What is a whisky advent calendar?

A whisky advent calendar is a box with twenty-four numbered compartments, each with a sealed sample of whisky, meant to open one compartment per day from 1 December.

The samples come in small glass bottles or in tubes with a screw cap. Each bottle has its own label with the name of the whisky, so you know what is going into the glass. Calendars with twelve compartments also exist, for the twelve days before Christmas.

The contents vary per calendar. Some contain only single malt, others mix malt, blend, bourbon and rye. Which whiskies are included is sometimes stated on the box and sometimes only becomes clear when opening.

Twenty-four samples of 3 cl add up to 72 cl, slightly more than a standard bottle of whisky of 70 cl.

With 2 cl samples you arrive at 48 cl, with 5 cl at 120 cl. The size is stated on every little bottle, because the net quantity is a mandatory statement on pre-packaged drinks.

A calendar with twelve compartments of 3 cl gives 36 cl, about half a bottle. So when comparing calendars, do not go by the number of compartments alone, but by compartments times centilitres.

Putting it together yourself takes twenty-four separate miniatures or samples, a box or holder with twenty-four compartments, and numbered labels.

Mind the sizes. Small bottles come in 2 cl, 3 cl, 5 cl and 10 cl, and they do not all fit in the same compartment. First measure the height of the tallest bottle and then choose the box. Write down the contents list separately, so that after the holidays you still know which whisky was in which day.

In the shop on the Brink in Bathmen there are 60 whiskies in small sizes, from 2 to 20 cl, spread over 42 brands from 9 countries, alongside a whisky range of 3,961 items. Gathering twenty-four different little bottles is therefore doable, and you decide the order yourself: from light to heavy, by country, or with the most heavily peated whisky on 24 December.

A well-sealed sample stays good for years, but whisky in a small bottle is more vulnerable than in a full bottle, because air and evaporation hit harder.

Whisky does not mature further in glass. What changes the flavour is air. The trade magazine Whisky Advocate points out that a lot of air above the whisky in an opened bottle makes the flavour flatter in the long run. In a 3 cl sample bottle, the ratio of air to liquid quickly becomes unfavourable.

In practice that means the following. Keep the calendar closed, dark, at room temperature and upright, so the whisky does not attack the closure. Open a compartment on the day you drink the sample, and screw a vial that is left half full shut again straight away.

A prepackaged whisky sample carries the legal name, the net quantity and, above 1.2 percent alcohol by volume, the actual alcohol content.

These requirements follow from two European regulations. Regulation (EU) 2019/787 stipulates that the legal name of a spirit drink must appear clearly and visibly on the label and may not be replaced or altered. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 additionally requires the net quantity and, for drinks with more than 1.2 percent alcohol by volume, the actual alcoholic strength by volume.

An exception applies to very small packages. If the largest surface of the package is smaller than 10 cm2, only the name, the allergens, the net quantity and the best-before date are mandatory, insofar as the latter is required. An ingredient list and a nutrition declaration are not mandatory for drinks above 1.2 percent alcohol by volume.

The age limit is 18 years, so a whisky advent calendar is not a gift for someone younger.

In Nederland mag er geen alcohol verkocht worden aan jongeren onder de 18 jaar. Dat geldt in de winkel en bij verkoop op afstand. NIX18: wij verkopen geen alcohol aan iemand onder de 18 jaar. Twijfelt de verkoper over de leeftijd, dan vraagt hij om een legitimatie.

If you are looking for a calendar for someone under 18, look at the alcohol-free side of the shelf. This limit does not apply there.