When the winter months hit, one thing you need is a great sipping whiskey. That’s especially true once the holidays come around. You’ll need a great sipping whiskey, so you can give it to your best friend, spouse, parent, boss, or really whoever, and thus keep them warm because, as mentioned above, the winter months. Believe me, they will thank you.
Here’s a crop of terrific bottles, some that are affordable enough to mix with and not wince (a Manhattan is also a fine remedy for cold days), and others that will set you back a pretty penny — but make your giftee love you all the more.
Some are from small, craft producers; some from the best of the big guys; some rye-forward, some wheated, some classic; some from bourbon country and some from farther afield (hello, Missouri). All are excellent, and worth hunting down before the weather turns warm and you have to revert to drinking something absurd like a seltzer.
Sazerac Rye 100 Proof ($30/liter)
A new, higher-proof expression of Sazerac’s perennially popular rye, this was launched in July 2025. It’s modestly oaky, with fruity hints of apple and sweet orange, and a kind of brown-sugar frosting note on the finish (without any actual sweetness).
Eagle Rare Twelve Year Old ($50)
Eagle Rare, appropriately, likes to fly off liquor store shelves straight into the liquor cabinets of whiskey collectors, so grab this new expression the moment you see it. It has a firm, sort of no-nonsense character, the oak notes sweet and polished, with hints of cured tobacco and toasted pecans.
Beverly High Rye American Whiskey ($60)
Proprietor Andrew Borenzweig and master blender Murphy Quint have quickly made a name for themselves with whiskies like this spicy rye. It has a tarte-tatin note of caramel and apple, and ends with a flick of peppery spice.
Holladay Bottled in Bond Red Wheat Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey ($60)
Yes, a Missouri bourbon, and if this is what they’re like, there ought to be more of them. Soft vanilla-toffee oak notes play with sweet corn whiskey (73% of the mashbill) and apple-fig fruit characteristics. This would be a stellar Manhattan component, especially together with a richer vermouth like Carpano Antica (dial back the vermouth percentage a bit).
Tenmile Distillery The Battle of Brooklyn American Single Malt Whiskey ($60)
There’s a fresh, lively grain note on the nose of this 4-year-old, 46% abv American Single Malt from Wassaic, NY’s Tenmile. It’s an elegant drink, and with a little water takes on a nice light viscosity that carries its subtle flavors beautifully.
Tenmile’s “Revolutionary Series” is an ongoing series of 57 different whiskies all in commemoration of the country’s 250th anniversary—they’ve been consistently impressive so far, so if you can’t find this one, keep an eye out for future releases.
Old Potrero 6 Year Old Straight Rye Whiskey ($65)
San Francisco’s Old Potrero was one of the earliest craft whiskey distillers (founded 1993) and it still tends to fly under the radar. Go figure; maybe it’s the location in a state better known for wine, but this is a terrific rye, amber gold in hue, with soft oak notes, and tons of presence and texture.
Noah’s Mill Bourbon ($70)
Willett Distillery is a name to conjure with in Bourbon-collector circles, particularly for its impossible-to-find Willett Family Estate whiskies. But they’ve also been making this honey-toffee bottle of whiskey bliss since the 1990s, and it’s one you can find in stores. At 114 proof, add a little water to the glass, then sink back into a comfy chair with it.
Laws San Luis Valley Straight Rye Bottled in Bond ($80)
Aged for seven years, this rye from Colorado’s acclaimed Laws Whiskey House glides along effortlessly on its autumnal gingerbread-baked bread-black tea character, landing on orange peel and dry spice notes. At 100 proof you could make a killer Manhattan from it…but you could also just sip it straight.
Blue Run Kentucky Straight High Rye Bourbon Whiskey ($90)
Sourced from barrels distilled at Castle & Key Distillery for Blue Run, this is a potent (55.5% abv) rye-forward expression, with plenty of rye spiciness on the nose and on the palate; it’s just shy of being too aggressive, but in the end evens out nicely. Underneath the spice runs a subtle apple-stone fruit note, and hints of black tea that linger on the finish.
Pinhook Vertical Series Straight Rye Whiskey 2025 Release ($90)
Keeping track of everything that distiller Sean Josephs and his partners do at Pinhook would take a spreadsheet, but every bottle they release is worth checking out. This one is stellar: 111.2 proof, with complex fruit notes (apple, quince, berries, dried orange peel) that lead into dusky nut/toffee/honey characteristics.
Lost Lantern 2025 Farmers’ Fields Bourbon ($100)
Lost Lantern, founded by self-described “whiskey nerds” Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, sources hard-to-find whiskies from small, independent producers around the country. For their Farmers’ Fields series, they bring several of those together into a nuanced blend (in this case Bourbons from Far North Spirits, Frey Ranch Distillery, and Whiskey Acres Distilling).
Here, oak and lemon-drop aromas lead into an earthy, full-bodied whiskey with hints of dry cocoa that only gains complexity with a drop or two of water. Production is tiny, so track this down at lostlanternwhiskey.com.
Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Wheated Bourbon Whiskey 2025 Specialty Barrel: Chinquapin ($130)
Heaven Hill’s Grain to Glass whiskies start with specific heritage grain varieties, and for their new, even more limited “specialty barrel” series, adds in the nuances of aging in unusual subspecies of American white oak.
In this case, that’s Kentucky-native Chinquapin, which has a naturally higher vanillin content. The result here is a rich, round Bourbon whose lush caramel and toasted nut barrel notes play very well with the high-wheat mashbill. It’s a great present for the whiskey lover in your life.
Michter’s 10 Year Old Rye, June 2025 Release ($210)
Beg, borrow, or steal—or just go over to a friend’s house and raid their whiskey stash—to try this rye. Michter’s is at the top of its game, and this may be my favorite release of this always-excellent rye to date: incredibly complex, luxurious, and a perfect balancing of rye spiciness with round textural generosity.
Dining and Cooking