The story behind TWE’s Christmas whisky
The Whisky Exchange has unveiled its 2025 Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky, a 16-year-old Highland single malt that ‘perfectly embodies’ the festive season in a glass.
Every year, the spirits retailer chooses a whisky to be its festive release, scouring hundreds of distilleries across Scotland in search of ‘something special’.
This series was first conceived in 2018 under the name A Fine Christmas Malt. It was renamed A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky in 2022. The new version was ‘incredibly well-received’ and sold out immediately after being featured on ITV’s This Morning.
This year, a whisky from an undisclosed distillery in the Highlands ‘charmed’ The Whisky Exchange. The whisky offers notes of Christmas pudding, brandy butter, orange, chocolate and candied almonds, all of which are said to perfectly capture the character and comfort of Christmas in a glass.
Chris Bolton, The Whisky Exchange’s Own Label and brand product manager, exclusively tells The Spirits Business why the 16-year-old single malt made the cut for this year’s Good Old Fashioned Christmas Whisky.
“Thanks to our position as a leading retailer, we have strong relationships with distillers around the world. When it comes to our Own Label products, we are constantly on the lookout for exceptional casks that fit the kind of profile we’re looking for.
“Since A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky is an annual release under our Concept Series, we started looking for potential samples early in the year. This one really stood out for us thanks to the incredibly rich, concentrated fruit cake and toffee pudding character.”
The team chose samples for this year’s release over the summer, during an extensive selection process. This is typically the case for any product that The Whisky Exchange bottles, either as a distillery exclusive or under the retailer’s Own Label range.
“We regularly reject samples if they don’t fit our very high standards for bottling. In the case of A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky, we approached a number of producers before settling on a couple of 2009 Sherry butts filled with Highland malt whisky.”
He notes that when selecting liquid for bottling, “we always aim to get liquid from cask into glass as soon as possible after deciding on a sample. Allowing for all the necessary logistics involved in bottling, it typically takes a few months for the casks to be transferred and packaged up in our beautiful new bottles.”
Bolton says the team updated the bottle’s label to bring it in line with The Whisky Exchange’s new brand identity. “The artwork was created by one of our very talented in-house designers, Martyna Majewska. We believe she has done an amazing job of capturing everything we love about Christmas and whisky in one beautiful illustration.”
Bolton says the Christmas expression proves itself to be popular every year. Many customers buy several bottles for themselves and to gift to their loved ones.
“We’re sure that much of its popularity comes from our insistence on searching for the perfect style of whisky to evoke all the joyous, nostalgic and magical memories of Christmas.”
The 2025 Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky was aged in first-fill oloroso Sherry butts and has been bottled at cask strength of 55% ABV.
It is available now, priced at £79.95 (US$106.50).
Related news
At-home mixology to surge at Christmas
Baileys Terry's Chocolate Orange marks 100 days until Christmas
