Gift Shopping Tips, Part One.

If you're a regular visitor here, you've probably noticed the thumbnails down the right hand side of this page. Maybe you've even checked them out. But being as the season of giving is upon us, allow me to call them to your attention.

I'm preparing a post for Friday that will give some genuine gift shopping tips to please the whiskey drinkers on your list. This post today is a shameless plug for my small portfolio of products and their outstanding giftiness.

First, the book: BOURBON, STRAIGHT; The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey. It's ideal for anyone with the slightest interest in whiskey, from the greenest beginner to the most bourbon-soaked veteran. Clicking here (or on the thumbnail in the right column) takes you to my website. The advantage of buying it there is that I will autograph it for no extra charge. Look for the box that says 'inscription' on the order form.

It's also available on Amazon. They have been discounting it lately, so go there if you want to save a couple bucks. At the moment it's $15.64, you save 32%! (Sorry, no autographs.)

Next comes the DVD, "Made and Bottled in Kentucky." It's a one-hour documentary, produced for public television. It complements the book and, like the book, veteran bourbon fans will enjoy it as much as novices. Click here to get it from my website or here to get it from Amazon.

If you're old school, I have some VHS tapes of it to sell, but only on the web site, no Amazon.

Finally, the newsletter. Consider giving a gift subscription, for the bourbon lover who has everything. I'll admit you have to be pretty into it to want the newsletter, but for a real American whiskey fan there is nothing else like it. It's only available on the web site, here.

For all of the above, use the 'special instructions' box on the web site if you are having the gift shipped to the recipient and would like a gift card included. I don't offer gift wrapping but Amazon does.

Anything you buy through the website is processed by CCNow, my e-commerce provider, so you don't have to worry about me being your main security bulwark. (It would worry me.) I've used CCNow for years and never had a complaint. In addition to all major credit cards, the web site accepts payments through PayPal.

For more information about CCNow, go here.

The last item on the right is a link to the I Wish Lessons web site. There you can buy tickets to my whiskey classes here in Chicago as gifts, or maybe you should call them scholarships. I generally teach all of the whiskey classes I Wish offers in Chicago but before you buy a ticket, confirm with them that I will be the coach (their preferred term) for that particular class. Here are some I know I'm scheduled to teach.

Check back here on Friday for some actual shopping tips about whiskey gifts. It will be the sort of post that someone hoping to receive a whiskey gift might want to print out and leave in a strategic location.

Meanwhile, Happy Thanksgiving!