Raise Your Spirits: A Guide to Gifting Exceptional Spirits this Holiday Season

The Huntress series is inspired by the Gaelic goddess Neachneohain, Nc’nean’s namesake and guiding star, who represents the ethos and innovation of the distillery’s ongoing pursuit of unique flavors in whisky making. This particular Huntress is incredibly unique in that it is a rare bottling of a spirit that is only produced once a year when the distillers cross over from one distillation recipe to another and cut points are changed, flooding the spirit with unusually high fruity compounds—so fruity that this release is named after one of the team’s favorite desserts. 

• Limited edition organic single malt Scotch whisky produced by Nc’nean in Drimnin, Scotland (Western Highlands)
• Distilled from 100% organic-certified malted Scottish barley
• Twice distilled in copper pot stills
• Aged in a combination of shaved, toasted, and re-charred (STR) red wine casks (66%), ex–American whiskey casks (31%), and ex–Oloroso sherry butts (3%); non-age statement
• Warming flavors of cherry Bakewell tart, apricot marmalade, vanilla custard, and peppermint tea
• Only 630 bottles available in the US
• No added coloring
• Non-chill filtered; 48.5% ABV

Bourbon Ball Moonshine Cream, a perfect blend of Irish cream and Neeley Family Distillery’s own moonshine flavored with dark chocolate and pecan, is suited for any occasion in any season—try it with different sodas for an adult-style float, in coffee, and even on top of ice cream. Store out of direct sunlight and refrigerate after opening to maintain optimal flavor. 

• Moonshine cream liqueur produced by Neeley Family Distillery in Sparta, Kentucky
• Blend of Irish cream and triple–pot distilled Neeley Family Distillery moonshine made from corn and cane sugar
• Flavored with dark chocolate and pecan extract
• Sweetened with cane sugar
• Delectable aromas of dark chocolate and pecan precede a rich, nutty palate that echoes the nose with the addition of subtle, buttered sweet corn
• 20% ABV

“Apple brandy shines through on the nose, followed by dill, spearmint, and caramel. This whiskey is extremely floral and enticing…the nose draws you in and gets your mouth watering. On the palate, this is fall in a glass: candied apple, spearmint, vanilla, and baking spice. This whiskey is a perfect marriage of sweet and savory notes that are extremely bright and inviting. It reminds me of a Trocken-style Riesling with a little bit of age; a very refreshing rye that’s perfect for the winter season!” —James Pellingra, Whiskey Portfolio Manager, Skurnik Wines & Spirits  

• • Single cask, apple brandy cask finished rye whiskey produced by Starlight Distillery in Starlight, Indiana 
  • Barrel No. 22-2503-2 was selected by the Skurnik Spirits Team and bottled exclusively for Skurnik 
  • Blend of two mash bills: 80% rye, 20% malted barley and 90% rye, 10% malted barley 
  • Produced using estate-grown non-GMO rye; malted barley is locally sourced 
  • Closed-top, sweet mash fermented in stainless steel for seven days 
  • Twice distilled in a Vendome brass and copper pot still 
  • Primarily aged in new American oak and finished for 6–9 months in a refill, Starlight apple brandy cask; aged a minimum of 4.5 years in total 
  • Non-chill filtered; bottled at a cask strength of 56.9% ABV 

Though US law stipulates that applejack—an adjunct apple brandy synonymous with the earliest American spirits—may contain as little as 20% aged or unaged apple distillate, Mac’s Applejack honors the bountiful orchard harvests of the Finger Lakes Region with a generous base of 75% 4–6-year-old apple brandy distilled from local New York table varieties and is bolstered by Finger Lakes Distilling’s own corn spirit. Try it in a Jack Rose or an American Trilogy cocktail! 

• Small batch applejack produced by Finger Lakes Distilling in Burdett, New York
• Blend of 75% aged apple brandy distilled from local table apple varieties and 25% neutral grain spirit distilled from New York-grown Yellow Dent corn
• Produced using water sourced from aquifers around Seneca Lake, the deepest lake in New York
• Open top fermented
• Distilled in a 25-foot Vendome copper column still and thumper
• Apple brandy component aged 4–6 years in ex–bourbon barrels previously used to age McKenzie bourbon; non-age statement
• A full bushel of apple varieties on the nose—red apple skin, sweet yellow apple, and green apple juice—precedes a warm, creamy palate of apple pie, cinnamon, and vanilla with a hint of licorice root and strawberry jam on the finish
• NY Farm Distillery License Eligible
• Non-chill filtered; 45% ABV

This pechuga is distilled with Agave cupreata, plus the breast of a hen and local fruits and spices, by Aguerrido co-founder Refugio Calzada! One of just a handful of pechuga we’ve been able to work with that were not distilled from Espadín, this batch shows the way in which Papalote heightens all the fruitier, bolder flavors of the pechuga recipe. Extremely limited, get this one while you can! 

• Destilado de Agave produced in Tetitlán de la Lima, Guerrero
• Maestro Mezcalero Refugio Calzada Hernández
• Produced from 100% Papalote (A. cupreata)
• Cooked 6 days in an earthen pit oven with Encino amarillo
• Fermented 7 days in white pine (ayacahuite) tanks using spring water
• Distilled twice using traditional copper pot stills; hen breast and local fruits and spices added on the second distillation
• Rested 1 year and 1 month in glass before bottling
• 60 liters produced
• 45.9% ABV

The world’s first liqueur crafted from ancestral Pasilla Mixe chiles—a rare chile prized for its meaty smokiness and approachable, but assertive heat. Grown and smoke-dried by the indigenous people of Sierra Mixe using traditional methods, each chile is cleaned, inspected, and cut by hand to ensure only the most robust fruit is used. A full-proof, minimally sweetened liqueur that can be used to modify your cocktails, split the base spirit, or replace your base spirit entirely, venture beyond the obvious (and delicious) agave and sotol pairings and try this in a Bee’s Knees, or a simple Chelada. 

• Pasilla Mixe [mee•hay] chile pepper liqueur produced by Alma Tepec in Oaxaca, Mexico
• Produced from ancestral Pasilla Mixe chiles grown 5,000 feet above sea level in the Mixe region of Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte Mountains
• Vine-ripened chiles are harvested and gently smoked for several days with oak or mesquite in ovens made of bamboo and clay
• Smoked chiles are macerated in column-distilled sugarcane spirit for 6–12 months
• Lightly sweetened with cane sugar
• Gentle, but pervasive smoke on an earthy nose of cocoa, dried red berries, and toasted allspice; the Pasilla Mixe chile is highlighted from start to finish along with low-toned notes of dried fruit, clove, and caramel; pleasant chile spice and tannin provide lift
• Gold medalist at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition
• 40% ABV

The first Raicilla Pechuga commercially available in the USA, this bottle is a limited seasonal release from Estancia. Maestro raicillero Alfredo Salvatierra roasts his Maximiliana in an adobe oven, fermenting the agave in clay amphora pots, then distills it twice using traditional copper pot stills. Subsequently, he adds an array of locally harvested ingredients, including toasted pumpkin seed, quince, apple, plum, lemon leaves, toasted almonds, chamomile, hibiscus, orange blossom and raw turkey breast suspended in the still, before running the spirit through a third time. 

A celebration of harvest and community fellowship, it is thrilling to experience the Pechuga tradition from a whole new point of view in La Estancia de Landeros!

• Pechuga-style raicilla produced by Estancia Distillery in La Estancia de Landeros, Jalisco
• Maestro Raicillero Alfredo Salvatierra
• 100% Maximiliana (Agave maximiliana)
• Cooked in an adobe oven (like a pizza oven)
• Fermented entirely in amphora clay pots
• Distilled three times using traditional copper pot stills
• Addition of toasted pumpkin seed, quince, apple, plum, lemon leaves, toasted almonds, chamomile, hibiscus, nanci, golpe, lima peel, rose castilla, orange blossom and raw turkey breast on third distillation
• 48% ABV

Mezcal distilled with corn (elote) is an art practiced by a rogue’s gallery of iconic maestro mezcaleros, but one sip of Salvador and Flavio’s creation and you’ll understand why it’s become the flagship of their Destilado con Sabores lineup. Whole ears of corn—30 to 40 per 300-liter batch of mezcal—are sourced from local farmers in Magdalena Teitipac, Oaxaca. The corn is oven roasted slowly and carefully before being husked by hand and finally dropped whole into the cooking mezcal during the second distillation. The resulting spirit understandably comes out tasting fresh and buttery, like tea made from corn silk and creamed corn kernels. 

• Mezcal distilled with elote (corn) in Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, at Casa Palacios (NOM 0654X)
• Maestro Mezcalero Flavio Pérez Méndez
• Made using 100% Espadín (Agave angustifolia) matured 8 years
• Cooked in a conical earthen pit using Encino oak that has been certified as sustainably harvested
• Milled by horse-drawn stone tahona
• Fermented in traditional wooden vats (tinas) using well water
• Distilled twice using an alembic copper pot still
• Corn is oven-roasted before being husked then added whole directly to the mezcal during the second distillation
• Gold medalist at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition
• 48.9% ABV

Laced with decadent dark fruits and sultry spices, the relatively minimal aging on this reposado strikes an ideal contrast between the confectionary influence of the oak, and the fruit-forward, racier profile of the raw agave spirit. You can unpack it for ages, but also—you don’t need to. Just have some fun.

• Reposado tequila produced in Arandas, Los Altos, Jalisco, at Destilería el Ranchito (NOM 1414)
• Maestro Tequilero Sergio Cruz
• Produced using 100% estate-grown Azul aka Blue Weber (Agave tequilana) matured 6–8 years
• Roasted in brick ovens 48–50 hours
• Milled using a roller mill
• Open-air fermented using “the Mozart method” in stainless steel tanks for 5–8 days using proprietary and champagne yeast and deep well water
• Distilled twice in a copper pot still
• Aged for an average of 4 months in American oak barrels
• Alluring aromas of dark cherry, pomegranate, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, sweet potato skin, orange zest, and a touch of vanilla bean; the generous palate underscores the baking spices, adding black pepper and bolstering the cinnamon, clove, star anise, and vanilla alongside charred orange zest, salted caramel, and a memory of Dr Pepper
• Verified additive free by Tequila Matchmaker
• 40% ABV

Aged for 12 months in ex-Napa Valley red wine casks of American oak, Amatiteña Añejo seems to gracefully straddle the line between terroir and barrel influence, between serious tequila and nightcap treat—all without a moment’s hesitation. Rich in profile yet lean enough that it never topples into decadence, this is an añejo that stirs memory. 

• • Añejo tequila produced in Amatitán, Jalisco (NOM 1477) 
  • Maestro Tequilero Alberto Partida 
  • 100% Azul aka Blue Weber (Agave tequilana) 
  • Single estate agave (current batches are from the fields El Novillero and Las Rosas) 
  • Cooked in a traditional, mesquite-wood-fired stone oven (without steam) 
  • Milled using an automated tahona (traditional stone wheel mill) 
  • Fermented with fibers (bagasse) in open air wood tanks (tinas), using spring water & ambient yeast 
  • Distilled in historical copper pot stills from the 19th century 
  • Rested 12 months in ex-Napa Valley red wine American oak barrels 
  • Indulgent aromas of fresh glazed donuts, subtle tobacco leaf, candied dates, and petit dejeuner; a palate that is at once generous and elusive, with bold, confectionary flavors of vanilla, caramel, dried cherry, candied plum, sweet potato, black walnut, and subtle marzipan…but with a texture that remains delicate and ethereal 
  • Verified additive free by Tequila Matchmaker 
  • 42% ABV