Christmas gift ideas #1: Jack Daniel’s

December. That magical time of the year where you’re obliged to spend countless hours in a heaving mall, battling against fellow mega-stressed consumers in a bid to complete your Christmas shopping in as pain-free a fashion as possible.

Of course, if you prepare properly and know what you’re buying before you head off, you can be in-and-out in 30 minutes, happily at back at home with Elf on the telly and a drink in your hand while everyone else is still tearing their hair out somewhere in the labyrinth of Myer. So we thought we’d offer you a few gift ideas in the build up to the holidays.

First up, here’s an idea for the people who are notoriously tricky to buy for: menfolk. Most chaps of a certain age just don’t really need anything. They’ve likely already bought themselves the latest gadgetry and they’re just as happy to keep on wearing that comfy old flanno as they would be to receive expensive new threads. So what can you buy for your everyday gentleman of discerning taste who isn’t beguiled by the trappings of fashion or fad?

A nice drop of alcohol. That’s what.

There are few things a chap likes more than settling back in his favourite armchair (all men have a favourite armchair, right?) with a nice glass of something warming and alcoholic. Which is where good ol’ Jack Daniel’s comes in.

The whiskey is charcoal mellowed drop by drop and then allowed to age in handcrafted barrels. And they don’t follow a calendar either. Their Tennessee Sippin’ Whiskey is ready only when their tasters say it is. They use their senses, just like Jack himself did, back in the day.

We really like the heritage behind the drink. Their whiskey is still judged the same way as it was a century ago: by the way it looks (great), by the way it smells (great) and, of course, by the way it tastes (great). And in a world where nothing seems built to last anymore, it’s pretty cool to be able to experience authenticity and integrity in a glass in your own living room.

So if you’re struggling for a gift idea for the fella in your life, then you could do much worse than sending them a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel or the splendidly-named Gentleman Jack. Hell, they might even share it with you (result!).

Head over to the Jack Daniel’s Christmas Barrel Tree website to find BBQ Hill recipes and share an e-card with a friend. More importantly, there are 125 bottles of limited edition Holiday Select up for grabs and info about how you can win a trip for you and seven friends to the JD distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee!

Oh and don’t forget to drink responsibly, y’all.