Every December, the same old cardboard Advent calendars show up in stores – cheap chocolate behind flimsy doors that tear the second you touch them. Most guys gave up on that routine years ago. But what if someone took the idea, threw out the kiddie stuff, and built something a grown man would actually look forward to opening every single day? That’s exactly what Flaviar has done with their 2025 Whiskey Advent Calendar, and after seeing what’s inside this year, it’s hard to imagine anything else measuring up.
Picture this: a sturdy little suitcase-style box lands on your coffee table. It doesn’t look like a toy – it looks like something you’d carry onto a Pan Am flight back when flying still felt special. That’s the whole vibe Flaviar went for – the golden age of air travel, complete with vintage luggage tags and boarding-pass graphics. Open it up and you’ve got 24 waxed-sealed 50ml vials lined up like boarding gates, each one holding a different premium whiskey from a different corner of the planet. One day you’re in Kentucky, the next you’re in Japan, then Scotland, Ireland, even China. It’s a round-the-world trip you can take without ever leaving the house.
Image credit: Flaviar
What really sets this apart from anything else out there is the attention to detail. You don’t just get the whiskey. Flaviar throws in two proper Glencairn tasting glasses (the ones with the tulip shape that make everything smell and taste better), a leather-bound “passport” booklet filled with distillery histories and blank pages for your own notes, and daily video tasting sessions led by their in-house experts. They even toss in a full year of their Black Membership – normally forty bucks – which gets you solid discounts whenever you decide you need a whole bottle of something you loved.
The lineup this year is flat-out ridiculous. They somehow convinced top distilleries to send their best stuff, and they even commissioned an exclusive expression just for this calendar. Here’s the complete flight, door by door:
- Bhakta 1928 Golden Years Blend – made exclusively for this release
- SirDavis American Rye finished in sherry casks
- Kujira Kyojin Okinawa Whisky from Japan
- Loch Lomond 12 Year Old Single Malt out of Scotland
- Chicken Cock Small Batch Bourbon
- Oaklore Four Grain Bourbon (corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley)
- 15 Stars First West Small Batch Bourbon
- Frey Ranch Straight Rye Whiskey
- Mary Dowling Bourbon finished in tequila barrels
- Two Stacks The First Cut Irish whiskey blend
- The Guard Bridge Blended Malt from Eden Mill
- Westward Single Malt Stout Cask Finish from Oregon
- Courage & Conviction Double Cask Reserve from Virginia
- Oregon Spirit Bottled-in-Bond Wheat Whiskey
- Akashi Japanese Blended Whisky
- Hai Seas San Oaks – Chinese whiskey aged in three different oaks
- New Riff Malted Rye Whiskey
- Kyrö Wood Smoke Rye all the way from Finland
- Finvara The King’s Gambit Irish whiskey
- Lodestar American Whiskey (high-rye bourbon meets single malt)
- Woodinville Straight Bourbon finished in Port barrels
- Natterjack Blend No.1 Irish whiskey
- Heaven’s Door Revelation Double Barrel Whiskey
- Martingale Rare Reserve Cognac (a curveball finish that works)
That’s twenty-three world-class whiskeys and one outstanding Cognac. Bourbon guys, rye nuts, single-malt purists, and the growing crowd of world-whiskey explorers – everybody gets something they’ll brag about to their buddies.
Image credit: Flaviar
If you’re the type who already has a decent bar at home, this is the perfect way to try bottles that normally cost eighty to two hundred dollars a pop without committing to a full one. Fifty milliliters is plenty for two generous pours, so you can taste it neat one night and then decide if it deserves a cube or a drop of water the next. And because the videos walk you through each one, even if you’re not a certified whiskey nerd yet, you’ll sound like one by Christmas.
Word of warning: these calendars disappear fast. Flaviar says every previous year has sold out well before December 1st, and this edition looks like it’ll go even quicker. Right now they’re taking preorders for $270, and anything ordered this week is guaranteed to land on your doorstep before Thanksgiving weekend. Buy more than one (maybe one for you and one for your brother-in-law who thinks he knows whiskey) and they knock a few bucks off each.
For a lot of us, December is about good drinks, a warm fire, and not having to deal with the mall. Flaviar’s 2025 Whiskey Advent Calendar basically hands you twenty-four reasons to look forward to coming home every night once December rolls around. If there’s only one splurge you make this holiday season, a lot of guys are going to say this is the one that’s actually worth it.
