Last Updated on December 4, 2025 by Heather Wibbels

TL;DR — Quick Bourbon Gift Guide (2025 Edition)

If you don’t know what bourbon to buy, don’t panic. This guide breaks down what not to do, how to choose smartly without overspending, and bourbon-lover gifts that always land. Whether your person loves great bottles, Old Fashioneds, books, cocktails, or experiences, this list gets you in and out of the store quickly.

First thing: put down the whiskey stones and shot glasses. Let’s get real about gifts for whiskey geeks and bourbon lovers.

Jump to a Section

• Bourbon Buying 101
• Bottles That Make Great Gifts
• Glassware & Bar Tools
• Ice Molds and Flight Boards
• Bourbon Cocktail Nerd Gifts
• Whiskey Experiences
• Bourbon Gifts for Foodies
• Bourbon Books
• Sensory Kits
• How to Choose When You Have No Clue

Bourbon Buying 101 (Start Here)

It’s that time of year when every whiskey enthusiast starts getting frantic emails and messages, “My Mom (Dad, Uncle, Best Friend, Niece, etc.) loves bourbon and I want to get them a bottle they’ll love. Where can I buy a bottle of Pappy (Blantons, Weller, Henry McKenna, Antique Collection, Parker’s Heritage, Michter’s 20, Birthday Bourbon, etc.)?” This bourbon gift guide updated for 2025 answers all your questions about buying for the bourbon lover.

Don’t Go Hunting for Unicorn Bottles

If your whiskey lover drops names like Pappy, Weller, Blanton’s, or anything someone once bragged about on TikTok, skip it. Those bottles are allocated, inflated, and basically impossible for casual shoppers. You’ll spend too much and likely pick the wrong expression anyway.

Instead: buy something drinkable and accessible, not something impossible to find.

Don’t Buy the First Bottle Someone Hands You

Retail shops vary wildly. Some have knowledgeable staff; others just want to move inventory. Ask one smart question:

“Do you personally drink bourbon? What bottle under $80 offers great flavor and is easy for most drinkers to love?”
This keeps you away from gimmicks, dusty bottles, and under-aged craft experiments.

Don’t Chase Proof for Proof’s Sake

High-proof bourbon impresses people who already like high proof bourbon. And chasing the newly coined category “hazmat” bourbon (140+ proof) is a losing battle as many sacrifice flavor and structure for heat. If you’re shopping for someone whose palate you don’t know well but already has an extensive collection, aim for 95–120 proof. That’s the range where bourbon shows personality without overwhelming new or casual drinkers. For someone who’s just starting their bourbon journey, aim for 90-100 proof.

Bottles That Make Great Gifts

Single Barrel Picks (The Most Foolproof Gift)

Single barrels are unique — no two barrels produce the same whiskey. Stores and bourbon clubs pick their favorites, slap a sticker on it, and sell it as a limited release. The largest, most widely available brands work with local stores and venues to sell individual barrels only available at the outlet. It’s a great way to get a bottle from a brand they love, but that will be unique to enjoy!

Note that you can do this with most any medium to large sized brand that has a wide distribution across the country. If you don’t know what brands they love, stalk them a bit to uncover their daily drinker (that they reach for when it’s not a special occasion)

Why it’s a great gift:

• Personal and unique
• Usually better value than “premium” bottles
• Often include tasting notes on the label
• Make your gift look thoughtful (even if it was fast)

Look for:

• Elijah Craig Single Barrel
• Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel
• Four Roses Private Selections
• Knob Creek Single Barrel Store Picks

Do they love unique bottles? Shop Local!

Head to a local craft distillery, something that’s regional or only available in your state. Select a great single barrel or ask their staff to help you determine what best fits their palate. Even if it doesn’t turn out to be their favorite sip of the night, you get to look like a hero because you brought them something won’t already have on the shelf and that gets them a new brand in their collection.

Bourbons Under $80 That Almost Everyone Likes

When you want a bourbon that’s balanced, accessible, and reliably delicious, the $40–$80 range is your safest zone. This is where most distilleries offer their most consistent pours — bottles with enough complexity to feel special but easy enough to love without deep bourbon knowledge.

Look for options that land around 90–110 proof, have clear tasting notes on the label, and come from brands with a strong reputation for consistency. Ask your local shop what they recommend for “a crowd-pleasing gift” and compare a few notes.

• Green River Wheated Bourbon (and their Full Proof expression)
• Wild Turkey 101 8 Year (or Rare Breed – which I always have on my shelf)
• Lucky Seven Bourbon (Holiday Toast and The New Yorker specifically)
• New Riff 8 year Bourbon (If they love rye, look for New Riff’s 6 Year Straight Malted Rye expression, it is delicious)
• Pursuit United Double Oaked Bourbon (especially if you know they like other Double Oaked Bourbons)

Other Great Bottle Ideas for the Whiskey Nerd

• Buy a Bottle Made Locally: If you’re buying a gift for someone in a different location, state or region, find a bourbon they likely haven’t tasted that’s made in your region.
• Buy a Huge Bottle of Their Daily Drinker: If you know what bourbons your friend loves, and what they drink more of than anything else, a huge bottle of their daily drinker dressed up with a holiday bow or wrapped in a fun holiday onesie will always be a favorite gift.
• Customized Labels: Some distilleries like Makers Mark can print and ship customized labels for you to add to a bottle. Every bourbon drinker loves to see their name on a bottle.
• Buy a Single Barrel, Top Expression or Specialty Bottle from their Favorite Distillery

Glassware & Bar Tools

Glencairns & Tasting Glasses

Glencairns remain the gold standard for nosing bourbon. If your person loves analyzing flavors, this is the right choice.

• Set of 6 Glencairn glasses
• Gift set of 2 in a Travel Case – perfect for people who taste on the go

Also great:

• Set of 4 Libbey Kentucky Bourbon Trail Glasses – a wider mouth to ease the concentrations of aromas for American whiskies
• NEAT – ultimate spirits glass, set of 2

Ice Molds & Flight Boards

Perfect for Old Fashioned lovers. A set of clear ice molds, a simple flight board, or a trio of tasting cups makes any home bar feel “elevated.”

• Combo Big Cubes and 2.5” sphere molds: https://amzn.to/3lmIqnI
• Two 8 Large Format Cube trays: https://amzn.to/2Vh9nye 
• Clear Ice Cube maker: https://amzn.to/44Ro8vV

Flight boards let whiskey lovers sip on multiple expressions at time to compare them and find their favorites:

• Three glencairns and a flight board of reclaimed barrel wood: https://amzn.to/37j8cnL
• Five glencairns on a barrel stave flight board: https://amzn.to/2JcvSCl 
• Three glencairns on a barrel stave flight board: https://amzn.to/2JpsYKi 

You can also search Esty for hundreds of options of whiskey flight board to fill a hundred bourbon gift guides.

Bourbon Cocktail Nerds Will Love These

Have a person to shop for who loves making bourbon cocktails? A great set of gorgeous coupes or any of the following will be loved:

• My book, of course: Bourbon Is My Comfort Food
• Bitters Sampler Packs like Woodford Reserve’s, Scrappy’s and Bitter Truth
• A gorgeous, cut glass mixing glass for old fashioneds and Manhattans
• Cocktail Smoking kit

Give a Bourbon Experience

Whiskey lovers enjoy learning about whiskey almost as much as they love drinking it. Some distilleries offer high-end experiences, from day long classes in bourbon education and tastings to whiskey tasting flights of their harder to find expressions. 

• Gift certificate to Moonshine University – either for their online Bourbon Steward Certification or their Executive Bourbon Steward certification taught in person at their location in Louisville.
• Distillery tour + tasting experience
• Private cocktail class (virtual or in-person) (Contact me for more information on a bespoke, private class)
• A curated bourbon flight from a local bar
• Whiskey-and-chocolate pairing (virtual or in-person) (Contact me for more information on a bespoke, private class)
• Old Fashioned or bitters class with me, the Cocktail Contessa (Contact me for more information on a bespoke, private class)

If you aren’t close to one of the major distilleries, and your bourbon lover hasn’t been on a distillery tour, getting to tour and taste at one of the smaller, local craft distilleries is still a fabulous adventure. A gift certificate for a tour or two can be even better than a bottle.

Bourbon Gifts for the Foodies

• Bourbon Chocolates: Arteatables in Louisville, Kentucky They are hands-down the best chocolate gift you can give a whiskey lover.
  • 12 Days of Bourbon 2025 – a 12 bourbon truffle selection made with rare or impossible to source bourbons like Elijah Craig 18 Single Barrel, Vintage Ancient Ancient Age, King of Kentucky, Pappy van Winkle and more. Only a limited amount are made each year, so order soon.
  • Small Batch Bourbon Truffles featuring bourbons from across the state.
  • Truffle Collections featuring selections from the Bourbon Trail or Bourbon Country

• Bourbon-Related Foods, spices, sugars and chocolates from Bourbon Barrel Foods
  • bourbon smoked sugars and salts
  • bourbon barrel aged coffee,
  • bourbon smoked spices,
  • specialty bitters,
  • bourbon aged soy sauces
  • bourbon infused marinades

Bourbon Books

Bourbon drinkers love learning and reading about bourbon almost as much as they love drinking it. If you’d rather give a book than a bottle, here’s a short list of bourbon books that have come out in the past year, (plus mine). There are hundreds out there, so check out reviews on Goodreads and Amazon to make your selection.

• While note from 2025, my book Bourbon Is My Comfort Food, focused on bourbon cocktails, is a great read for bourbon drinkers who want to convert families and friends into enthusiasts.
• Kentucky Bourbon: The Essential Guide to the American Spirit by Susan Reigler: An updated and essential guide to American whiskey.
• Makers & Shakers: A Hidden History of Black Americans in Booze by Troy Hughes
• Whiskey Lore: The Real Stories Behind the Biggest Myths and Legends by Drew Hannush
• I also read through this book which is more cocktail focused, but very informative and beautifully illustrated: The Comic Book History of the Cocktail: Five Centuries of Mixing Drinks and Carrying On by David Wondrich.
• The History of Whiskey: in 100 Bottles, Barrels and More by Robin Robinson
• The Whiskey Bible: A Complete Guide to the World’s Greatest Spirit (The History, Secrets, and Lore Behind the Best Scotch, Bourbon, Irish, Rye, Canadian, Japanese, Single Malt, and More) by Noah Rothbaum

Bourbon and Whiskey Sensory Kits

Every bourbon and whiskey geek LOVES to get better at appreciating bourbon. One of the main ways whiskey geeks up their tasting skills is by sensory training. Kits with small samples of the common aromas in bourbon and whiskey can be used for sensory training – enabling individuals to differentiate between different scents. Here are two of my favorite kits:

• Nose Your Bourbon
• Aroma Academy Whiskey Aroma Kit

How to Choose When You Have No Clue What They Like

1. Do they drink cocktails? → Get tools, mixers, or experiences.
2. Do they drink neat? → Get a single barrel pick or tasting glass.
3. Do they host often? → Get flight boards or a set of rocks glasses.
4. Do they love learning? → Get a book or tasting class.
5. Do they love “new-to-them” gifts? → Explore store picks and craft bottles.

Final Notes & What to Do Next

Bourbon shopping doesn’t need to be intimidating. Pick something thoughtful and accessible, add a handwritten note, and you’re set.

If you want more ideas, email me or message me on social media for more advice and tips.