Papa Wants Whiskey, So Give Him Some

Bourbon, Scotch and Rye Whiskey Gifts For Father’s Day

By Richard Thomas

Take it from me (and I’m the divorced Dad of a 4 1/2 year old): what that Papa you know wants for Father’s Day is whiskey. Not a tie, not socks, but whiskey. Unless he is a teetotaler, it is hard to conceive of going far wrong by giving the gift of whiskey for Father’s Day. The only real question is what bottle to buy, and that is where these suggestions come in.

On A Budget

Old Forester Rye ($23): This is is a new whiskey, released only six months ago, so odds are your Dad hasn’t tried it yet. He should, because it’s halfway through the year and Old Forester Rye is still on my list as one of the most interesting whiskeys to come out in 2019. Brown-Forman cooked up a new mash bill for the whiskey, one that departs from the usual Kentucky Rye style (and the recipe used for Woodford Reserve Rye, incidentally) by using 65% rye, 20% malted barley and 15% percent corn. Thus, malted barley has a much larger presence in the flavor profile than usual, and shows in a sweet whiskey that is as much floral as it is spicy.

Speyburn 10 Year Old With Source Water ($35): Once upon a time, it was the snooty thing for whiskey drinkers to mix their spirit of choice with water drawn from the same source as the distillery. In the U.S., bourbon drinkers used to call this mixing with “branch water.” I usually don’t go for such refinements, but I have found water choice does matter if you put a big splash of water in your whiskey, as would be the case if you seek to mimic what the pros do when they evaluate samples.

In that case, reaching for Uisque Source water, drawn from a well in Moray and known for pairing well with Speyside whiskies, is a pretty good choice. Speyburn 10 is noted for its easy drinking character. Putting the two together in a gift pack for a mere $35 is a classy-but-budget winner for a Father’s Day gift.

“Fast Cash Buys”

Baker’s Bourbon ($55): The whiskey geeks reading this article are all muttering “will you stop telling people about Baker’s!” right now, which is as good an arguement as it gets for buying it as a Father’s Day present. Part of the hallmark, early 1990s Jim Beam Small Batch Collection (along with Knob Creek, Booker’s and Basil Hayden), this is the only member of that esteemed group of brands to remain untouched. It retains it’s 7 year age statement and its 107 proof. If you like Jim Beam bourbons, this is about as good a go-to bottle from them as it gets.

Bowmore 15 Year Old ($85): This single malt basically takes the 12 year old expression from this famed Islay distillery and gives it an extra three years of finishing time in Oloroso Sherry butts. Note that is three years, not three months. As a practical matter, the only way to get more Sherry aging is just to age in Sherry casks outright, not always a good choice for peaty Islay whiskies. This one balances the Sherry influence against the native character of the spirit marvelously, and it’s my favorite expression in Bowmore’s main line of regular releases.

Slurge For Papa

Michter’s 10 Year Old Rye ($160): If you have a bit more money to spend, most Dad’s will be quite pleased with Michter’s 10 Year Old Rye. Whatever the year for this single barrel release, you can count on having the best single barrel, age statement-ed rye whiskey that comes out on an annual basis. It’s sweet, gingered, and often toasty, making for an approachable, but sophisticated pour.

W.L. Weller 12 Year Old Bourbon ($175): Because the official asking price for a bottle of Weller 12 Year Old is still about $30, there are plenty of whiskey geeks who refuse to pay one penny more for a bottle of “Baby Pappy.” The thing is that getting Weller 12 at that official price is damn near impossible, because most retailers don’t offer it at said price point. This can only be achieved if you know a retailer who really likes you.

The rest of us pay what the market will bear, and that is the key understanding. Weller 12 is commanding as much as $300 with some retailers, with $175 offering a fair middle ground, and that being far below the market price for a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Old. If you want to get your Dad a bottle of bourbon he can point to with pride and talk about, but at a still marginally reasonable price, W.L. Weller 12 is the way to go.