But I think I need some help, since my drinking repertoire consists of Coors Light, Crown Royal, and Merlot.
I saw him drinking some Courvoisier at Thanksgiving, and I know he’s always liked martinis, so some suggestions in that line would be nice. I don’t think he’s a whisky or scotch person, and he alreadt buys himself whatever wines he wants.
I am buying them a bottle of mead to go with my Mom’s present, but suggestions for something else really nice are welcome.
Thanks!
Drambuie
Grand Marnier
Benedictine
Cointreau
Sweet stuff, but potent and men love it. Campari if he likes an unusual taste.
Dutch ‘Jenever’ is unusual too, but rather awful. 
I might go with a nice gin if he really like martinis. Since real martinis are basically just gin that some dry vermouth was once near he must have a taste for the stuff. Gin is one of the liquors I never acquired a taste for so someone else would have to recommend a good one.
I personally like a good Armangac or Cognac. This stuff can get pretty dear, so maybe ask at a good store and tell them your price range.
Kahlua (coffee flavored)
Chambord (rasberry flavored)
Frangelica (hazelnut flavored)
Galliano (scotch flavored)
If he likes Courvoisier then perhaps another brandy such as Remy Martin VSOP.
Also, there are tons of flavored vodkas available these days.
You could always go for some nice top shelf vodkas, Some good brands are Grey Goose, Belveder, Ketel One. Absolut and Stolinchaya(stoli) is pretty good too.
I’d suggest a bottle of Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire. If your father has been drinking gin for some decades, he may be partial to Beefeater – in my experience, that brand has a limited following among the younger set and has been supplanted by the previous two names.
Have you asked your mother for some suggestions? While receiving a bottle of liquor is almost always a nice gift, receiving one that you like versus a random bottle makes it that much nicer. (Some years ago my younger sister purchased me a bottle of Aberlour-10, which greatly impressed me.)
He doesn’t drink vodka martinis, so I think a nice gin would be good. What brands are best, or can I roughly go by prices on the shelf?
Sorry to double-post, but thanks, lno. I will ask my mom, but I have to call her when he might not be around, since it’s primarily his email account. Can’t have evidence, you know!
For Martinis, I’d go with Citadelle. It’s French, but it’s good.
What was it Leo McGarry on The West Wing said made him fall off the wagon? Johnnie Walker Blue? I’d heard of JW Black and JW Red, but not Blue.
According to him, that’s the good stuff. At $200 a bottle, it should be!
Yeah, ask Mom first. Don’t get him any flavored stuff until you confirm that he might like it (speaking as a cognac drinker who wouldn’t like anything flavored).
If you know he likes brandy, then it’s hard to go wrong with a good cognac – just find a bottle that costs as much as you want to spend.
I think this would make a better present that gin, which is a little more of a mass-consumption commodity.
Or, if he doesn’t have one, a fun martini-making kit (with a shaker, jar of olives, glasses, etc.)
Unless you really know whiskey, you’d be hard-pressed to discern between JW Gold and JW Blue. And the difference is about $120. They’re both very good. Sure, it’s more impressive to drink $200+ bottle whiskey, but it’s more pretense than anything else unless your tastebuds are really refined.
BTW, here’s a nice little Cognac.
You can get a bottle of this at Costco (or at least I can) for a mere $1200 or so. That’s about $1000 in savings. You almost can’t afford not to by it. I also saw a 5800€ bottle on that site, but that’s a bit out of my price range, and besides Costco probably doesn’t carry it and I hate to pay retail. 
I’ll second Citadelle for martinis. It’s the only gin to use as far as I’m concerned. If you want to really make it a top shelf martini, track down a spendy bottle of vermouth called King Eider. It’ll set you back about $20 IIRC.
Those who like the trendy modern martini that is almost 100% gin may scoff at spending any money on verrmouth, but give it a try. And don’t skimp when making the drink. 2 parts gin 1 part vermouth.
Thanks, I know he does like vermouth in his martinis. He doesn’t have a shaker set, but since he hasn’t used one in probably 40 years of martini drinking, I kind of doubt he’d use one now.
ShibbOleth, that one’s for after I win the lottery.
I’m not a real fan of cognac, but Pierre Ferrand put out some stuff I thought was pretty good. You might also want to check out calvados (apple brandy).
For vodka, I can highly recommend Hangar One. I love the mandarin and unflavored, and like the citron. I’m not crazy about the lime or raspberry, but that may just be an issue of personal taste.
For gin, an alternative to buying one big bottle would be to try and find a bunch of airline bottles of different types, so he could do a horizontal tasting. Of course, don’t bother with this if you can’t find airline bottles of good brands.
Since your dad likes martinis, you might want to check out alternative vermouths (there are some labels that have been coming out with fancy-schmancy vermouths–the only one I can remember off the top of my head is King Eider). Remember that martinis originally consisted mainly of vermouth.
For sweet liqueurs, Chartreuse VEP is pretty much the top of the line. It has a very strong flavor, though, so I wouldn’t get it unless you knew your dad liked it.
I’ll second** Shib’s ** suggestion of a good armagnac. There are some very good ones out there, they are cheaper than cognac but just as good, and because they are “rarer,” it makes it something that he hasn’t had before, most likely. Try here for more info. 
Both are good, but I bolded my favorite. And I don’t get a hangover from drinking it!