Best drinks to buy this Christmas

Come Christmas, it's easy to fall back on a bottle of nice wine for the drinks lover in your life, but after a few years in a row, another bottle of Merlot may come to feel a bit repetitive.

So if you have exhausted every conceivable grape and are looking to experiment with some new spirits, liqueurs and cocktails, here are some great alternatives to put under the tree for your favourite booze anorak.

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Clase Azul Añejo – an ultra-premium tequila from Mexico – is made from 100% nine-year-old traditionally roasted agave before being rested for 25 months. The flavour is truly out of this world, competitive as a sipping experience with some of the world’s finest whiskies, with notes of vanilla, almonds and caramel. The distinctive Talavera-style decanter that it comes in, adorned with a 24-carat gold charm on the neck, is the icing on the cake.

This multi award-winning gin is made using a very high quality copper pot-still spirit, and infused with juniper, orange peel, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Bathtub Gin has been lavished with praise and awards from the International Spirits Challenge, the International Wine & Spirits Competition and the World Gin Awards, and each bottle is hand-wrapped, twined and waxed making it a perfect Christmas gift.

This gin, produced by Australia’s ultra-luxury resort in the Blue Mountains, Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley, was created in collaboration with Mikey Enright the owner of one of Sydney’s leading gin bars, The Barber Shop, and Ian Glen, distiller at the historical Stone Pine Distillery in Bathurst. The resulting spirit features botanicals from the valley in which the resort lies – lemon-scented tea tree, coriander seed, finger lime, juniper berry and angelica root. A delicious taste of the Australian bush and not a bad price at $135 (£77) plus freight.

Australian whisky took the world by storm when Tasmanian distillery Sullivan's Cove was named the world's best single malt whisky at the World Whiskies Award in 2014. Since then Sullivan's Cove has been joined by other excellent Aussie drams, like this bottle from the southern Australian mainland, which is produced surprisingly quickly for its quality. Solera scooped gold at last year's World Whisky Awards, and one suspects more accolades lie ahead.

Coole Swan combines single malt Irish whiskey, Belgian white chocolate and fresh Irish cream in a cream liqueur that delivers a velvety and fresh taste experience. Mary Sadlier named the drink after WB Yeats’ poem The Wild Swans at Coole about the search for lasting beauty in a changing world and says that’s what she’s tried to create with the creamy tipple. It’s best served neat or over ice.

You don’t get much more Christmassy than this tasty combination of English single malt whisky and cream. The English Whisky Co. says its Norfolk Nog is best enjoyed “outdoors on a cold and blustery day… it’s perfect for long walks or a day fishing”. But don’t worry if your Christmas plans don’t involve exertion beyond completing an enormous festive dinner - the Nog goes down pretty well with your feet up next to a log fire.