Under £100

Talisker whisky has been distilled on the Isle of Skye and “made by the sea” since 1830 – with every drop promising to evoke this rugged yet beautiful landscape. The multi-award-winning Talisker 10 Year Old is the distiller’s signature pour and makes a failsafe gift with its sea-salty nose, peppery finish and excellent blend of sweet and smoky notes.

£33; malts.com

If you’re yet to click “purchase” on that refill of your friend’s favourite Jo Malone scent, consider swapping it for the perfumer’s new vodka. Scent and vodka creation are fairly similar processes, and Jo – a synaesthete – found herself asking questions like ‘What flavour captures the warmth of a beach at sunset?’ So, she teamed up with master distiller Joanne Moore to create a trilogy of luxury vodkas that all evoke sensory responses – memory, nostalgia, feeling. Plus, they’re all packaged in perfume-like bottles with bespoke textures designed to add to the experience.

£49.99; jovodka.com

Everyone would be happy to receive a bottle of champagne for Christmas, but receiving a bottle of English sparkling is just that bit cooler. There are now lots of excellent English wines to choose between, but our favourite has to be this blanc de blancs from Rathfinny. The Sussex vineyard has the same chalky soil as many regions in Champagne, resulting in an elegant wine with a hit of minerality – the perfect partner for seafood.

From £49; rathfinnyestate.com

Part tasting, part treasure hunt, Dram5’s blind box is the most fun you can have with five drams and zero preconceptions. Inside: a surprise lineup of single-cask, barrel-strength Scotch whiskies – from youthful charmers to 30-year-plus rarities you won’t find anywhere else. The design is award-winning, the experience cleverly tech-enabled, and the flavours unpredictable in the best way. A brilliant gift for the whisky lover who has everything – except this.

£95; dram5.com

The problem with most chocolate liqueurs is that neither the chocolate, nor the so-called liqueur, tends to taste any good. So, this is a great alternative. Pour the 37.5cl bottle of Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage port into eight cups made from 58 per cent cocoa dark chocolate. Vinte Vinte is the chocolate brand produced at The Story of Chocolate, one of the attractions at World of Wine – Fladgate Partnership’s epicurean village in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto.

£20; amazon.co.uk

When Pasqua wines invited Cuban-born artist-provocateur CB Hoyo to design a label for its blend of garganega, pinot blanc and sauvignon blanc, it might have guessed he’d stir up old rivalries by daubing “Hey French, you could have made this but you didn’t” over it. Credit to the Italian winemaker, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, it named the wine after the artwork and has committed to it for four editions. It’s a very adaptable wine for the season, with structure, freshness and fragrant floral notes, underpinned by volcanic minerality.

£37; majestic.co.uk

When it was established in Hampshire in 1952 (by the humbly named Major-General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones), Hambledon was one of the first commercial producers of modern English wine. It is now run as a joint venture by a couple of fairly well-known family businesses – Symington Family Estates and Berry Bros & Rudd. This, the estate’s first blanc de blancs cuvée, is 100 per cent chardonnay, with the well-regarded 2018 vintage as the base wine, and aged on lees for four years. It has a refreshing acidity that pairs well with delicate seafood and creamy cheeses.

£55; bbr.com

Cognac is a hugely underrated mixing spirit – Brideshead would never have been Revisited without a brandy alexander. One wouldn’t want to start throwing ingredients into the sublime stalwart, Hennessy Paradis (£1,180), which contains eaux de vie up to 130 years old. But Henny VS? Go for it… Using this shaker gift set, try classics such as the sidecar (VS cognac:triple sec:lemon juice in 3:2:1 ratio); the aforementioned favourite of Anthony Blanche (VS cognac:crème de cacao:whipping cream, 1:1:1); or try the more modern invention, the Henny-rita, a play on the margarita, with instructions on the box.

£35; amazon.co.uk

After a week of rich food, sometimes only a miso soup with a bit of tofu and a pinch of seaweed in it will do – a Japanese cleanse. This is the Christmas drinks equivalent. This sake is made in a similar way to méthode traditionelle sparkling wine, with secondary fermentation in the bottle. It’s a junmai ginjo sake made purely from rice, polished to 60%, and is led by lemon, peach and banana flavour notes.

£36; amazon.co.uk

Planteray is not a distillery, but a brand owned by Maison Ferrand cognac which sources rum from around the world and plays with it. This 55.1%-ABV Fiji rum, exclusive to The Whisky Exchange, was aged on the South Pacific archipelago for nine years in ex-bourbon casks, moved to Europe to be placed in cognac barrels for just over two years, then was relocated into an ex-whisky cask from Islay single-malt distillery Kilchoman for 54 months. The result is a remarkable sweet smokiness over the funky tropical fruit.

£89.95; thewhiskyexchange.com

Since 2017, at this time of year, Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé gets dressed up for a party. Unlike those of us drinking it, however, it chooses to be clad in an outfit that will conduct the cold – a full metal jacket. This year’s limited edition, Bubbles, depicts the effervescence of the rosé wine and the different colours it takes on in the glass, shimmering between shades of orange, red and pink.

£95; johnlewis.com

Every year, The Whisky Exchange sources a seasonal-tasting whisky that will fit the bill to be its Christmas dram. And every year, whisky connoisseurs try to work out which distillery it’s from. This year’s is a rather special 2009 Highland single malt, matured in first-fill oloroso sherry butts for 16 years. That freshly seasoned European oak has imparted a massive wave of Christmas pudding, brandy butter, oranges, cloves, chocolate and candied almonds. Ideal for sneaking away from the crowd and sitting by a fire pit with a couple of close pals.

£79.95; thewhiskyexchange.com