Yahoo News 10 best alcoholic advent calendars for Christmas 2018
It may be widely acknowledged that drinking alcohol on a daily basis is bad for your health, but that hasn’t stopped the surge in popularity of booze filled advent calendars over the last few years. In the run up to Christmas, festive fun seekers can open cardboard doors to reveal just about any style of alcohol going, with the additional excitement of not knowing exactly what drink they’ll be served each time.
If the thought of 24 days of booze lucky dips appeals to you then we’ve rounded up ten of the best examples to quench your thirst until Christmas. And to allay those medical concerns, we reckon they’re even more enjoyable if you find some friends or family with whom to take turns.
Aldi Wine Advent Calendar: £49.99, Aldi
At this price no-one is promising 24 world beating wines, but we’ve had a snoop at the contents and have spotted a few special looking bottles among the more familiar names (Chenet being very well represented). The miniature bottles are a good mix of reds (including Syrahs, Merlots and a Pinto Noir), whites (mostly Chardonnays and Sauvignons) a few rosés and a couple of wines that fizz, so everyone will be catered for on at least a few days throughout December. At just over £2 per bottle, this offers great value and if you find a few wines you’re not so keen on you can always save them for the Christmas gravy.
Beer Hawk Craft Beer Advent Calendar: £69.95, Beer Hawk
The Beer Hawk calendar features numerous big brand names of the craft beer world and with so many crowd pleasing classic beers, alongside four exclusively brewed for this calendar, it’s our pick of the beer packs. Mikeller, Wild Beer and Tiny Rebel are among the modern representatives whose advent doors neighbour famous international names such as Westmalle, Goose Island and Spaten. Get stuck into this and you’ll be on a 24 day world tour of brewing excellence.
Drinks by the Dram Whisky Advent Calendar: £149.95, Master of Malt
Drinks by the Dram are the undoubted aces of spirit-filled advent calendars with fans of whisky, gin, cognac, tequila and more catered for. They also produce special collaborative calendars for the likes of Glenfarclas and The Gin Foundry. But it’s their 2018 whisky calendar that sits on our shelf waiting for our fingers to eagerly prize open the small cardboard windows, although a sneak peak through the side of the box has revealed liquid golden treasure from a diverse range of distilleries that includes Bunnahabhain and Aberfeldy (Scotland), Nikka (Japan), some American bourbons and even a dram from France.
Edinburgh Gin Advent Calendar: £120, John Lewis & Partners
Edinburgh Gin have capitalised on the current trend for juniper-based booze and produce their excellent gin with a wide range of flavours. In this calendar you’ll find 25 miniature 5cl bottles containing the best of their creations, adding the element of surprise to Gin O’clock every day. When will your digits pluck out the richly satisfying Plum & Vanilla Gin? And will you be ready to receive Cannonball Gin, their navy strength edition at a mighty 57.2% ABV? Let the gin adventures commence
Jack Daniel’s Holiday Calendar: £60, Jack Daniels
Fans of Jack Daniel’s are in for a merry December with this calendar containing 23 miniatures from across the Tennessee company’s range. Besides their classic whiskey you’ll also find bottles of their Tennessee Honey, Tennessee Fire, Single Barrel Select and Gentleman Jack; “the world’s only double mellowed whiskey” (whatever that means). And if you’re thinking 23 bottles is one too few, the other window contains a Jack Daniel’s 5cl key ring hip flask. We know what number it lurks behind, but we’re not about to give the game away to you…
HonestBrew Beer Advent Calendar: £69.90, HonestBrew
Among the numerous beer advent calendars that we’ve been impressed with are offerings from Craved (a great range of London beers that is beautifully packaged in a wooden box) and Best of British (a mix of traditional classics and modern aces), but for our second beer slot after BeerHawk, we’ve picked HonestBrew. The box boasts 24 beers in 19 different styles from 12 different countries, with a line-up of breweries that are among the most successful and innovative among the contemporary brewing scene, including Bristol’s Moor, Dutch aces De Molen and Croatia’s The Garden Brewery. They even promise a few exclusive beers which, if you’re sharing, will be the ones that will lead to the biggest bragging rights.
Virgin Wines Advent Calendar: £79.99, virginwines.co.uk
Wine lovers won’t be left wanting this coming advent. Virgin's packaging has been redesigned for this season – on first glance you’ll think you’ve been sent a giant box of Matchmakers, but the contents that lurk behind these cardboard doors are a bit more potent. Inside you’ll discover 24 different wines, courtesy of producers such as 16 Little Black Pigs, Gypsy Lee and Perez Cruz and on Christmas Day you’ll be treated with a nice bottle of (spoiler alert) Laurent Perrier La Cuvee. Owner’s of this booze box will also be granted access to Virgin’s online wine tasting hub, which promises winemaker videos, food pairing tips and a whole host of grape-related merriment.
Pork Crackling & Beer Advent Calendar: £65, snafflingpig.co.uk
We love Meantime Brewery’s collaboration with kings of crackling, Snaffling Pig. Can there be a better way to prepare for a week of overeating and gluttony than gorging yourself on this huge box of beer and porky products? A princely sum of £65 buys you 12 x 18g pork crackling bags, featuring the following flavours – Low & Slow BBQ, Marvellous Maple and Perfectly Salted. Meantime accompany these salty treats with 12 bottles: London Lager, London Pale Ale and Yakima Red.
John Lewis & Partners Gin & Tonic Advent Calendar: £95, John Lewis & Partners
There’s only one booze in this mighty box, but it’s an impressive one: a 70cl bottle of The Lakes Explorer Gin with fresh citrus and peppery juniper notes that beg to snuggle up in a glass with tonic and ice. Which is exactly what the rest of the calendar is about. The remaining 24 windows each contain a different bottle of tonic from leading producers such as Franklin & Sons, Fever-Tree and Fentimans, giving you the chance to enjoy a new way of enjoying of a G&T every day.
Marks and Spencer Festive Cocktail Advent Calendar: £25, M&S
If you think advent calendars must include chocolate then we’ve got you covered with this sweet-toothed cocktail selection from M&S. Within the festive red and gold star-shaped box are 24 truffles that are so tempting they’ll test your willpower at sticking with one a day. The boozy chocolate flavours are split between Peach Bellini and Bucks Fizz and, for an extra Christmas day bonus, the tall window in the middle marked 25 contains a miniature bottle of sloe gin.
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Verdict: Best alcoholic advent calendars for Christmas 2018
We love a boozy bargain and although you can find better ranges of wines elsewhere, you’ll struggle find a better value advent pack than Aldi's.
