WHISKEY MADE TO ORDER (FOR THE MAN IN YOUR LIFE)

OK... Every so often a gift comes along that is so supremely wondeful that I'm compelled to put it on a ridiculous wish list that I know I'll never get fulfilled. Don't tell anyone, but I once put a Breitling on my Amazon Wish List. Shhhh.

The other day, I stumbled across the web site Whisk(e)y Your Way, an innovative program for those who truly love whiskey.

I ask all you enthusiasts who love your hooch: Imagine developing your very own brand of whiskey and selecting each and every component that goes into it? The expert distiller at the site guides you through the process of developing the mash bill, the distillation specifics, the type of oak and level of char for your barrel and every other aspect of whiskey creation.

If customers choose, they may participate in preparing the wash, distilling and finally barreling the spirit. As it ages in the cask, buyers will be able to sample it as frequently as they wish, learning how the oak contributes to the finished whiskey.

When the hooch is sufficiently aged, they proof, bottle and label the contents of the barrel. The end result? You take home about 100 bottles of custom crafted, one-of-a-kind whiskey.

Find out the paltry price of the custom-made hooch after the jump...

$5400!! ... or roughly $50 bucks a bottle

Here's what you get:

• Educational Seminar
• Tasting Advisory Program
• Consultation with Distiller
• Formula Development
• All Ingredients
• Wash Distillation
• Spirit Distillation
• Standard Oak Barrel
• Standard Barrel Plaque
• 4 Years of On Premise Storage
• Standard Whiskey Bottles
• Proofing
• Bottling
• Labeling
• Periodic Sampling & “Visitation Rights”

Here's what's optional:

• Non-standard barrel (e.g. Oregon Oak, French Oak, etc)
• Secondary barreling (e.g. Port Finish, Sherry Finish, etc)
• Extra distillation
• Bottle upgrade
• Custom labeling
• Additional storage beyond 4 years
• Custom barrel plaque
• Video production/barreling record (for those that can't participate in production)

About the distiller: House Spirits Distillery is a small, artisan distilling house based in Portland, Oregon. The distillery is currently producing and barreling Oregon Pure Malt Whiskey that it expects to begin selling by 2014. The company was born out of a shared passion for whiskey among its founders, and its long range plan has always been centered around whiskey production. Distiller Lee Medoff began distilling professionally in 1996, and between he and co-founder Christian Krogstad they have more than four decades of experience in the craft brewing, winemaking and distilling industries.