The Ultimate 2023 Father’s Day Whiskey Gift Guide: 10 Great Options the Paternal Imbiber in Your Life

Father’s Day 2023 is nearly upon us, which for children of whiskey lovers everywhere means it’s time to pick up a bottle or some other whiskey-related gift for one of the most important people in their lives.

We’ve put together a gift guide full of excellent gifts for the whiskey-loving dad in your life.

10 Best 2023 Father’s Day Whiskey Gifts

For the Bourbon Buff: Still Austin Bottled In Bond Red Corn Bourbon ($79.99)

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This whiskey is brand new — it officially drops Saturday, the day before Father’s Day — and awesome. Distilled from a mashbill of 36% red corn, 34% white corn, 25% rye and 5% barley, this bourbon is bottled at 100 proof per Bottled In Bond stipulations.

This is the first release in Austin, Texas distillery Still Austin’s newly unveiled Bottled In Bond series, and it’s a banging start. Complex and rich on the nose, this bourbon features notes of cherries, cocoa, espresso, nougat and rich cream. On the palate, this pour offer plenty of espresso, dark chocolate, cherries, blackberry, plus pepper and ginger. The finish is long and delicious, with cherry and vanilla.

Still Austin Bottled In Bond sells for a suggested retail price of $79.99 and is perfect for any dad who loves sweet, boozy bourbon and decadence in a glass. If you don’t live in Texas, though, you may be a little late on your gift since the whiskey is launching just a day ahead of the holiday. That’s perfectly fine! We recommend printing out a photo of the bottle — like this one — as a promise of the gift to come.

For the Rye Fan: Barrell Craft Spirits Seagrass ($90)

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Barrell Seagrass is a spectacular gift that will be immensely appreciated by any true whiskey head. This gift is a great option for a few reasons. First, it’s incredibly good whiskey. While far from cheap at about $90, Barrell Seagrass is in its own right a ridiculous value whiskey, as it will handily decimate most whiskeys double, triple quadruple and beyond its price in a head-to-head decimate. For another, it’s easily findable at premium liquor retailers throughout the U.S., making it a great choice for a quick pickup.

This whiskey from the blending virtuosos at Barrell Craft Spirits is a mix of Canadian and Indiana ryes. It features a brilliant finish in Martinique Agricole Rum, Madeira and Apricot Brandy casks.

Bottled at a powerful 59.2% ABV, this is a true whiskey lover’s whiskey. It’s powerful and boisterous, with tons of fruit, rye spice, citrus and more. This whiskey has depth and complexity in spades, and it belongs on every whiskey enthusiast’s bar.

Plus, if you get your dad this gift and he loves it (spoiler alert: He will), he can go out and find (or you can get it for him for a future holiday if you’re feeling generous) Barrell Seagrass Gray Label, a $249, 16-year-old, upgraded version of Seagrass. Gray Label Seagrass is the first whiskey since 2016 to earn a perfect 10/10 score from Whiskey Raiders. To us, it is a perfect whiskey.

For the Golf Enthusiast: Dewar’s 19 Year Old ‘The Champions Edition’ ($74.99)

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This well-aged scotch debuted earlier this month from scotch whisky producer Dewar’s in collaboration with the U.S. Open Golf Tournament, which runs from this Thursday through Sunday.

If your dad is one of the many who will spend his Father’s Day weekend enjoying the tournament, this is the gift for him, and the perfect dram to sip while watching. Dewar’s 19 Year Old “The Champions Edition” is a blend of up to 40 whiskies. This 19-year-old whisky was finished in red wine casks from Napa Valley.

A portion of the proceeds from these sales will go toward the USGA Foundation. The whisky can be purchased from ReserveBar starting at $74.99.

Sweet, fruity and complex, this whisky delivers notes of honey, red fruits, a pinch of pepper and sweet buttercream on the nose. The palate delivers a moderate mouthfeel with buttercream, light honey, toffees, vanilla, currants, raspberry and strawberry. The finish is long and sweet.

Best Whiskey Club Gift: Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club ($121.99)

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For the father who’d like to be surprised by a special bottle, consider a subscription to the Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club.

Each month, subscribers receive a hard-to-find, prestigious bottle rated 90 or higher by the Whiskey Raiders Raided aggregate score. Each bottle is hand-selected by spirits critic Jay West, aka t8ke.

Once subscribers have their bottles, West guides them through a virtual live tasting and dives into history, tasting notes and beyond, often joined by special guests from the brands whose whiskeys are being enjoyed.

A premium club with more expensive bottles than lower-priced competitors, the Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club is priced at $124.99 per month, although the monthly price is lowered for consumers who buy three or six months upfront. Shipping is free. The base price is currently discounted to $121.99 as a Father’s Day special.

For the Scotch Aficionado: Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie ($60)

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This is a great single malt for the father who loves scotch but isn’t a huge fan of smoky peat. Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie isn’t cheap, usually found between $50 and $70, but it’s also a lot less expensive than other whiskies of comparable quality.

This unpeated single malt is floral, sweet, salty, light and complex, displaying notes of honey, vanilla, sherry, fruits and clove.

Beyond the flavor, this bottle is a standout on any shelf thanks to its distinctive turquoise color.

Best American Single Malt Gift: Lost Lantern Single Distillery Series Gentle Giant Balcones ($99.99)

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A collaboration between Waco, Texas distillery Balcones and independent bottler Lost Lantern, Gentle Giant is a tremendously complex whiskey. This whiskey is a blend of Balcones whiskeys finished in apple brandy, European oak and ex-bourbon casks. The single malt earned a Double Gold medal at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Awards.

This single malt is sweet, fruit-forward and complex. It features notes of apples, grapes, plums, raspberries, mesquite, salted caramel, sassafras, cinnamon, nutmeg, hazelnut and gingerbread on the nose. The palate is nutty and rich with a great viscosity and enjoyable level of heat. Expect flavors of coconut, walnuts, peaches, blackberries, bluberries, oak, toffee, tobacco, coffee, grape leaves, dark-chocolate-covered mints, graham cracker and a faint marshmallow notes from this complex sipper. The finish is long and bursting with flavor. Espresso is the predominant note, joined by barrel char, a bit of tannin, blueberries, cocoa, honey and a touch of menthol.

The whiskey is available nationally online and at select retailers and restaurants in New York, California and Kentucky.

For the Irish Whiskey Enjoyer: Redbreast 12 Year Old ($60)

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A classic, wonderful sipper and a popular candidate for best value whiskey, Redbreast 12 Year is proof that tons of flavor can be packed into an 80-proof whiskey.

Commonly found anywhere from $45 to $70, Redbreast 12 is lovely and a superb pick for anyone who even mildly likes whiskey. This bottle is so approachable that it’ll work for just about anyone — novices and enthusiasts alike.

Redbreast 12 features aromas of toffee, leather, pepper, honey, baking spices, caramel and fresh bread.  The palate delivers plenty of honey with currant, raisins and toffee. This sip ends long with toffee, caramel and figs.

Rich, flavorful and relatively affordable, you can’t go wrong with Redbreast 12.

For the Dad Who Likes to Take Control: Oak & Eden Whiskey Customizer ($59-$74)

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A super fun gift for any whiskey fan, Oak & Eden’s Whiskey Customizer will give your dad the experience of designing his own whiskey. The online customizer is super easy to use. In just a few minutes, your father can create his own whiskey. Six weeks later, it’ll be available to ship.

Oak & Eden allows consumers to select their type of whiskey (bourbon, rye, four-grain bourbon or wheated bourbon), their proof (90 or 114) and which type of wooden spire they’d like to age it with (American or French Oak). For fans of flavored whiskey, there are also 11 infusion options: coffee, honey, vanilla, maple syrup, grapefruit liqueur, pineapple liqueur, orange liqueur, blackberry liqueur, cabernet, port wine or rum.

Regardless of how you customize your whiskey, the price is flat: $59 for a 90-proof bottle or $74 for a 114-proofer.

For the Cocktail Lover: WhistlePig Smoked Maple Old Fashioned Kit ($99.99)

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Perfect for summer, this kit will let your dad put a twist on his Old Fashioned recipe. This kit comprises a bottle of WhistlePig PiggyBack Rye — an excellent cocktail rye — along with a bottle of WhistlePig’s barrel-aged maple syrup and a classic WhistlePig pig pour spout. The maple syrup will replace the traditional simple syrup in the recipe, so all dad will need to complete the Old Fashioned is some bitters.

For the Cocktail Lover Who Doesn’t Want to Have to Make Their Own Drink: Social Hour Harvest Whiskey Sour ($28)

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Let’s face it: Sometimes, we all want to just enjoy a good, stiff cocktail without going to the trouble of making it ourselves. It’s a big reason why people go to bars — and a big reason why ready-to-drink cocktails became such a hit when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down bars.

There are tons of RTD cocktails on the market, ranging from awful to excellent. We’ve reviewed a bunch of these premixed cocktails in our Ready To Drink series, and we’ve tried enough that we can tell you definitely that Social Hour’s Harvest Whiskey Sour is one of the best you’ll find.

We raved about this canned cocktail in our review. Made with 13-year-old George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey, honeycrisp apple, Meyer lemon, cinnamon, maple and cardamom, this delicious, intriguingly complicated cocktail will have you shocked it came from a can.

Featuring a terrific ABV of 20%, this RTD is a bit pricy at $28 for a four-pack of 250-milliliter cans but is oh, so good.

Join the Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club, where you will receive hard-to-find bottles curated by Whiskey Raiders staff with a 90+ rating on whiskeyraiders.com plus live virtual tastings. Sign up here!