Think local, act local, drink local, gift local.
Looking for a boozy gift or fine bottle to bring to a holiday party? We make all the best stuff in right here — or very close to right here. From beer to whiskey to wine, we have offerings to bring the buzz to a December dinner or stocking in need of a jolt.
GlenPharmer American Straight Bourbon, $65
There are a lot of people who think the ideal gift is a superb bottle of whiskey. To those people, we say, “Hey, can we come over and try that superb bottle of whiskey you got?” So many great Massachusetts distilleries make so many great whiskeys. And yet, this could be the tip top best. The Franklin-based company aged its American Straight Bourbon for two years in charred American white-oak barrels from a base of corn with a bit of wheat, rye and malted barley. Don’t try it in a cocktail. Drink it neat! A superb bottle not enough? How about a whole barrel? GlenPharmer also offers a private whiskey barrel program, which gets you your own cask yielding 300 bottles. Sure, it’s $8,000, but can you really put a price on having your own signature booze?
Bully Boy Ready to Drink Cocktails, $10
Ready to drink cocktails are lousy. Sorry, that should be, they are usually lousy. Bully Boy’s three offerings are as delightful and delicious as its gin, rum, whiskey, and amari. Perfect as stocking stuffers, the pioneering Boston distiller’s Negroni, Manhattan, and Old Fashioned come in very stuffable 200 ml bottles and all taste like something you’d pay $20 for at a swank Boston lounge. But the standout is the Negroni. It took co-founder and head distiller Dave Willis over a year to reverse-engineer a Campari substitute to make this masterpiece, which includes two varieties of Sweet Vermouth from BroVo spirits in Washington and their own house made Amari and Estate Gin.
Fabrizia Crema di Pistacchio, $16
It’s great when a liqueur’s secret ingredients aren’t a secret. Here that means lots of lightly toasted pistachios and real cream. A New Hampshire company best known for its limoncello (non-secret ingredient: real Sicilian lemons), Fabrizia adds welcome nutty twists to wintery cocktails — try this in a martini with vanilla vodka instead of an espresso martini. Gifting for someone that doesn’t drink? Fabrizia also has a limoncello-centric baking company that offers $45.99 Holiday Cheer Boxes filled with cookies, biscotti, truffles and more.
Sam Adams’ Beers for Cheers Variety Pack, $18
Going to a party with picky drinkers? Fear not. This holiday pack has seasonal favorites from the hometown company that kicked off the craft brewing revolution. The pack has 12 bottles or cans of four wintery brews including simple, straightforward beers such as the Cold IPA and more exotic offerings — try the Old Fezziwig, a spiced ale that’s pure coziness in a can.
Sparkling Pointe Brut 2019, $31
This is local. OK, localish. OK, it’s from the North Fork of Long Island. But when considering where most sparkling wines are produced, New York qualifies as local. And considering how great it is, you won’t care where it comes from. The Sparkling Pointe Winery has become the East Coast’s go to company for bubbles. Using the traditional méthode champenoise, in which the wine gets a second fermentation in the bottle to produce the fizz and shine, the winery produces wines to compete with France. Grab this brut and a nice comte and picnic on the left bank of the Charles River.
