I have mentioned in past posts that when I started this adventure it began with the exploration of whiskey through a membership with the Flaviar Whiskey Club. That first year in 2019, I was offered the chance to try many different spirits and when Christmas came, there was an option to purchase their Flaviar Advent Calendar. Now I will admit, it took me nearly three months for me to complete this advent calendar, but there is no shame in this. I was able to take my time and try whiskies and bourbons that I otherwise would have never had the chance to enjoy.
To this day, I still highly encourage and recommend a club like this to anyone who wants to start a bourbon or whiskey journey. It is quite hard to know what to purchase when staring at a daunting liquor store shelf with hundreds of bottles when you do not even know what your palate prefers.
Now let us fast forward two years later, and unfortunately the last two holidays I decided to sit and watch many of my favorite WhiskeyTubers, writers, and those on social media partake in whiskey advent calendars throughout December; but I have not. Having FOMO, this year I decided to join the adventure too, and experience my own 25 drams of Christmas!
However, I quickly remembered the several fiascoes I read about last year revolving around whiskey advent calendar scams and people receiving fake boxes; a good article from Bourbon & Banter by Jeffrey Schwartz (@Whiskeyfellow) can be found HERE. So I set out in late October to research every whiskey advent calendar I could find on the internet that I believed to be reputable.
So, where can you find a reputable whiskey or bourbon advent calendar in 2022? This is a great question; the answer seems to be more so in the United Kingdom and not so much in the United States. After spending over twenty hours researching sites on just this subject, I have landed on the list below of reputable companies. Now, unfortunately, most of these calendars are from companies outside of the United States, but many either ship internationally or there are companies like Cask Cartel that carry a few of these international options with domestic shipping costs.
- Cask Explorers
- Drinks by the Dram
- Scotch Malt Whiskey Society
- The Whisky Exchange
- Really Good Whiskey
- Flaviar
- Cask Cartel
- The Spirit Co
I have personally purchased items from Flaviar, Scotch Malt Whiskey Society, and The Spirit Co., but let me please place a disclaimer on this. I am not a partner with, nor am I endorsing any of these companies above. Rather, I am just sharing the research I have found on bourbon and whiskey advent calendars for 2022. I would recommend this list as a great place to start your research, if you too, would like to partake in 25 drams of Christmas. I decided this year to order from across the pond, as I wanted to experience a product from a company that I follow on Instagram; @DrinksbytheDram.
Since Drinks by the Dram does not ship to the United States, I chose to order the product from The Spirit Co., as I found this company to be the most reasonably priced for international shipping. I chose to order two Calendars, Scotch Whiskey and Premium Whiskey, as the shipping cost was only 2 dollars in difference. For my 25 drams of Christmas, I will be enjoying and reviewing The Whiskey Advent Calendar Premium Edition, and if you are interested, I hope to post daily reviews HERE throughout December. As for that second calendar, I will be saving it to explore and review throughout 2023.
For those like me that were lost in the vast internet of trying to find a legitimate whiskey advent calendar, I hope this post helps. And lets be honest, the last time I did this it took nearly three months to complete. So I imagine this year’s advent calendar might take 45 to 60 days if not longer; but I love the title 25 drams of Christmas, so we are keeping it!
Please remember, drinking bourbon is a personal adventure, so do not be afraid to drink it neat, with ice, or add some water. It’s your bourbon, you bought it, and you should enjoy it how you want to enjoy it!
Cheers! Prost! Sláinte!
Bourbon Bossman
For those interested, the advent calendar pictured comes from Drinks by the Dram, however this company does not ship to the United States. For those in the United States wanting to purchase one of these advent calendars, I found the best international shipping costs to be from The Spirit Co.
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