Holiday Gift Guide 2017: From Catskill Provisions, Honey for Your Honey, 'Cause Nothin’ Says Lovin’ Like It Does, Honey!

The cost to impress with the Catskill Provisions Weekend Kit is an easy-to-swallow $115.50, including packing and shipping.

HEADS UP: We're back – from outer space – and touch down to find you here with that stupefied look upon your face. Don't be petrified. We will be your guides ... As per usual, til 24 Dec., the elves at The Wright Wreport will introduce at least one or a series of products, items and brands that we believe are worthy of consideration as holiday gift(s). You will survive (the Yuletide season and beyond)!

BY JOEL LEVIN

DEM good ol' boys was makin' whiskey from rye and adding New York State honey from the "state's happiest bees."

The happy result is an ultra-smooth whiskey made from local grain, but mellowed with artisanal honey to remove the spirit's sting (apologies to those well-adjusted bees). The whiskey alone is wonderful, but sensational as part of the inclusive Weekend Kit.

Thanks to proprietor Claire Marin of Catskill Provisions, who is both a beekeeper and the formulator of the multiple award-winning New York Honey Rye Whiskey, there is gender-neutral honey and more.

The whiskey, though a full 80 proof, is gentle enough for serious sipping, but hearty enough to use in upgrading your customary cocktail. It's more than half rye, but packs a mild sweetness not only from added honey, but from the natural sugars in sprouted barley and a bit of corn in the "mash bill."

The Catskill Provisions Weekend Kit arrives in a smart box similar to this one.

Catskill Provisions' Weekend Kit packs a 3/4 liter bottle of that beautiful whiskey, a pound-and-a-half of two different seasonal Catskill Mountains wildflower honeys (made by happy bees from clover, apple and pear flowers in springtime, and a sharper honey from chestnut and maple blossoms and asters harvested in the fall).

Also included are a pancake-and-waffle mix that will amply feed two hungry lovers, nine ounces of Grade A New York State maple syrup, plus for perfect drizzling, a handy honey wand crafted from wood.

Claire Marin knows her way around bees and whiskey, honey(child).

The packaging of the Weekend Kit by distribution partner Mouth Foods smartly announces love and good taste. The items come in an attractive box made from recycled materials that includes a cotton totebag from Mouth Foods.

Meanwhile, want to venture beyond honey at Catskills Provisions? Our thoroughly-researched luscious favorites are the chocolate honey truffles, the precious hand-made confections carefully nestled in clever die-cut protective presentation boxes.

The chocolate and honey in Catskill Provisions' chocolate honey truffles make for good bedfellows.

And don't think that chocolate and honey cannot make a good marriage. They can ... and they do!

Not only that, but – purists, forgive me – they harmonize well with the mild spicy taste and notes of blackberries, butterscotch and dates found in New York Honey Rye Whiskey.

Visit https://www.catskillprovisions.com/ or https://www.mouth.com/ to learn more about Catskill Provisions and/or other products.