Cash might be king, but when it comes to sharing the holiday spirit, spirits (not to mention beer and wine) are also a perennially popular choice.
Whether the booze hound in your life is a beer geek, cork dork or spirit animal, you’ll be sure to find something for them in our boozy gift guide.
Cabin Brewing Flight Club
Beer fans love flights of beers, and the Cabin Brewing taproom is a great place to enjoy them. Cabin even offers a Flight Club membership. For $119.95, members get a punch card redeemable for 12 flights of Cabin beer to be enjoyed throughout 2025, a Flight Club pin and sticker and a 10% discount on all food and beverages in the taproom. Flight Club will give wings to your tastebuds!
Confluence Winter Spice Gin
Confluence makes great spirits. Their Amaro recently won Avenue magazine’s Made in Alberta Awards in the alcoholic beverage category. For the holidays,
Confluence has released Winter Spice Gin, inspired by ginger snap cookies. Featuring flavour notes of baking spices, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom, Confluence Winter Spice Gin is available for $49.99 from the distillery (right next door to Cabin Brewing) or at finer liquor stores.
Bridgeland Distillery Gift Packs
Bridgeland Distillery is one of the most interesting local distilleries, eschewing the usual offerings of vodka and gin and making unique drinks like amaro, limoncello and single-varietal brandy, in addition to whiskies made from local grains. Bridgeland offers two- and three-pack gift packs in various themes: whisky, brandy, Italian, and cocktail packs. The two-packs come in a wooden box holding 375ml bottles and range from $74 to $94. Three-packs contain 200ml bottles and range from $62 to $89.
XhAle Christmas Pudding Porter
This rich, dark porter features flavours of toasted bread, burnt toffee, dark cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla and figs. It’s inspired by a century-old Christmas pudding recipe from XhAle’s founder’s Aunt Rene. But the holidays aren’t just about food and beverage; they are about family and charity. In honour of Aunt Rene, partial proceeds from the sale of XhAle Christmas Pudding Porter (approx. $18/4-pack) are donated to the Alberta Cancer Foundation for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Wild Life Distillery Fairmont Mountain Signature Series
Canmore’s Wild Life Distillery has partnered with Fairmont Hotels to create a series of signature bottled cocktails. For the Banff Springs Hotel, the Wildflower cocktail combines Rundle Bar Gin, elderberry, mint and lime for a refreshing twist on a Gin Gimlet. The Chateau Lake Louise Iconic Peak is a spin on an Old Fashioned, made from Untamed Signature Rye, smoked black tea and Wild Life aromatic bitters. Finally, Jasper Park Lodge Emerald Glow is a Collins-style cocktail made from Wild Life Vodka, sencha green tea, lemon, sage and green apple. The set of cocktails costs $55 and is available only at the hotels a
nd through the distillery.
Craft Beer Importers Canada’s Craft Beer Advent Calendar
Boozy advent calendars have been very popular in recent years, but the first was the Craft Beer Advent Calendar. Every year, this calendar features 24 different beers that have never been sold in Canada before. And it is the only beer calendar sold across Canada, so friends and loved ones across the nation can share a cold one together throughout December. Approximately $170 at finer liquor stores. (Full disclosure: I’m the owner of Craft Beer Importers Canada Inc., which makes the calendar.)
craftbeerimports.ca/beer-advent
Uncommon Cider Everything Nice Cider
This seasonal cider from one of Calgary’s favourite cideries is a blend of naturally fermented apple cider and BC-grown cranberries. The cider is infused with mulling spices giving it a blush colour and flavours of cinnamon, apple pie and citrus. In a wonderful season twist, Everything Nice Cider can be enjoyed cold or mulled! Available at the Uncommon taproom or from Calgary Co-Op Wine Spirits Beer for approximately $22/4-pack.
Kensington Wine Market Not-An-Advent Whisky Advent Calendar
Kensington Wine Market is globally recognized for its whisky selection. And for the last several years, they have assembled an exclusive advent calendar of fine and rare drams. In a twist, this year, Kensington Wine Market is offering five tasting kits, each containing five 28ml samples of premium whisky. If you purchase all five kits, for a total of 25 drams, the kits come together just like an advent calendar. The entire five-kit set is $330 while individual kits are $70.
Blanco Cantina Margarita Kits
Calgary-based Blanco Cantina features great Mexican-inspired food, but is equally loved for their margaritas. Available at each of their locations, Blanco offers kits with all the ingredients needed to bring the fiesta home. Available in five flavours, each kit makes six margaritas and range from $50 to $60.
blancocantina.ca/en/margarita-kits
Imperial Gran Reserva
If you can’t splurge for the holidays, when can you splurge? For about $96, this iconic wine from Rioja, Spain will please any wine lover. At 85% Tempranillo with Garnacha and Mazuelo providing support, this wine is a true classic, having been produced since 1920. Made only in the best vintages and then aged for 24 months in French and American Oak with additional bottle aging, Imperial Gran Reserva is rich and complex with a nose of dark fruits, licorice, cigar and sweet spice. Available at Craft Cellars, Willow Park Wines & Spirits, Zyn the Wine Market and BSW Liquor.
cvne.com/en/wines/imperial-gran-reserva
