Who doesn’t love a well-stocked home bar? especially when you’re hosting a lavish dinner during the holiday season for close friends or extended families. No matter what the occasion, catering to the varied needs of your guests is prime.

Festivities bring in holidays, and holidays call for celebration. There is no official drink for celebrations; hence, we at TheGlitz have singled out the best in each category. From blended whisky to single malts and gin to vodka and cognac to strong craft, everything is covered under the roof to make this holiday memorable.

We’ve set the home bar for you by listing brands with budgets that shine on your wallet and premium options that scream extravagant (read class) with a capital E (read C).

So, stock it up AND bring it on! Cheers!!

Home Bar For the Bon Vivant

CHANDON Aurva by Moët Hennessy

In time for the festivities, CHANDON launches Chandon Aurva, a new Indian classic wine. Another classic from Nasik, Chandon Aurva, reflects the best of both worlds. Aged in French oak barrels, it offers a symphony of rich aromas, velvety smoothness, and flavours of cloves, cherry, blueberry, and plum. Chandon Aurva should be on your radar and your bar shelf this Diwali.

Availability: Maharashtra

GLENMORANGIE – A Tale of Forests

Glenmorangie A Tale of the Forest is Glenmorangie’s first whisky ever crafted from barley kilned with woodland botanicals. This experimental limited edition evokes the scents, sounds and sights of the forest itself. Its delightful flavours of pine, juniper and woodsmoke have led illustrator Pomme Chan to dream up her own fantastical forest, showcased on the whisky’s pack.

Availability: Mumbai & Haryana

U’LUVKA Vodka

This award-winning Polish Luxury Vodka from the Wielkopolska region is made using the finest Rye, Wheat, Barley, and Oats in balanced perfection. Feel the fresh, ripe grain notes on the nose. A well-balanced vodka with a vibrant grain finish. For enjoyable martinis and straight shots, U’luvka is the must-buy, must-try vodka of 2023.

U’luvka Vodka is exclusively imported in India by Aspri Spirits

ARDBEG 25 Years Old

Ardbeg 25 Years Old is recognized as the World’s Best Scotch Whisky by the 2023 New York World Wine And Spirits Competition. A supreme single malt, the Ardbeg 25 Years Old proves unequivocally that age cannot tame Ardbeg’s smoky power, but it can yield some of the most complex and majestic flavours ever to emerge from the distillery. Come experience Ardbeg at its most intricate, balanced, and beguiling.

Availability: As an limited edition drop via Travel Retail outlets at Delhi International Airport

Chivas Ultis XX

Chivas Ultis XX, aged for 20 years, is an outstanding blended malt whisky that honours and pays tribute to the strength of the vision, commitment, and mastery of five generations of blending excellence. Chivas’ exceptional single grain adds to the complexity and flavour of the malts. What more? From the Chivas inventory of millions of casks, less than 1% are used to create Chivas Regal Ultis.

Availability: Maharashtra

Ki NO Bi

Ki No Bi gin embodies the artistry of Japanese craftsmanship. The Kyoto Distillery’s flagship gin is a pioneer, distilled in a rice-spirit base with Japanese botanicals like as yuzu, hinoki cypress, bamboo, gyokuro tea, and green peppercorns in a method that seeks konwa – the attainment of harmony through blending.

Price: ₹7500

For The Happy-go-Lucky

DISCO PANDA

Disco Panda stands out in the strong craft category for a really unique and refreshing experience. Ideal for lengthy sessions because it is easy to drink and has a low bitterness. This libation will undoubtedly be the star performer in all future celebrations.

Availability: Delhi, UP, Punjab, Kerala, and Puducherry

SALUD Fiesta and SALUD Strong Cranberry

Salud Fiesta is an agave soda in a bottle with an impressive 8% alcohol content offering an unparalleled blend of fun and flavour. Its not your typical Tequila, but a refreshing twist. It’ll leave you craving for more. On the other hand, the cranberry is a gin refresher with meticulously curated selection of herbs and botanicals.

For the Off Beater

CHAMBAL Gin

Chambal Gin – a new entrant into the captivating world of gin. Chambal Gin is meticulously infused with botanicals that create a symphony of flavors. Each sip lets the enchanting aroma of juniper berries and the warm embrace of wild cinnamon bark. Delicate layers of black cardamom and green cardamom dance on your palate, complemented by a burst of citrus from dried lemon peel. The infusion of almonds adds a velvety smoothness, culminating in a harmonious and refined finish that lingers, leaving a tantalizing essence of Chambal’s untamed allure.

Availability: New Delhi

HIGHBURY Classic Whisky

Highbury classic whisky is one of the top and most preferred American blended whiskies and is doing the rounds in Indian home bars. A grain whisky that sensualizes your senses of smell, taste, and vision With an aroma of the hints of berries that blend over caramel biscuits and a touch of peat, the blended whisky gives a pleasing experience of flavours and a big presence on the palate.

Availability: Delhi, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana and Kolkata

Jameson BLACK

Double charring the wood fires up the barrels and gives Jameson Black a new life. Untold richness and complexity awaits in every drop of Jameson Black Barrel. It’s perfect on its own or on the rocks, but it’s also commonly known as the best whiskey for an Old Fashioned. Don’t trust us? Taste it.

MORPHEUS

Morpheus XO, the only brandy to appear in our list is a must-buy. This limited-edition celebration pack is available only in 17 states until January 2024. Get your hands on it before it sells out.

For The Picky Prater

MALFY

Malfy is handcrafted in Italy from the finest ingredients such as selected juniper, Italian lemons, and a selection of Sicilian Pink Grapefruits and Sicilian Blood Oranges. Fresh and flavourful botanicals are beautifully mixed with Italian water.

BELVEDERE

Produced in one of the world’s longest operating polish distilleries that has been making vodka since 1910, Belvedere’s Master Rye Distillers draw from a 600-year polish vodka-making history to artfully craft Polish rye into an extraordinary vodka of distinct taste and character.

Availability: Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru

MEUKOW Cognac

Meukow Xpresso is a coffee and cognac liqueur. Its smoothness and sweetness reveal powerful aromas of roasted coffee, burnt oak, dark chocolate, and bitter orange. This liqueur is suggested frozen, as a cocktail, and with desserts.

Availability: Meukow Cognac is exclusively imported by VBev in India

RAMPUR Cask

Rampur is Radico Khaitan’s flagship offering. A non-chill filtered single malt, handcrafted and aged in the foothills of the Himalayas. You can’t miss this ‘Kohinoor’ of Single Malts this Diwali.

Cover Photo Credit: Chastity Cortijo via Unsplash

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