TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City businesses are offering unique gifts and interactive experiences for Valentine’s Day. Local shops are focusing on specialized items and services to help shoppers find gifts for men.
Shops in downtown Traverse City and the Grand Traverse Commons provide options ranging from custom whiskey blending to grooming products. Businesses such as Nolan’s Cigar Bar and The Haberdashery are tailoring their inventory to cater to those who find men difficult to buy for.
Sabrina Hyde at at Nolan’s Cigar Bar in downtown Traverse City. The shop offers cigar packages and accessories such as lighters and cutters. Sabrina noted that many employees use the sidecar cutters themselves, which include a lifetime warranty for sharpening or replacement. The bar also sells locally roasted coffee designed to pair with cigars. For customers who prefer to let their recipients choose, the shop offers gift cards in any monetary value.
Mammoth Distilling recently opened a new tasting room where customers can book a custom whiskey blending experience. Hunter Eagle, who works at Mammoth Distilling, teaches participants how to properly smell and taste spirits before they create their own bottle.
“One of the really cool experiences that we offer here at mammoth is a custom whiskey blending. You come in, I teach you how to smell and taste the whiskey properly. And then after that, we go through measuring out and essentially just creating your own blend of whiskey that you get to take home with you,” Hunter said.
Hunter explained that the blending process is educational and allows participants to take home a product they cannot find elsewhere. “It’s a really cool, like, it’s educational and you get to take something home that’s unique to you. That really you don’t get anywhere else. It’s awesome,” Hunter said.
The blending process involves precise measurements and sensory exploration. “Going through smelling it really is amazing how different they start to smell and taste as you’re mixing them. And even adding the tiniest bit of one of them changes that exponentially,” Hunter said.
Regarding Valentine’s Day shopping, Hunter suggested that the process does not have to be complicated. “I don’t think guys are as hard to buy for as people make it out to be. I think guys are just so simple that you have to just dumb it down a little bit and just think what they would exactly want,” Hunter said.
The Haberdashery, located in the Grand Traverse Commons, is another shop specifically geared toward men. Chase Gibbard, a welder and barber at the store, curates an inventory of clothing and accessories. The shop carries hats, backpacks, belts, wallets and silver jewelry. Chase noted that silver signet rings are currently a popular item.
The store also stocks grooming supplies such as beard butters from Detroit Grooming and gin-based products from Blind Barber. Because Chase is a barber, the shop offers gift certificates for haircuts and beard shaping. He noted that the juniper berry ingredients used in some products are medicinal for the skin.
Mammoth Distilling will offer a three-flight cocktail pairing with desserts from Feb. 13 through the end of Restaurant Week on Feb. 28. The custom whiskey blending experiences are also scheduled to begin on Feb. 13.