Thanksgiving Spirits: 7 Bottles Perfect to Bring for Every Relative

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and you still have just enough time to pick up a bottle for the festivities. But what do you grab? A sweet and toasty bourbon is as classic a fit as any, or perhaps an after-dinner liqueur to wash down the pecan pie. Or maybe, just maybe, you’re looking for a mezcal distilled with actual turkey (bear with us here, that one tastes a lot better than it sounds).

In honor of the holiday, we’re rounding up seven bottles perfect for each relative at the Thanksgiving feast. Whether they prefer tequila, gin, THC or something in between, rest assured that something on this list can satisfy their cravings and round out the evening with a spirited touch.

Whiskey: Wild Turkey 101 8-Year-Old

(Photo: Wild Turkey)

Until recently, the age-stated version of Wild Turkey 101 was exclusive to export markets. Thankfully for American whiskey fans, all of that changed in April, when the team finally brought this delicious eight-year bourbon back to its home turf. Great news for everyone but the resellers. Now widely available at a suggested retail price of $50, this cult-favorite whiskey delivers loads of seasonal flavor, kicking off with aromas of brown sugar, toffee and honey before segueing into a rich palate of maple, sweet rye bread, orange peel and a pinch of ginger. If you’re looking for a delicious aged offering with an on-the-nose Thanksgiving twist, Wild Turkey 101 is the bourbon to beat.

Tequila: El Mayor Cafe Reposado

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The Espresso Martini craze has popularized a new era of coffee-finished spirits, one of our personal favorites being El Mayor Cafe Reposado. The expression begins with used bourbon barrels filled with dark-roast Brazilian coffee beans for four to six weeks. The casks are subsequently emptied and filled with El Mayor Tequila for up to three months, adding a dash of in-your-face coffee flavor that stops short of a syrupy sweet liqueur. The cask influence is subtle at first, imbuing a gentle mocha note that pairs with flavors of vanilla, buttercream and dulce de leche on the palate. It’s on the finish, though, where this tequila truly comes into its own. Loads of dark, smoky coffee grounds, barrel char and singed agave dazzle on the backend, adding up to a spirit that punches far above its $32 suggested retail price.

Gin: Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin with Italian Fig & Laurel

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Drumshanbo’s latest foray into regionally inspired botanicals was unveiled earlier this month in collaboration with two-time world champion mixologist Bruno Vanzan. This time around, the Irish distillery used Italian viola fig and Tuscan juniper, adding a sweet edge that’s noticeable at first whiff. Aromas of jam, orange peel, creamy mango sorbet and banana taffy call to mind Halloween, while its stone-fruit-forward palate of plum, apricot, green tea and eucalyptus feels decidedly Christmassy. However you want to look at it, this is a spirit primed and ready for the holidays. Better suited for a gimlet than a martini, Drumshanbo Italian Fig & Laurel is available at $40.

Mezcal: Convite Pechuga

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Some distillers interpret the meaning of Thanksgiving more literally than others. Case in point: Convite Mezcal de Pechuga, a special-edition agave spirit that adds creole turkey breast, apples, pears, tejocotes and pineapples directly to the still between the first and second rounds of distillation. Surprisingly enough, the mezcal doesn’t lean that hard into its fruity or savory influences, instead highlighting a minty, cooling bite akin to an after-dinner digestif. Expect hints of eucalyptus, anise, lemon zest, pine needles and a wallop of fresh cardamom that picks up toward the finish. At $75, this is a fantastic entry point into the flavorful, untamed world of niche agave spirits.

THC-Infused: Artet Cannabis Aperitif

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Artet reimagines the cannabis beverage through the lens of an Italian aperitif. Paying homage to drinks like Campari and Aperol, the brand contains a blend of cardamom, allspice, ginger, chamomile, gentian, juniper and grapefruit oil, infused with 2.5 milligrams of hemp-derived THC per 50-milliliter pour. The dosage is gentle, but its flavors are anything but. Notes of licorice and resinous juniper dominate the palate, giving way to bittersweet licks of black pepper, allspice and capsaicin heat. For a classy twist on the THC beverage format, Artet’s flagship aperitif costs $40 per 750-milliliter bottle.

Liqueur: Nixta Licor de Elote

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Few liqueurs capture the atmosphere of late autumn quite like Nixta. Produced at the Destilería y Bodega Abasolo in Jilotepec, Mexico, the liqueur begins with 100% ancestral Cacahuazintle corn macerated in raw distillate before blending with water and piloncillo sugar. What results is rich, slightly nutty and oh-so corny in the absolute best way possible. Imagine a liquid corn pudding slathered with caramel and charred marshmallows, sprinkled with baking spice and delivered inside a dad joke-worthy bottle designed in the likeness of a giant corn on the cob. We’d recommend this $35 offering inside signature cocktails like the Corn Colada and the Nixta Afternoon.

Non-Alcoholic: Little Saints St. Oak

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For our money, Little Saints makes the best nonalcoholic whiskey on the market. Debuted earlier this month, the zero-proof offering features American and French oak extracts blended with pure vanilla, cardamom and caramel plus adaptogenic ingredients like lion’s mane and reishi mushroom. The brand describes this as a “spicy, top-shelf Bulleit with a flirtatious wink from the sweet finish of Maker’s Mark,” and we’d say that’s more or less exactly right. Warm aromas of baking spice, tobacco leaf and clove lure you in for a surprisingly complex sip led by flavors of vanilla sugar, black coffee, cassia bark and star anise. This brings more than enough punch to stand out inside a non-alcoholic Old Fashioned. Bottles are available for $50 online.