Skip to main content

Just in time for the Holidays, Old Potrero is releasing a whiskey called “Christmas Spirit”

This might be the most seasonally appropriate whisket ever made

By Christopher Osburn Nov 9, 2026 12:00 AM

Whiskey glass — Ambitious Studio* | Rick Barrett / Unsplash

The holidays are speeding towards us like a fruitcake-fueled, pine tree-scented hot rod driven by the man in red himself. Christmas is less than two months away. That doesn’t leave much time to sit on your hands instead of buying the perfect gifts for friends and family. You may already be thinking about holiday gifts, but you can’t figure out what to give your whiskey-loving older brother or cousin.

It seems like they already have any hard-to-find whiskey that you’d ever think of, right? Well, the folks at Old Potrero have made a whiskey that even they likely don’t have. And it just might be the most seasonally appropriate whiskey ever made. Don’t believe me? It’s literally called Christmas Spirit.

Old Potrero Christmas Spirit

This limited-edition whiskey isn’t your average winter whiskey. It was distilled from a San Francisco Christmas Spiced Ale, then matured for at least a decade in once-used Old Potrero Straight Rye Whiskey barrels. Did I mention it was available in limited quantities? Well, that’s putting it mildly, as only 492 bottles of this exceptional whiskey will be available to the public. If you buy a few bottles and put them in your friends’ stockings, you’ll be a very popular gift giver.

Recommended Videos

Back in 2015, in Potrero Hill, San Francisco, the Christmas Ale was brewed and then distilled twice in copper pot stills before spending at least ten years in ex-rye barrels. According to the brand, the result is a complex, memorable 100-proof whiskey that begins with a nose of candied orange peels, maple candy, and pine. Sipping it reveals hints of dried cherries, caramel malts, orange zest, and Christmas fruitcake. Enjoy it neat, on the rocks, or mixed into your favorite holiday cocktail.

Where can I buy it?

Old Potrero Christmas Spirit is currently available in California and online for purchase in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, and almost every state for the suggested retail price of $139.99 for a 700ml bottle. For more information on Old Potrero’s whole portfolio of whiskeys or to purchase a bottle of Old Potrero 2026 Christmas Spirit, please visit the Old Potrero website.

Christopher Osburn is a food and drinks writer located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. He’s been writing professional Read Full Bio

Topics

Liquor, Beer, Wine & Drinks

Grocery store lagers to add to your fridge for the holidays

Narragansett

Obviously, the cooler months usually call for dark beers like stouts, porters, and even barleywines. But a classic grocery-store lager still has a place on your holiday table. Honestly, there’s no wrong time of year for an easy-drinking, no-frill lager if you ask me.

While I love a juicy, hazy New England-style IPA on a humid summer night and look forward to a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout in the middle of a winter snowstorm, I drink crisp, refreshing lagers year-round. I enjoy a pilsner after a summer afternoon on my ride-on mower. I like a light lager on a drizzly, misty spring night. The older I get, the more I respect the simplicity and refreshment of a well-made lager.

Cedar Ridge Portside II gives Iowa bourbon the port cask treatment

Whiskey, Bottle, Barrel

Cedar Ridge has spent years running its single malt through just about every cask it can find. Now it’s trying the same trick on its bourbon.

The distillery based out of Swisher, Iowa (and the state’s first licensed distillery since Prohibition, FYI) has just released Portside II, a limited, small-batch Iowa bourbon built on the idea behind its 2023 QuintEssential Special Release Portside.

Whiskey-based cocktails to make this autumn

whiskey based cocktails to make this autumn adobestock 103405955 5x3

Fall arrives like a blanket of red, gold, and orange leaves. It’s a time for warm sweaters, long pants, short days, and long nights. The air is getting crisper, and the ever-present aroma of a backyard campfire wafts from somewhere nearby. If you live somewhere that actually has seasons, it’s a beautiful time of year before the eventuality of snow. It’s also the perfect time to start shaking and stirring up warming whiskey-based cocktails.

In my years of writing about alcohol, I’ve found that there’s no better season for whiskey than autumn. Sure, winter has its place when it comes to drams of single malt Scotch whisky, bourbon, and rye. But fall is when temperatures can range from summery to frigid from day to day. If you ask me, that’s the best weather for whiskey drinks.