An enjoyable aspect as we approach Christmas – whether you celebrate the holiday or not – is the proliferation of Advent Calendars that are available. Over the years, we’ve had pop-up penguins from Lovepop, a homemade musical calendar, and somewhere (in the attic?) we have a Santa that gradually drops down the chimney as the month progresses. There are multiple Lego Advent Calendars available, catering to a variety of fandoms, including the Marvel one in our living room. There’s the fun of a daily surprise that comes with the commercial Advent Calendars, knowing the theme with the thrill of each day being a little different. If you want to see some great reactions to daily surprises, check out this Instagram account; he’s opening three calendars every day.
Several years ago, I learned of the existence of a “whiskey Advent calendar.” But there was a catch… it was available from a shop in the United Kingdom, and the shipping to the United States was half again the price of the calendar. (If I remember right, the calendar was $200 and shipping $100.) I wrote it off as beyond what I wanted to spend. A fabulous co-worker made me a whiskey basket that year with a sipping glass and a handful of whiskey miniatures curated from a personal collection. Marinda and I discussed the possibility of purchasing a large number of mini-bottles and creating our own whiskey Advent calendar for our local whiskey-loving friends. But life happened, and we never got around to it.
A couple years ago, I learned that Flaviar.com had launched a Whiskey Advent Calendar within the United States. I hesitated initially – I think my timing was bad the first year, discovering it existed a little too late. Last year, I asked my mother to buy it for me, and due to the supply chain issues, it arrived a few days into December (they were quite apologetic about that), and it took me until February to finish it.
This year, Flaviar shipped the calendar super early – I think I received mine in October – and I’ve been making an effort to open each day in December and try my new whiskey. To keep myself on track, I’ve been posting to TikTok each day as I try them. And delightfully, most of the included whiskeys are new to me. Like Pokémon, I know I can’t catch (or try) every one out there, but I can certainly put in a good effort.