The best alcohol Advent calendars for raising a glass to festive season (2024)

Nio co*cktails

Negronis, cosmopolitans, daiquiris, margaritas, espresso martinis…all of these and more will be readily available to drink in this year's Nio co*cktails Advent calendar, which asks the questions: what if we all just stopped beating around the bush and accepted that Christmas is all about the booze?

Drinks by the Dram The Premium Collection Whiskys

We tried to work out how long, cumulatively, the whiskeys in Drinks by the Dram’s Premium Collection had been aged, but gave up somewhere in the region of 320 years. The line-up is a who’s-who of the Highlands and Islands: Talisker, Glenfarclas, Balvenie, Jura and more beckon.

Fever Tree Gin & Tonic

If you pair your meat or cheese and wine, then why on earth are you still throwing any old gin into any old tonic willy-nilly? Here's a new season's resolution for you: try tasting a G'n'T that's been carefully and complementarily mixed. Fever Tree has made it easy for you with this Gin & Tonic Advent calendar of spirits and mixers that go in pairs.

Fortnum & Mason Spirits and Liqueurs

Trust Fortnum & Mason to go above and beyond in its quest to create a covetable Advent calendar. This year, the department store has packed the boozier parts of its popular hampers into one towering box filled with working drawers. Among the things to look forward to: an Oolong Wuyi tea vodka, English Cassis gin, plus Figgy Pudding and Mince Pie & Marmalade liqueurs.

Drinks by the Dram World Whisky

Scotch might be the ne plus ultra of whisky appellations, but why confine your tastebuds to Speyside when you could trot the globe with Drinks by the Dram's annually updated World Whisky calendar? A (rather tipsy) journey through 24 wax-sealed international malts from 11 countries awaits.

Brewdog

Punk, Lost, Dead Pony and Elvis are all classics included in this brewery-focused box, though you’ll also be contending with a series of weird and wonderful brews too: anyone for Hazy Jane Guava or the tropical wheat ale of Neon Dream? Order by 15 October for an extra fiver to spend on the site.

John Lewis Fizz

Fizz: it may not be the reason for living, but it is certainly a reason, which is why this John Lewis selection of sparkling wines, proseccos and champagnes should give your every December eve a wonderful bubbly boost.

The Whisky Exchange Lucky Dip

If it’s as hard to choose between your favourite spirits as it is your children, The Whisky Exchange has you covered. Its “Lucky Dip” encyclopaedia of liquors features whisky, gin, rum and even amaro and Calvados in its depths. The exact liquids are being kept under wraps, but quality is absolutely guaranteed.

Beavertown Brewery Beer

Whisky Advent calendars may be a little more sophisticated as a gift, but who cares about that when there’s beer to be had? Beavertown’s latest Advent contribution is coming soon, but if last year’s selection is anything to go by, you’re in for 24 of the brewery’s best, from Gamma Ray to Neck Oil. Get it bookmarked.

Personalised Engraved Decanter

While this Advent curveball doesn’t come with alcohol included, it certainly encourages a healthy amount of pre-Christmas indulgence. A glass decanter labelled with dates all the way down to Christmas Day itself, you can personalise this one and gift their favourite bottle for a generous pre-December gift.

John Lewis Beer & Snacks

Snacks are also included in this department store curation of brews, making it a shoo-in for a gift for the dad who treats the pub as his second living room. Lagers and pale ales both feature, as well as such edible treats as sour cream and onion pretzels, barbecue peanuts and simple but gorgeous salt and vinegar crisps.

The Original Rum Box 24 Days of Rum

“But why is the rum gone?” is a question you’ll never have to contemplate, should you be the lucky recipient of The Whisky Exchange’s 24 Days of Rum Advent Calendar this December. After all, not everyone can make it to the Caribbean to see out the winter – this is the next best thing.

John Lewis co*cktails

We’re told Christmas is all about the holy trinity: John Lewis’s Advent calendar takes this to its logical extreme, boasting three varieties of Martini (namely espresso, p*rnstar and passion fruit), three mojitos, and three margaritas – plus 15 further delights to tide you over 'til Christmastide.

Beerwulf

If you have a Sub or Blade beer dispenser from Beerwulf, you’ll know the brand is more than capable of putting together an unbeatable collection of beers to enjoy throughout December. Included inside: 24 brews from 24 breweries as diverse as Sierra Nevada and To Øl.

Drinks by the Dram Spiced Rum

Spiced or non-spiced rum? It’s the choice you are given by Drinks by the Dram for this year’s expedition in punchy miniatures. Favouring the traditional 24-window format, this selection of wax-sealed liquors allows you to try out a whole host of flavours you’ve never explored before. Among them: black cherry, banana and oak barrel spiced rums.

Premium Scotch Whisky

Taking a tour of Scotland might not sound too enticing for those among us who prefer to stay in the house under a heated blanket, but how about a whisky-related tour of Scotland? This set of drawers encourages just that, offering rare and aged tipples and two spirit nosing glasses from five separate regions, without having to leave your house. That's more like it, isn't it?

Naga Chilli Vodka Escalation

If you consider gifting season just another opportunity to haze your friends (or, indeed, yourself) then boy do we have the product for you. This darkly illustrated Advent calendar features 24 samples of increasingly spicy chilli-infused vodkas. The ceiling of Scovilles in this adventure? 240,000. You have been warned.

Virgin Wines Red Wine

No matter what you eat on Christmas Day, be it turkey, goose, beef or – god forbid – reindeer itself, you can’t go far wrong as long as you have a good red wine pairing. Luckily, Virgin Wines have 24 to choose from in their Advent calendar, which spans new and old wines alike. And, if you knock back each of the minis on the day you open their doors, have no fear: there’s a full-size bottle behind the 25th.

Scotch/Japanese/USA Whiskies

It's all very well having separate, carefully curated whisky boxes available to buy, but this is the pick for the person who does not discriminate in where their whisky is from. A standard 25 door box, find Scotch, Japanese and American blends within.

Snaffling Pig Pork Crackling & Beer

The two most fundamental parts of a pub? If you ask us, it's the beer and the pork crackling. Snaffling Pig understand this well, making sure both are featured in this Advent calendar, which stars such treats as low and slow barbecue crackling and Wild Hog Helles pale lager.

Drinks by the Dram Scotch

Coming both in original and White Christmas designs, this Scotch whisky tour puts all corners of Scotland in the spotlight. Like Drinks by the Dram’s other creations, there are 24 samples to be found within, including drams by Johnnie Walker, Glenfiddich and Dalmore.

Best of British

Cans and bottles of lager, IPAs, stouts and more come in this countrywide exploration of the pint. Different sides of the British Isles are spotlighted by the box of 24, from Redcastle Brewing up in Angus, Scotland to Windsor and Eton Brewery in the south of England.

Drinks by the Dram Whisky

Drinks by the Dram just keeps on serving the goods with its Advent calendars, and it’s no different with the most popular product of the season: its classic Whisky edition. An ever-popular choice for anyone with a penchant for the amber liquid, this year’s volume comes in three different designs and contains sample sizes of, among 22 others, Waterford The Cuvée, Bulleit Bourbon 10 Year and Nikka From The Barrel.

Alcohol Free

We’re calling it: alcohol-free beer is still beer. A far cry from the foul-tasting stuff of yesteryear, today’s booze-free booze tastes (almost) like the real thing. In this selection of 24: stouts, lagers and craft ales, all from the most coveted breweries about.

Drinks by the Dram Peaty Whisky

Peaty whisky isn’t for everyone, but you won’t find much more passion in a whisky lover than those who love the smoky stuff. For this giftee, we'd point you in the direction of Drinks by the Dram's Peaty Advent calendar, entirely devoted to the divisive whisky sub-genre.

Se7en Brothers Brewing Co.

Behind each of the 24 cardboard Christmas trees on the face of the Seven Brothers beer Advent calendar comes 24 of the brewery’s most popular blends, as well as a series of more interesting festive flavour profiles to try. Everything else is a surprise…

Limited Edition Port

Perfect for those who love Portugal, or those who like their fortified wines in quantities fit for a Tudor king, Real Companhia Velha’s Limited Edition Port Advent calendar is strictly limited to 32 instances. Grab one quickly for the ruddy-faced bon vivant of your social circle and watch them flush with pleasure, or surprise someone who hasn’t yet ventured into the wonderful world of Iberian tawnies, rubies, whites and rosés

Drinks by the Dram Japanese Whisky

What do Japan have that we don’t? Apart from spotlessly clean streets and a higher life expectancy they boast some of the most exciting whiskies in the world. This Drinks by the Dram compendium will prove as much to you: inside, find 24 bottles filled with the best the country has to offer, from peaty and cask-strength samples to a bougie 21 year-old.