🥃 Forget Santa. This Bourbon Is What Really Shows Up at Midnight

💥 Opening Pour

After the wrapping paper’s shredded and the in-laws start sawing logs on the couch, there’s a kind of stillness that settles over the house. It’s quiet. Sacred, even. That’s when I reach for the bottle I hide just for this moment.

The one I call my Christmas Nightcap.

📖 The Story

This tradition started a few years ago, on a Christmas night that had me half-buried in dishes, sugar-rushed kids, and the lingering hum of Bing Crosby on repeat. When the last light switched off, I snuck into the den, poured myself something soft and warm, and sank into an old leather chair by the tree.

That pour tasted like peace.

And every Christmas since, I’ve saved a bottle just for that moment—the one that’s for me.

This year’s bottle? One of my absolute favorites for winding down with style and soul.

🥇 The Weekly Pour

Bottle: Eagle Rare 12 Year Bourbon
Price: ~$100 retail
Proof: 95 (47.5% ABV)
Age: 12 years minimum

Nose: Gentle oak, sweet vanilla, toasted almond
Palate: Caramel drizzle, light honey, warm spice
Finish: Long and plush with soft oak lingering

✅ Smooth enough for neat sipping
✅ Age-stated warmth and depth
✅ Affordable and easy to find

🛒 Buy it now: craftspiritshop.com

🍹The Art of Mixing

Not much mixing tonight — this bourbon stands proudly on its own. But if you do want a gentle stir:

Ingredients
• 2 oz Eagle Rare 12
• Dash of aromatic bitters
• Orange twist

Instructions

1. Pour bourbon over large ice cube.

2. Add a dash of bitters.

3. Express orange twist over glass; garnish.

Tip: Simple swaps let the bourbon shine — no need to overthink.

🍖 Flavor Pairing Picks

Pair it with:

🍪 Gingerbread Cookie — The spice and molasses bring out the warmth in the wheated bourbon like a carol by candlelight.

🍫 Santa’s Off-Limits Chocolate — That fancy dark square tucked in the back of the box? Yeah, this bourbon deserves that one.

💨 Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story — A small, elegant cigar with sweet cedar and cream notes to echo the calm of the pour.

🧠 Big Lesson of the Week

The best holiday pour isn’t the rarest — it’s the one you can enjoy right now with peace, not pressure.

🥂 Final Toast

To quiet rooms, cozy chairs, and a bourbon that feels like home.

🥃 Repeatable Proverb

Good bottles warm the soul; quiet moments make them shine.

✨ Step Inside The Lounge — Where Whiskey Stories Live

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Now Its Your Turn

What’s your Christmas nightcap this year?
Reply and share your pour of peace.

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Cheers to warm fires, quiet sips, and bottles worth remembering,

Ethan “Neat” Whitmore

P.S. Friday’s story features a bottle with a twist — a whiskey that almost wasn’t. Think last-minute mash bill changes and a flavor profile that surprised even the distillers. Stay tuned.