hand drawn by Even Kulsveen, in honour of the creek that runs through the family distillery. Willett describes "a smooth approachability" to it. It suits someone moving up from the everyday brands.
Johnny Drum Private Stock. Johnny Drum Private Stock at 50.5 per cent was, Willett says, developed by Thompson Willett in the 1960s. Willett describes its "retro look and timeless rye forward flavor": 35 per cent of the blend is a higher rye recipe of 52 per cent corn, 38 per cent rye and 10 per cent barley. It suits the drinker who likes spice in their bourbon.
Pure Kentucky. Pure Kentucky at 53.5 per cent is the strongest of these three, with 15 per cent of the same higher rye recipe in the blend. It suits someone who likes a big bourbon and is happy to add water.
For the drink itself, our Christmas cocktails guide covers the Old Fashioned and the rest of the summer list.
Rye for the Manhattan
The International Bartenders Association's official Manhattan is built on rye: 50 ml rye whiskey, 20 ml sweet red vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, stirred with ice, strained into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished with a cocktail cherry. If the person on your list makes Manhattans, or likes their whiskey spicier, a rye may suit them better than a bourbon. More options are in Rye Whisky.
Willett Family Rye. Willett Family Estate Small Batch 4 Year Rye is, in Willett's words, made to mimic "the flavor profile of a historic Maryland rye whiskey style". It commingles two rye mash bills, 90 per cent of it 74 per cent rye, and Willett says it is bottled at cask strength. It suits a rye drinker who likes it bold.
Michter's US 1 Rye. Michter's US 1 Kentucky Straight Rye at 42.4 per cent is distilled and bottled in Kentucky, and Michter's says every bottle comes from a single barrel. Its tasting notes are spice with peppery notes, citrus, butterscotch and oak. At that strength it suits a Manhattan maker, or a rye drinker who sips it neat.
Other names they'll know
Sometimes the right present is a label the person already recognises. These four come from other producers.
Eagle Rare 10 Year. Eagle Rare Aged 10 Years at 45 per cent is a Kentucky straight bourbon from Buffalo Trace Distillery, aged for a full decade. The producer describes toffee, orange peel, herbs, honey, leather and oak on the nose, candied almonds and rich cocoa on the palate, and a dry, lingering finish. It suits someone who wants an age statement from a name they know.
Buffalo Trace. Buffalo Trace Bourbon at 40 per cent is a Kentucky straight bourbon named, the distillery says, for the ancient buffalo paths that led early pioneers west, one of which runs through the distillery site. It is the safe, familiar choice for someone whose taste you do not know well.
Widow Jane 15 Year. Widow Jane The Vaults at 49.5 per cent comes from Widow Jane in Brooklyn, New York. Its label reads Aged 15 Years, A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys. Widow Jane says its whiskeys are proofed with limestone mineral water from the Rosendale Mines of New York, and that each annual edition of The Vaults features a different finishing wood. It suits the collector who has the Kentucky names already.
FEW. FEW Straight Bourbon Whiskey at 46.5 per cent is made grain to glass in Evanston, a Chicago suburb that FEW notes became known as the headquarters of the temperance movement. FEW describes a three grain recipe with "the spiciness of northern rye and a touch of malt". It suits someone who likes a craft label and a good story.
Buying for a whisky drinker more generally? Our whisky for Christmas guide covers Scotch, Japanese and Australian bottles, and our spirits gift guide matches bottles to personalities. The wider range sits in Whisky.
Where to start
- The collector: Willett 12 Year Bourbon Special Edition or Widow Jane The Vaults.
- A name they will recognise: Eagle Rare 10 Year or Buffalo Trace.
- The Old Fashioned maker: Rowan's Creek or Johnny Drum Private Stock.
- Someone who likes it big: Pure Kentucky.
- New to sipping bourbon: Kentucky Vintage or Old Bardstown.
- The bourbon and cola drinker: Johnny Drum Black Label.
- The Manhattan drinker: Michter's US 1 Rye or Willett Family Rye.
- A craft label: FEW Straight Bourbon.
The full range sits on our Bourbon page, and we deliver to every Australian state and the ACT.