2012 Holiday Gifts: What not to get.

Last week I published my list of whiskey gift recommendations for the holiday season. This week, I want to take some time to tell people what not to get for their spirit loving friends.

The Rabbit Electric Cocktail Mixer ($20) (image from Metrokane). For the past month or so, this has been advertised in full page ads in the New York Times Magazine. According to the ad copy, "Measure the ingredients of your favorite cocktail into the Rabbit Mixer, add ice and press the start button. Sit back and enjoy the mixing show."

This thing may be the saddest statement I've ever seen about American consumers. Is this what we've come to? Are we so lazy that we can't even work up the energy to shake a cocktail? Even if there was a reason someone couldn't shake a cocktail, say that had severe arthritis of the elbow or something, my guess is most people who are into cocktails already have a machine that mixes things for you...it's known as a blender.

If you know someone just getting into cocktails, consider a Boston shaker for $2.75 and use that extra money for ingredients. Come on people, get up and shake that cocktail.


Whiskey Stones ($20). The idea of whiskey stones is to cool your whiskey without diluting it. You put these cute little rocks in the freezer and then add them to your whiskey. Now, I don't typically drink my whiskey on the rocks, so this clearly isn't for me, but even if I did, would I really need a $20 item just for this purpose? Does ice melt so quickly that your drink is diluted before you finish? And isn't the point of ice to dilute as well as cool? If you really wanted to drink cold, undiluted whiskey, why wouldn't you just put the bottle in the fridge or freezer? There, I just saved you $20. You can thank me later.

The Balvenie 50 ($30,000). (image from Scotch Malt Whisky). This new release from Balvenie looks on track to become the whiskey equivalent of fruitcake for the 2012 season. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's great Scotch, but like most whiskey lovers, I'm assuming I'll get dozens of these. Then I have to think about who I can regift them to or whether I can pass them off at the office "white elephant" party. For everyone who was thinking of this as a gift, instead, consider getting 120 bottles of the excellent Balvenie Tun 1401...or a Toyota Camry.

Happy holidays!