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Slideshow
Seven of the best drinks accessories to liven up your home on Christmas day
Do you need something to liven up the festivities at home?
Christmas is around the corner, and while most people have already trimmed their trees and decked the halls, there’s no such thing as too many baubles, or indeed too much booze*, at this time of year.
We’re rounded up our favourite accessories to ring in the big day. Whether you’re a ginthusiast, a whisky expert or just enjoy a good tipple on special occasions, there’s something for everyone.
From Bourbon baubles to practical knitwear, here are the best alcoholic accessories we’ve seen this year.
*Still, do try to drink responsibly…
Douglas Laing & Co and Angel’s Share Glass Scotch baubles
Gin baubles were the toast of 2016, this year whisky is having having a moment as two independent Scottish firms have joined forces to create baubles filled with craft Scotch.
Stirling-based Angels’ Share Glass has partnered with independent bottlers Douglas Laing & Co to create a line of hand-blown coloured glass baubles with whisky inside.
There are four different baubles in the company’s range, each filled with 50ml of a regional whisky from Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts collection.
The orange bauble is filled with Big Peat – a blend of single malts from Islay – while the green includes Timorous Beastie, a tipple described as capturing “the true essence of the Highlands.” There’s also a red bauble filled with Scallywag – a malt inspired by a long line of Douglas Laing family fox terriers – and finally, a gold-coloured ornament which comes with a dram of Rock Oyster, a malt from Scotland’s whisky islands. Each ornament is finished with a resealable cork so you can make merry for years to come.
Price: Pack of four for £48
The baubles are already available on Angel’s Share Glass’ website.
Pickering’s gin baubles
Despite a strong showing from other spirits this year, gin remains a top tipple for trimming a Christmas tree in Scotland.
Edinburgh-based Pickering’s gin unveiled ambitious commercial plans to quadruple its turnover to £4 million back in October, and celebrated the news with an early festive product launch.
The baubles, which are sold in a pack of six and retail for £30, consist of coloured, plastic 5cl baubles filled with gin. The company has revealed that the design has now been fully patented.
“The idea for the baubles started in 2014 as a bit of fun for our local Christmas fair, now they’re the must-have Christmas decoration,” said distillery founder Marcus Pickering.
“Others may follow but we were most definitely the first to add that gin sparkle to trees around the country. We seem to have really captured the imagination of the gin lover and our baubles have now become a staple of our distillery. Christmas starts very, very early at Pickering’s HQ and we’re excited to finally unveil our biggest ever crop of Pickering’s gin baubles.”
Price: Pack of 6 – £30
Where to buy: www.pickeringsgin.com
The Whiskey Exchange’s crackers
Online retailer The Whiskey Exchange has extended its Perfect Measures range of sample bottles with both baubles and crackers for the festive season.
There are two options of Perfect Measure crackers – either a set of six whisky-filled crackers including drams from Bowmore and Tomintoul, or a set of six measures of various spirits including Spytail rum and Whitley Neill gin.
These spirits crackers include 10cl measures of Mahiki coconut rum Liqueur, Old Pulteney Stroma malt whisky liqueur, Saliza amaretto veneziano liqueur, Whitley Neill gin, Copper Dog blended malt whisky, and Spytail black ginger rum.
Price: £49.95
Where to buy: www.thewhiskyexchange.com
The Whiskey Exchange’s rum baubles
Not content with mere crackers, The Whiskey Exchange is also stocking a heady rum bauble for those who prefer their spirits dark and spicy.
This festive decoration is filled with a small but perfectly formed 30ml bottle of Doorly’s XO Barbados rum.
Doorly’s XO is finished in an Oloroso sherry cask, which imparts a unique flavour to the tipple making it an ideal Christmas drink.
Price: £9.95
Where to buy: www.thewhiskyexchange.com
The Lakes Distiller vodka baubles
For those who mean business this festive season, The Lakes Distillery is selling a sleek set of baubles filled with a range of flavoured vodkas.
Each bauble contains 5cl of The Lakes’ own vodka, distilled in Cumbria.
These decorations are filled with a wheat-based vodka in a variety of styles, including The Lakes Salted Caramel Vodka, which has a swirl of white chocolate and hints of fire toasted marshmallows, an espresso vodka imparting flavours of roasted coffee beans with dark chocolate and hints of Madagascan vanilla pods, and of course, The Lakes’ original version.
Vodka aficionados will appreciate its full-bodied flavour and subtle hints of wheat.
Price: a pack of four for £35
Where to buy: www.lakesdistillery.com
Fortnum and Mason’s miniature crackers
Fortnum and Mason have been proud purveyors of booze-filled crackers for years now. Their gold and silver table accessories are each filled with a different spirit, from rum to gin, ensuring there is someone for everyone at the dinner table.
The high-end retailer’s crackers are each laden with a mini bottle of either Hendrick’s Gin, Sailor Jerry Rum, Balvenie 12 year old, Glenfiddich 15 year old or Monkey Shoulder whisky.
Price: a pack of six for £70
Where to buy: www.fortnumandmason.com
A hideous Christmas jumper complete with a wine-pouch
These jumpers are the perfect size for a bottle of wine or your favourite spirit (Photo: YourSassyGrandma/Etsy)
Not quite for the home, but these garish garments will certainly be a talking point on 25 December.
YourSassyGrandma, a retailer on the online marketplace specialising in horrible seasonal clothing, has created ugly Christmas jumpers and cardigans specially designed to hold a bottle of wine or your spirit of choice.
The jumper, which comes in red, white, blue and khaki, features a stocking sewn to the front which is the perfect size for your go-to bottle of wine.
Price: from £34 depending on size
Where to buy: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/YourSassyGrandma