Need a Perfect Gift for a Whiskey Lover? Try One of These 17 Bottles.

Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon

$18 at Drizly $35 at Wine.com View on Wine Chateau

Made at the same distillery as the legendary (and near-impossible-to-find) Pappy Van Winkle, Buffalo Trace is an excellent bourbon for anyone to keep on hand at all times. It's versatile, complex, and available almost anywhere. You'll find sweet molasses, spicy pepper and cinnamon, and smooth leather notes in this remarkably affordable spirit. If you know a cocktail lover, Buffalo Trace is perfect to put together an all-in-one kit: Add a bottle of sweet vermouth and some fancy cherries for Manhattans, or artisanal bitters and sugar cubes for old-fashioneds.

ABV: 45 percent

Glenmorangie Signet Single Malt Whisky

$165 at Drizly $370 at Wine.com $238 at Minibar Delivery

To put it quite simply, Signet is one of the best whiskeys you’re apt to find at any price. The anchor of this bottling is a spirit distilled from an extra-toasty chocolate malt barley especially for Signet, which Glenmorangie blends with some of its longest-aged stocks. The feel is unreal and the flavors complex: There are layered notes of bitter chocolate, sherried fruits, and a punch of spice to make it a scrumptious dram. This is an indulgent gift but also one anybody lucky enough to receive will enjoy immensely.

ABV: 46 percent

FEW Straight Rye Whiskey

$40 at Drizly View on Totalwine.com View on Bevmo.com

Based just outside Chicago, FEW Spirits has been making unique whiskeys and gins since 2011, putting it right in the center of the craft-distillery boom. This spirit marries the spicy fruitiness typical of rye with a rich sweetness more commonly found in bourbon. The result is complex but easy to love for a fan of any American whiskey. It's great for mixing in cocktails—the traditional Manhattan and bitter Boulevardier are two favorites—and it's priced quite reasonably for its quality.

ABV: 46.5 percent

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Blended Scotch Whisky

View on Amazon View on ReserveBar View on Totalwine.com

There's a reason Blue Label is known worldwide as a symbol of luxury. The folks at Johnnie Walker take a secret mix of grain and malt whiskies from distilleries across Scotland to create an absolutely phenomenal blend. While many other luxury whiskeys vary in flavor from batch to batch, Blue Label is delicious in the same way in every bottle. Vanilla and honey rise to meet cacao and sherried fruits that lead into a signature smoky-sweet finish. It’s a crowd-pleaser that any whisky drinker would be proud to display on the shelf. (Keep an eye out for personalization options, too: Many retailers will engrave your Blue Label bottle with a custom message for free or a small additional fee.)

ABV: 40 percent

The Yamazaki 18 Year Old Single Malt Japanese Whisky

$186 at Drizly $900 at Wine.com $660 at Minibar Delivery

In the last decade or so, Japanese whisky has become hugely popular among whiskey lovers in the US. Top-end Japanese single malts are often tough to find—not to mention intimidatingly expensive—but they're well worth the search. The Yamazaki is perhaps Japan's most famous brand, and the sight of the iconic black-and-gold label for its 18-year-old single malt should warm the heart of any drinker. It's aged in three different types of wood: used American-oak bourbon casks, used Spanish-oak sherry butts, and new Japanese mizunara-oak barrels. That complex process makes it full of dark fruit notes, with big pops of nuts and spice.

ABV: 43 percent

Jefferson's Ocean Rye Whiskey

$100 at Wine.com View on Totalwine.com View on Jeffersonsbourbon.com

Jefferson's Ocean whiskeys are aged in a truly unique way: Their barrels are loaded aboard research ships as they voyage around the world. The rolling waves, intense equatorial heat, and salt spray in the air all influence the special flavor of the finished spirits. The 26th release, Ocean Rye, is the first non-bourbon bottling in the series, and it voyaged from Savannah, Georgia, through the Panama Canal, around Australia, and throughout East Asia before returning across the Pacific. This heavily caramelized rye offers a smooth palate of toasted marshmallow and toffee, with a delightful sea salt and cinnamon finish. Appropriately, it's a perfect pairing with oysters or your other favorite seafood.

ABV: 48 percent

Caol Ila 12-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

$80 at Drizly $95 at Wine.com View on Flaviar

Peated whisky is made from barley dried over burning peat, which gives it a deep smokiness. It's a distinctive style that not everybody loves, but whisky drinkers who love peat tend to really love peat. From the windswept Scottish island of Islay—the homeland of the peated style—Caol Ila has lots of smoky flavor, but with fruity notes behind it. At their extreme, peated malts offer notes of iodine and Band-Aids, but the more balanced Caol Ila 12 combines bacon and barbecue with tree fruits and lovely spice.

ABV: 43 percent

Kavalan Concertmaster Port Cask Finished Whisky

$90 at Drizly View on Thewhiskyexchange.com View on Masterofmalt.com

Based in Taiwan, Kavalan makes Scotch-style single malt whiskeys of many different kinds, distinguished by how and how long they're aged. Many of its spirits have music-themed names to emphasize the harmony of all their different flavors, and Concertmaster is a great example. It spends time in three different types of port casks, which add deep notes of plum, berries, and other red fruits, along with ginger and other warm spices. It's a brand that many American whisky fans might not know, but its flavors will be familiar and delicious.

ABV: 40 percent

Knappogue Castle 16 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey

$80 at Drizly $109 at ReserveBar View on Totalwine.com

Despite their geographical proximity, Scotland and Ireland have very different signature styles (and spellings) of whisk(e)y. Scotch is generally more austere, while whiskies from the Emerald Isle are gentler. That's partly due to ingredients: Single malt Scotch is made from all barley, while Irish whiskey is usually made from a mix of grains. This Irish whiskey is a single malt, but it still offers lots of sweetness alongside the nutty, toasty flavors of malt. It spends 14 years mellowing in former bourbon casks and then a final two in Oloroso sherry wood, which adds lovely fruit notes. The result is a phenomenal and supple whiskey with swirling sherry notes on top of tree fruit, vanilla, chocolate, and baking spice.

ABV: 40 percent

The Macallan 25 Year Old

$13 at Drizly View on Wine Chateau View on Garyswine.com

This whisky is a splurge among splurges, a flavorful indulgence for only the most generous of gift-givers. It's aged only in barrels that previously held sherry, for lots of intense fruitiness. But the quarter of a century it spends in that oak mellows and complexifies the flavors for subtle layers of sweetness, oak, and spice that unfold with every sip. Sure, for the same price, you could pick up a couple dozen bottles of The Macallan's Sherry Oak 12-Year-Old instead, but this much older and much rarer spirit is an incredible gift that will never be forgotten.

ABV: 43 percent

Westward American Single Malt Whiskey

$55 at Drizly View on Liquorama.net View on Caskers

Made in the craft-beer Mecca of Portland, Oregon, Westward starts as an ale, which is double-distilled like a Scotch, then aged in new American oak like a bourbon. The resulting spirit is something unique and delicious, combining disparate flavors in a harmonious way. Westward has nutty maltiness alongside sweet-caramel from oak, with all sorts of complex fruit and spice notes to pick out as you sip it neat or over ice.

ABV: 45 percent

J.P. Wiser’s 18 Year Old Blended Canadian Whisky

$63 at Wine.com $53 at Drizly View on Klwines.com

Thanks to unfortunate associations with cheap prices and simple flavors, Canadian spirits often get short shrift among whiskey lovers. But don't sleep on our neighbor to the north: Great long-aged Canadian whiskeys can be had at much lower prices than their American or Scottish equivalents. J.P. Wiser's 18 is a case in point, with tons of slow-sipping complexity for well under $100. It has a nice mellow background, with notes of licorice, fruit, and honey you can pick out as you enjoy it neat or on the rocks.

ABV: 40 percent

Suntory Toki Japanese Whisky

$24 at Drizly $39 at Wine.com View on Totalwine.com

Japanese single malts can get very, very expensive, but this blend is the ideal antidote. Made by the same brand as The Yamazaki above, it's an affordable spirit designed for mixing in cocktails. Specifically, Toki is meant for the highball, a combination of whisky and club soda, ginger ale, or other bubbly mixers that's hugely popular in Japan. Its subtle fruitiness is brought out by carbonation, and you can add a squeeze of lemon, lime, or another tart fruit juice to jazz things up even more.

ABV: 43 percent

Frey Ranch Straight Bourbon

View on Amazon View on Flaviar $48 at Drizly

Talk about grain-to-glass: The corn, barley, rye, and wheat used for this bourbon are all grown on the property of Frey Ranch, a Nevada grain farm that's been in business since the 1800s. (The brand even malts its own barley, an exceedingly rare practice in the 21st century.) The farm's distillery—initially making just vodka—only opened in 2014, and it's needed a few years to build up enough stocks of aged whiskey to make clear how tasty its bourbon is. The spirit is aged for five years and offers lovely oak and citrus flavors, with traditional bourbon notes including caramel and honey alongside unique banana and toasted corn.

ABV: 45 percent

Amrut Fusion Single Malt Whisky

$77 at Drizly View on Flaviar View on Thewhiskyexchange.com

Quick: Which country drinks the most Scotch? Surprisingly enough (or maybe not, considering its huge population), it's India. There's also a burgeoning domestic whisky industry in the country, mostly making single malts and blends in the Scottish style, and a bottle of an Indian spirit is an intriguing gift for any curious whisky fan. Amrut Fusion is a great choice, distilled from, well, a fusion of malted barley grown in India and peated malt imported from Scotland. It has just a hit of smoke on the nose and in the finish, with tropical fruits, citrus, and spice notes filling in the rest. It's tasty solo, or as the base for a Rob Roy.

ABV: 50 percent

Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon

View on Amazon $45 at Minibar Delivery View on Totalwine.com

Four Roses is a classic bourbon brand that's been distilled in Kentucky since 1888. (It even stayed in business during Prohibition, making "medicinal" whiskey available by prescription only!) The standard Four Roses Bourbon is quite affordable, a blend of whiskeys aged at least 5 years. This spirit, on the other hand, chooses individual casks that are extra-delicious, bottling them one at a time at 7 to 9 years old. Despite its 100-proof strength, Four Roses Single Barrel has a mellow flavor with roasty chocolate and coffee notes, plus cherry and pear. It's a lovely sipping whiskey, but it's not so expensive that you'd feel wrong to mix it in a cocktail.

ABV: 50 percent

Lyre's Highland Malt Non-Alcoholic Whisky

$38 at Amazon

In the last few years, non-alcoholic drinks have really started to explode. People avoiding alcohol for any reason have far more choices today than just water, soda, or juice, and Lyre's is a big part of why. Though founded in just 2019, the brand makes an entire bar's worth of booze-free ingredients, from tequila and triple sec to absinthe and sparkling wine. Its Highland Malt aims to recreate a blended Scotch, with notes of toffee and toasted grain. Other Lyre's products are meant for mixing, but this is the first one the brand says can be sipped neat or used in a mocktail.

ABV: 0 percent