Wishing people a Happy New Year carries added weight this year. We are all trepidatiously hopeful that 2021 will provide some reprieve from the onslaught of 2020. At the end of this trying and exhausting year, why not treat yourself? It’s the perfect excuse to try that splurge-worthy bottle you added to cart but then wistfully deleted. It’s also an opportune time to send something special to the people in your life that helped you through the tumult of the last nine months.
Reid’s Distillery Spiced and Smoky G&T Pack
This cocktail kit arrives with everything needed to make an elevated gin and tonic. First, a 750 ml bottle of Reid’s gin – the family-run distillery makes three: signature, citrus and spiced. Then you get 12 bottles of tonic water (you have the choice of 17 flavours), garnishes of your choice, an infusion smoker, cassia bark aka cinnamon for smoking and cubeb berry distillate to spritz over the glasses. It’s a whole experience. There’s an option to send it as a gift with a personal note.
Toronto. $128.50. Get it at Reid’s Distillery (32 Logan, reidsdistillery.com). Ontario-wide shipping shipping available.
Veuve Clicquot Brut 2008 Vintage
Ring in 2021 in style. Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin was founded in 1772 in Reims, France, and it earned its title as an iconic champagne house over the centuries. Like all Veuve bottles, this vintage is made with a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and meunier grapes, and 2008 was an ideal year for grape maturity on their terroir. It was aged in wooden casks that add spice, vanilla and toasted aromas to the champagne, with notes of date, apple and poached pear.
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, France. $107.95/750 ml. Get it at the LCBO (lcbo.com)
Casamigos Tequila Reposado
Casamigos is widely known as George Clooney’s tequila company. But beyond the celebrity angle, it’s an incredibly balanced tequila that goes down smooth as silk. With notes of oak, cocoa and caramel it has enough savouriness to sip slowly or mix into a spicy winter margarita.
Casamigos, Mexico. $79.95/750 ml. Get it at the LCBO (lcbo.com)
