The advent calendar has come a long way from cardboard flaps and disappointing chocolate. These days it is a proper event, a chance for brands to show off, and for the rest of us to treat ourselves to something genuinely worth opening. Here are five that caught our eye, plus one that asks a little more of you.
For the Foodie
Daylesford's Farmshop Advent Calendar is a lovely thing. At £275, it opens to reveal 25 drawers packed with festive staples from the Cotswold farm shop. There is cranberry sauce for the table, three ready-mixed cocktails for evenings with friends, and plenty more besides. Log Fire and Kindling candles, handmade felt decorations for the tree, and enough small pleasures to make the run-up to Christmas feel like an occasion in itself. It arrives in an envelope-style box, ready to be opened by the whole household or sent straight to someone who deserves it.
For The Foodie
For the Whisky Drinker
The Premium Whisky Advent Calendar is not for the faint-hearted. At £199.95, it holds 25 x 30ml samples spanning Scotland and Ireland: Aberlour 18 Year Old, Bruichladdich 18 Year Old, Bunnahabhain 18 Year Old, Cameronbridge 30 Year Old, and a Midleton Very Rare Barry Crockett Legacy. There is Glenfiddich 21 Year Old Gran Reserva, Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Redbreast 18 Year Old and Yellow Spot 12 Year Old. For the person who already has everything, this is the one that will actually get used. Available from Selfridges for £230.
For The Whisky Drinker
For the Chocolate Lover
Neuhaus has done something rather charming with its Sharing Advent Calendar. At £159.50, it is designed for two, with each door revealing a matching pair of Belgian chocolates. Inside you will find 74 pralines, chocolate bars, hot chocolate beans and other treats, including the brand's Manon Vanille and Manon Milk pralines for the first time. The calendar itself unfolds into a chocolate factory scene, with a Christmas tree at its centre. A lovely thing to open together.
For The Chocolate Lover
For the Fragrance Connoisseur
Penhaligon's has made a calendar that feels like a small piece of luggage from another era. At £430, it takes its cues from vintage travel trunks and the golden age of train travel, with 24 drawers of the brand's finest. Inside: 30ml of Halfeti and Empressa, 10ml of Bold Blend, The Cut, Elisabethan Rose, Endymion, The Favourite, A London Dandy, Luna, Quercus and Vra Vra Vroom, plus 9ml of The Tragedy of Lord George and The Coveted Duchess Rose. Candles, bath and body products, and a hand cream too. The kind of calendar that turns the countdown into a daily ritual rather than a daily sugar rush.
For the Fragrance Connoisseur
For the Jewellery Lover
Astrid & Miyu's 24 Day Advent Calendar is a properly good one. At £750, it holds 24 exclusive pieces in 18ct gold-plated recycled sterling silver: hoops, ear cuffs, thread earrings and studs designed to be stacked and worn long after December. There is a £50 voucher hidden inside, a limited-edition tote, and a suedette jewellery box to keep everything in. The pieces are worth £1,700, which makes the calendar feel less like a splurge and more like a sensible way to build a collection.
For the Jewellery Lover
The DIY Heirloom Option
Fortnum & Mason's Piccadilly House Musical Advent Calendar is unfilled by design. At £225, it is a sturdy wooden house modelled on the brand's iconic Piccadilly façade, with 24 numbered doors waiting for whatever you choose to put behind them. Sweets, small gifts, notes, jewellery. The idea is that you fill it yourself, year after year, making it less a product and more a tradition. It is currently out of stock, which is a shame, but worth bookmarking for when it returns. The DIY heirloom of advent calendars, and for anyone who enjoys the ritual of filling stockings, a rather lovely thing to have on the mantelpiece.
The DIY Heirloom Option
Five calendars, five very different ways to count down, and one that asks you to bring the contents yourself. The only question is which one you will be opening on the first of December.