Nothing says ‘ho, ho, ho’ to Don Kavanagh quite as merrily as high quality liquor.
WITH THE Christmas party season revving up and the country awash with false bonhomie and fake snow, it’s time to think about Christmas shopping.
Frankly, I don’t see the point of going to malls and spending the day being walked on, jostled and importuned by strange people selling mud who simply won’t take no for an answer. I visited St Lukes shopping centre recently and noticed two things in particular.
One was that polar bears now appear to be part of the whole Christmas iconography (perhaps there were some in Bethlehem that night and we simply never realised) and the other was that a liquor retail company had a stall there displaying gift packs of top-notch drinkables and handing out brochures with pricing and delivery details.
This is a fantastic idea, as it saves time, saves going to jam-packed malls full of squalling, snot- bedecked infants and shopping zombies doing their usual trance-like shamble right in front of you.
A nice bottle of something is also a very welcome addition beneath most people’s Christmas trees and there are some excellent drinks to buy for your loved ones.
From exquisite ports to elegant whiskies and everything in between, Christmas is the one time that it actually feels good to spend a bit more and go for quality.
While the stack ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap retail outlets are fine for everyday drink shopping, the specialists really come into their own over this season. Upscale liquor retailers like Glengarry and Caros offer excellent quality wines and spirits from all over the world, while niche operators, like the Wine Vault, can offer you even more of a range, meaning you’ll be able to buy presents that really will be appreciated.
We’re lucky in Auckland to have two specialist whisky shops (The Whisky Shop and Sam Snead’s House of Whisky), and if you can’t find something exquisite in either of those, you’re too hard to please. The Whisky Shop also has excellent ranges of gin, rum and vodka, among other, more exotic spirits.
Some may say that buying a bottle for Christmas shows a lack of imagination, but you can ignore such advice.
Trust me, nothing says Happy Christmas quite like a bottle of your favourite drink turning up on Christmas morning.