Top 10 bottles to bring to a holiday party: Eagle Rare 10

We’re rounding into the home stretch of this in-no-order Top 10, and I’ve really enjoyed putting this together and talking about some of these selections with folks. I’ll also speculate that this bottle and the next two might be the most controversial, but I’ve been wrong before.

In many parts of the USA, bringing a bottle of Eagle Rare to a holiday party is absolutely a flex play. While in some magical markets like the cities of Texas there seems to be a relative abundance of Sazerac products, most of us scraping by out here in the faminelands might go literal months to years without seeing Eagle Rare in the wild. So this is a bit of a mixed recommendation: if you’re in a place where it’s not too hard to grab Eagle Rare at or close to its $35 MSRP, it’s hard to bring a better party favor. If, like me, you live in an area where a single Eagle Rare sighting provokes a lemming-like stampede, this might be a bottle you hold back unless you know a few fellow whiskey fans are in attendance.

Discussions of Sazerac’s supply chain practices aside, what ER10 brings to your holiday party is a bottle that is equal parts approachable and nuanced. I’ve anecdotally found that longtime oenophiles seem to love this bottle, and I admit I’ve always gotten some port wine flavors out of ER10. But more than once have I seen wine fans with no whiskey experience whatsoever go in on this bottle with neat pours, and love it. It goes without saying this is a staple of longtime whiskey fans’ home bars.

While I personally have never used Eagle Rare as a mixer, I have enjoyed a Manhattan at a cocktail bar before that utilized ER10, and I was a fan. So, while perhaps you’d prefer to take Very Old Barton 86 or Old Tub BiB if you suspect your contribution will be called in primarily as a mixer, this is a stunning card to play if the holiday party has some whiskey nerds or those interested in starting to explore whiskey more in attendance.

After all, tis better to give than receive, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, death to the old gods of Lordran, tis the season, etc etc.

Image courtesy of Jon who also writes on Low Class & High Proof.

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