The Best Gift Ideas for Bourbon Drinkers (2024)

Lew Bryson, formerly the longstanding editor atWhisky Advocate, has been covering whiskey for 30 years and is the author behind the respected guide Tasting Whiskey.

As the title suggests, Whiskey Master Class: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Scotch, Bourbon, Rye, and More covers nearly everything whiskey, including Canadian and Irish whiskeys. In this book, you'll find a breakdown of the different types and styles of whiskey, interviews with master distillers and makers of different drams, as well as a guide to tasting notes. This master class will have you wanting to study and finish your homework!

Related: The Best Gifts for Whiskey Lovers, According to Experts

The House of Suntory, the founding house of Japanese whisky, recently announced the launch of this limited-edition whiskey expression merging bourbon and Japanese whisky traditions.

Legent Yamazaki Cask Finish Blend begins as Kentucky Straight Bourbon. This blend also features bourbon that has been matured in French oak wine casks as well as Spanish oak sherry casks that previously aged Yamazaki single malt Japanese whisky.This is aged in Kentucky for eight years and then is sent to Japan for finishing and blending at the Yamazaki Distillery.

Related: The Best Bourbons

Juan Fernandez, the beverage director of The Ballantyne, A Luxury Collection Hotel, in Charlotte, is a fan of these stainless steel whiskey spheres. “They put a solid chill when I feel like cooling down a whiskey but do not want to water it down," he says. "Whiskey stones gained a lot of popularity over the past ten years, but unfortunately, many options are not very effective. But this set of steel spheres is excellent for chilling down whiskey for 30 to 45 minutes without dilution."

This set of four, food-grade whiskey balls come in a silicone tray, which can also be used to make perfectly round ice cubes. The included metal tongs make it easy to pop the spheres and ice cubes in and out of drinks.

Related: The Best Whiskey Stones

Currently, our top whiskey glass pick, these co*cktail Kingdom glasses are equal parts workhorse tumblers, beloved by bars and bartenders, and elegant rocks glasses coveted by consumers.

Named for the classic Japanese pattern of diamond-like lines that evoke a bamboo fence, the Yarai glass has a comfortable heft in the hand that makes it feel of quality and is durable enough to use often without worrying that it'll break.

This glass clocks in at 7.5 ounces and can handle neat pours as well as whiskey served on the rocks.

Related: The Best Whiskey Glasses, According to Experts

Ice is a bourbon lover's best and worst friend: a cool drink is more refreshing, and many whiskies love a little bit of dilution to open up the flavors. However, rapidly melting ice leads to over-dilution (and a watered-down beverage). As a general rule, the more surface area that exists between ice and spirit, the quicker the dilution, which is why large, single ice cubes have become de rigueur for many aficionados. But what if you could reduce the surface area even further, while also presenting your whiskey in a unique and striking way?

Enter the Whiskey Wedge kit from Corkcicle. To use, just place the angled silicone ice mold into the borosilicate double old-fashioned glass, fill the mold with water, and freeze for a few hours. The resulting glass-ice combo offers about as little surface area contact as possible, while also creating a truly one-of-a-kind visual presentation of your favorite bourbon.

An ideal bottle for your favorite bourbon lover might just be one that's elegant enough for sipping but also sturdy enough to mix into a delicious co*cktail—all at a price that won't break the bank. With its rich mouthfeel and its complex notes of vanilla, sweet corn, and peach, the flagship US*1 bourbon from the Kentucky-based Michter's distillery is a robust and attractive sipper, while its brawny ABV of 45.7 percent makes it a natural for stirring into an Old Fashioned or a Boulevardier. (If you really want to impress your friend, you can spring for the excellent 10-year expression that Michter's also offers—just know that you'll be paying three or four times the price.)

Related: The Best Bourbons for Manhattans

"A fat orange peel slab is one of the joys when drinking an Old Fashioned,” says Henri Schock, co-owner of Bottlehouse and Mr. West Cafe Bar in Seattle. “Providing both flavor and aromatics, it is a crucial component when building this classic co*cktail." Specifically, Schock keeps a jar of Collins orange twists at home when he craves an Old Fashioned but doesn't have any citrus on hand. "They're evenly cut strips of peel that provide the flavor and aroma you'd typically get from fresh orange peel.”

The preserved orange peels are curved into a swirl before being popped into the jar, so when you’re ready for a drink, just pull one out and garnish your favorite co*cktail. Or, use the twists to top a dessert or baked treat. "I also love to use the syrup in the jar instead of simple syrup (or a sugar cube) for a truly over-the-top citrus experience," says Schock.

Related: The Best Bourbons Under $50

Explore the various flavors and noses of bourbon via a comparative tasting. This set of four Glencairn glasses shows off the subtle aromas and tastes of bourbon. Fill up each one with different aged bourbons, different cask finishes, or similar whiskeys from different distilleries, and compare the nuances of each dram (or see if you can identify them blind). Each dishwasher-safe glass also sits on a stave carved from a reclaimed bourbon barrel.

Best of all, you can personalize the stave with the recipient’s name, location, and year of choice—consider memorializing a birthday, wedding date, or another special year. Each set is handmade by woodworkers in Arkansas.

"I would personally appreciate the gift of Luxardo cherries, Bittercube’s Blackstrap bitters, and an old-school crystal rocks glass to complete a delicious Manhattan," says Mike Tindal, the director of food and beverage for FireLake Grill House & co*cktail Bar in Minnesota. "Add your favorite bourbon, a chunk of ice, stir, and enjoy!"

Made in Milwaukee, each batch of Bittercube's bitters takes 25 days of maceration to complete. Its Blackstrap bitters are earthy in flavor, made with three types of cinnamon, two types of molasses, sassafras leaves, sarsaparilla, nutmeg, mace, kola nut, and gentian. They're great in co*cktails with brown spirits (not a surprise as the brand was founded by two bartenders), or you can try them in an egg-white co*cktail to balance out the creaminess.

Related: The Best Bitters

Any true bourbon lover knows that the defining characteristic of this classic American spirit is the mandate that it be aged in charred new oak barrels, which results in a bold and unique flavor profile, such as vanilla, caramel, toffee, or spice, one that distinguishes it from other whiskies.

If your friend is a bourbon lover, that probably means they love that rich, oak-heavy taste—so why not give them the gift of do-it-yourself oak flavor, all in a small and convenient package? The infusion spirals from Barrel Aged in a Bottle, which are made from American oak and charred to a robust level of #3, fit conveniently through the neck of any 750-milliliter bottle. Use them to barrel-age whiskey co*cktails to perfection, or experiment with adding them to younger, cheaper bottles of bourbon to see how close you can get to replicating the brawny lushness of your favorite 10-year expression.

"To me, the most important gift you can give a bourbon lover is a glass they will love drinking bourbon from,” says Blair Bowman, whiskey consultant and broker. “[This one] was given to me a few years ago, and it is the only glass I drink bourbon from at home.”

The heavier weight of the glass—similar to what you’d get from pricier crystal rocks glasses—is a nice touch, while the swirling rings of color add a playful feel. Each dishwasher-safe, hand-blown tumbler is made from recycled glass, making every product unique with subtle nuances. The glasses are also made by the Arturo family in Mexico, who have been making glassware for over 40 years.

Smoking co*cktails makes for some great mixology theatrics, but it's about more than just oohing and ahhing over a cool presentation. Your bourbon lover knows that smoking co*cktails can add new layers of flavor and some depth. Bourbon takes well to such treatment, and Breville's "Smoking Gun" makes it easy. It's compact and doesn't weigh much. You can also regulate the smoke amount, and it takes 4 AA batteries, which are included.

This fun gadget comes with applewood and hickory smoked wood chips (in half-ounce increments each). It works by heating the wood chips in an anodized aluminum smoking chamber, which then produces cold smoke. It's not just for co*cktails, however; it can also be used on food, too—think fish and vegetables, for example.

"I think a perfect gift for both bartenders and bourbon lovers alike would be a Japanese cold brew tower," says James Loden, a bartender at Time Out Market Chicago. Designed for crafting barista-level cold brew, this tower is made from hand-blown borosilicate glass. "[It] can provide at-home infusions that are sure to be a conversation piece when displayed," he says. "Dehydrated fruit, vanilla, wood chips—the possibilities are endless.”

Through a three-hour brewing process, the tower moves water (or bourbon) through a ceramic filter (where it drips down through a swirling valve in the center), steeps it, and infuses the liquid in the carriage at the bottom, ready to be poured into a rocks glass. Each infusion makes six to eight cups of liquid. The boldness of the infusion can also be controlled by tweaking how quickly the liquid drops down.

Traditionally, julep cups are made of copper, but this one comes in both all copper and the one pictured here, which is brass with an exterior electroplated in silver. (Both metals are food safe, in case you're wondering). We like this one because it's a little larger (it holds up to 12 ounces), so if you're making a larger mint julep co*cktail or you want to use quite a bit of ice, you'll have plenty of room to do so. Works great for mules, too, and its vintage styling is eye-catching, too. Hand washing is best.