25 Doors, 25 Drams: The Whisky Advent Calendar Is Back

Master of Malt’s Whisky Advent Calendar returns for 2026 with 25 wax-sealed 30ml drams, one for every day from 1 December to Christmas morning. It costs £99.95, which works out at roughly £4 a dram for a month-long tour through some of the best whisky being made anywhere in the world.

And it really is a world tour. Scotch fans get plenty to chew on: Balvenie DoubleWood 12, Dalmore 12, Bunnahabhain 12 and a properly grown-up Auchentoshan 18. Peat lovers can look forward to a double hit of Laphroaig, including the 10 Year Old Cask Strength, plus two smoky offerings from Port Charlotte.

Then the calendar wanders off the map. Japan brings Hibiki Harmony, Yamazaki and Hakushu. America chips in with bourbon from Brother’s Bond and a London edition of Maker’s Mark. There’s a Canadian corn whisky, a Welsh sherry cask from Aber Falls, and two malt ryes from Kyrö in Finland, one of them wood smoked. You won’t find that lineup on many bar back shelves.

That’s the real joy here. A full bottle is a commitment. A 30ml dram is a conversation. Each door gives you just enough to taste, think and decide whether this is your next bottle or simply a pleasant December evening. By Christmas Eve, you’ll know your palate better than you did in November.

It also makes a cracking gift. It’s the present that keeps giving for 25 days, and it sails past the £99 free delivery threshold. Order it now, though. Calendars are already disappearing into baskets, and nobody wants to be opening a chocolate on 1 December.

Want to go bigger? The Premium Whisky Advent Calendar (£199.95, buy here) is the top shelf in miniature, with Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Yamazaki 12, Hakushu 12, Scapa 21, The Glenlivet 21, Redbreast 18 and Midleton Very Rare 2024 among its 25 drams.

And for the collector who truly has everything, there’s the Very Old & Rare Whisky Collection at £9,995 (buy here). Its 24 drams come mostly from bottles you can no longer buy: single casks of Port Ellen 41 Year Old 1982 and Macallan 32 Year Old 1992, alongside Hibiki 30, Fettercairn 50, a 1966 Dalmore 45, a 1962 North British, Rosebank 30, The Balvenie 40 and Yamazaki 18 Mizunara. They’re housed in a black oak and walnut cabinet handmade by furniture maker Simon Jewell, complete with two Riedel glasses. Numbers are very limited, so if you’re tempted, don’t wait for December.

Pour, sip, repeat. Merry Christmas.