Father's Day Gift Guide 2025: Best Spirits That Look Great For Dad

Forbes

14-05-2025

When it comes to gifts, looks matter, so give good looking spirits this Father's Day
Recent years have seen a distilling revolution around the world, and there are more great tasting, high-quality spirits than ever before. But gifting is different from drinking, and the entire reason why we gift wrap presents is so that they look like presents. If you are going to give the gift of spirits, why not go with bottles and labels that look great, that will immediately catch the eye and create an 'ah—hah' moment when Dad opens them. When it comes to gifts, aesthetics matter, and so does taste, and to that end I have sampled a lot of spirits to curate this list of the best looking spirits gifts for Father's Day, whiskies, gin, vodka, mezcal and other spirits that look and taste great. If Dad loves whiskey, I also recently wrote here at Forbes about new expressions using rare or special wood ageing to stand out in the market.
All of the many varieties of Lasso Motel Whiskies come in elegant, distinctive packaging.
This lineup of quality Kentucky whiskies has quickly reaped big awards and was the subject of a detailed write up by one of my colleagues here at Forbes 'How Lasso Motel Crafts One of America's Great Bourbons.' The products are very good but also good looking, and the simple but elegant bottles and distinctive labels jump out to me as something special, more reminiscent of cognac or brandy than bourbon. I've only tried two of the thirteen Lasso Motel expressions, Rose Cask with finishing in in French rose wine casks, and Port Cask finish, with casks from the Duoro region of Portugal, but both were excellent, tasting as good as they look. Few bourbon lovers are familiar with this lineup, and you really cannot go wrong gifting to a whiskey fan. If you know Dad likes a particular style, as I love port-casked whiskies, they will have something for him.
Mezcals are one of the hottest categories of craft spirits, and the bottles from Fosforo are ... More exspecially striking
If Dad likes a great margarita, wait until he tastes one that swaps out high-end mezcal for the ubiquitous tequila. And in terms of looks and quality, its hard to beat Fosforo, the most awarded Tobalá mezcal brand in the market, with production led by fourth-generation master-mezcalero Aarón Alva Sánchez. They are a sustainably focused, community-oriented producer in Puebla, and offer three mezcal expressions: Ensamble (a clear blend of two varieties of agave), Tobalá Joven (clear, unaged 100% tabala agave), and Tobalá Penca (amber, aged 1-4 months with agave leaves). All are packaged in the company's distinctive and impressive cut crystal bottle, with etching chosen to evoke the talavera artwork style famously found on pottery and colorful tiles in the region.
Many cognacs look staid, but not the limited edition Renegade
This is the fourth release from the Renegade Barrel Collection, handpicked by Master Blender Alexandre Gabriel, owner of prestigious cognac house Maison Ferrand. Only 550 700ml bottles exist, making it a very limited offering, but still at a very reasonable price at $190. In the 19th century 'early landed' cognacs were first aged in Cognac and then transported in barrels to another country to finish aging, generally to a humid region. The Renegade series was inspired by the historical aging process, taking barrels of Ferrand Grande Champagne Premier Cru de Cognac that were first distilled in 2014 and transporting them to Barbados to undergo secondary aging. The result is rich in vibrant tropical fruitiness, with peach, apricot, tangerine, guava, fig and honeysuckle notes. And while a lot of cognac is staid and traditional looking, this has an eye catching, cartoonish label that is certain to jump out at Dad as distinctive.
The Buffalo Trace Prohibition Collection includes five distinctive, hisstoric bottles of whiskey and ... More is available with matching cigars.
If you want to go big this Father's Day, consider a set of gift bottles, and you will be hard pressed to do better than the latest release from Kentucky's famed Buffalo Trace Distillery and its second annual Prohibition Collection. This limited-edition set features five half-bottles (375ml) commemorating the rare whiskies that were legally produced at the Distillery while the 18th Amendment was in effect, when purchasing alcohol was only legal with a medical prescription. Just six distilleries were licensed by the U.S. Government to bottle medicinal whiskey, including what is today known as Buffalo Trace. This year's collection includes Mirror Brook, Very Oldest Procurable (V.O.P.), Anderson's Belle, Old Fashioned Mountain Corn and Silver Wedding Rye Whiskey. The five bottles all bear the distinctive colorful retro packaging from these historic brands and come in a custom wooden display case featuring historical images of the distillery ($999).
If Dad is a cigar lover, the distillery also partnered with the Scandinavian Tobacco Group on a matching limited-edition cigar set featuring five unique blends in individually numbered boxes that mirror the whiskey collection packaging. The Buffalo Trace Distillery Prohibition Collection Series #2 cigar set will be available online at Cigora.
If you are lookng for fancy vodka, look no further than HDW Century
Vodka is arguably the least interesting spirit, generally conceived as flavorless, and historically this has often extended to packaging. But if vodka is what Dad drinks, there's an elegant solution: HDW Century Vodka, from Buffalo Trace Distillery and named for its Master Distiller, Harlen D. Wheatley and the arcane process he invented to make it. The hard to fathom process begins with carefully selected grains that are then crafted in small batches in a one-of-a-kind micro-still just for this elixir. It is distilled seven times, then blended with another batch that has also been distilled seven times. This blend is then distilled three additional times and blended with a third batch distilled seven times, and this cycle is repeated ten times—100 separate distillations. HDW Century Vodka ($90) emerges as ultra-smooth and pure, with subtle hints of vanilla. The elegant etched bottle is special and comes nestled in a rich gift box that does not resemble anyone's idea of what a bottle of vodka looks like.
There is a lot more to the ready-to-drink craft cocktail market than cans.
The pre-made cocktail category has exploded in popularity, but almost all of the options come in lowbrow packaging, usually cans. But when two celebrated chefs, Jody Williams and Rita Soudi of New York City's famed Via Carota restaurant decided to put out their own line of ready to drink cocktails, the took a different path. Not only do they taste great, and don't require Dad to squeeze any limes, they come in gorgeous cut crystal bottles. There are margaritas, negronis, Manhattans, vodka martinis, espresso martinis, Old Fashioneds, Palomas, Spritzes, White Negronis and even French 75, each in the same great looking 100ml bottle. These in turn are sold in packages of 4, 6, 10 and 12. If Dad enjoys a good cocktail but doesn't want to have to go out or fuss, you cannot beat these for gifting. If he enjoys all kinds of cocktails, they also have sampler packs and make your own mix and match gift sets.
For an unforgettable gin and tonic, start with a one-of-a-kind gin.
I had this distinctively purplish take on a gin and tonic at the bar of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, one of the world's most famous grand resort hotels, while skiing in Canada, and was wowed by both the flavor and presentation. It turns out that the Empress 1908 Gin is made by local Victoria Distillers and was inspired by the Lake Louise's sister property, the legendary Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. It is handcrafted in small batch copper-pot stills, with a unique mix of botanicals that includes the signature blend of black tea served at the Empress, and the butterfly pea blossom that gives the gin its signature indigo color. Butterfly pea blossom is an exotic herb that balances the traditional citrus notes of gin with a warm herbal earthiness. Both the label and the color of the gin inside are eye catching, and so are the cocktails you can make with it.
The Last Drop Collection comes in special wooden display cases with lots of extras.
Got deep pockets and a Dad who is a connoisseur of the finer things in life and especially whisky? Japanese whisky has become one of the hottest commodities in the spirts world, in many cases surpassing even high-end Scotch in rarity and quality, and this is one of the most unique. As its name suggests, the The Last Drop is a series of very limited releases, and the latest, Number 39, is a special marriage of 100% Japanese whiskies from two casks, both made from the coveted Japanese Mizunara oak and laid for maturation in the year 2000. Only 319 bottles are available worldwide, (750ml at 118.2 proof) with a suggested retail price of $5,500. Each bottling from The Last Drop is wax-sealed, individually numbered and packaged in a bespoke bottle suspended in an oak frame, inside a signature green case with a pocket-sized tasting book and an engraved stopper cork.. Each case also includes a matching 50ml miniature so Dad can taste it while keeping the keepsake intact for the future. for private enjoyment,
All Booker's bourbon is special, but for extra special, there's Barry's Batch.
When it was introduced in 1988 Booker's was one of the pioneers of the craft Bourbon revival, and ever since has retained one of the most original and recognizable packaging, in a wood crate with its 'handwritten' style label and wax seal. Any whiskey fan knows it is Booker's when they see it, but you can up the ante with this special edition, named in honor of Barry Berish, former Chairman and CEO of Beam Suntory, where he worked for over 40 years. After he passed away last year, this batch was named in his honor and memory and is made up of barrels from four production dates that were aged in five different warehouses. The age of the Barry's Batch is exactly 7 years, 2 months, and 4 days, and it has special secondary label attached to it explaining the process, written by Master Distiller Fred Noe. This rounds out the best looking spirits gifts for Father's Day.