10 Best Bottles Worth Stuffing in a Backpack

Breaking out a fine bottle of whiskey after you’ve stoked a campfire or rewarding yourself with a nice tipple at the summit is a cherished tradition in the great outdoors. But you don’t want to bubblewrap a bottle of your favorite bourbon before heading into the backcountry. Or, worse, weigh down your stuffed backpack with a handle of booze just so you can spike your campfire coffee.

Thankfully, several distilleries make bottles with outdoor enthusiasts in mind so that you can bring your favorite booze along without sacrificing too much precious real estate in your bag.

From sleek canteens of campfire classics to shooters and an unbreakable aluminum bottle of top-tier whiskey, we’ve sleuthed out some of the best bottles to throw in your backpack to accompany you on your next hike, camping trip, kayak tour, or other outdoor adventure. Our best pick overall is Tincup Adventure Pack, a double-walled, whiskey workhorse that features ingenious hardware and delicious contents. Depending on your backcountry booze preferences, our nine other top picks here are sure to guarantee happy trails.

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Related: Best Cheap Whiskey of 2023 for a Great Bottle on a Budget

Why You Should Trust Us

I’m a journalist who specializes in spirits, cocktails, and outdoor travel. While working as a newspaper reporter in Denver and Boulder, I bartended at night and on the weekends, racking up eight years of experience behind the bar, helping curate inventory and create cocktail recipes. I have also taken several spirits education courses, toured distilleries around the world, and interviewed distillers and master tasters.

I frequently try new bottles and stay on top of industry news, and I’m always on the hunt for great tequilas, whiskeys, gins, liqueurs, and more. As an outdoors-loving Coloradan who camps and hikes, I’m well-versed in packing lightly and imbibing by a campfire.

I’ve sampled dozens of bottles for this award category, zeroing in on ones that aren’t just packaged or sized appropriately for a backpack, but are also of the highest quality with superb tasting notes.

Related: 24 Best Tequila Brands of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

What We Looked for When Choosing the Best Bottles for a Backpack

I considered several criteria when testing and reviewing each bottle. All bottles on this list can comfortably fit into a backpack. We gave preference to the liquors that are available in smaller sizes, including 100ml bottles and 375ml bottles, but none are larger than 750ml. One of the bigger bottles comes in an unbreakable steel canteen, while another is recommended for a flask.

I also largely emphasized spirits that you’d want to sip without much fuss; no need for multi-step cocktail recipes or shaking these spirits on ice. Lastly, I considered booze that takes cues from nature and bottles that you’d want to drink outdoors—good stuff that’s smoky, peaty, or cut with Rocky Mountain spring water.

Best Overall Bottle for Your Backpack: Tincup Adventure Pack Tincup Adventure Pack

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There’s no bottle better engineered for adventurers than the Tincup Adventure Pack, an American whiskey. The 350ml double-walled, stainless steel blue bottle can thrash around in your backpack and it won’t break. It also comes with a tin cup topper you can remove and pour your dram into—a genius innovation for those who believe the best place to drink is somewhere remote, on a rock, tree stump, or swinging in a hammock. Don’t just take my word for it; expedition climber and filmmaker Renan Ozturk packed the bottle with him to go to the Purcell Mountains in British Columbia: “I took Tincup’s Adventure Pack to the Bugaboos, and it survived quite the beating while camping among jagged peaks.”

Tincup Adventure Pack: Top-tier whiskey in a stainless steel bottle built for the outdoors.

Jess Glassberg/TINCUP

Beyond the bottle, the whiskey is a delicious sip with a clean finish that you’ll want to drink neat. I picked up notes of butterscotch and a kiss of cinnamon.

Adding to its credibility as a best bottle for your backpack, Tincup nods to a Colorado mining town where miners struck gold in the late 1800s, as well as the metal cups hardy miners used to throw back their whiskey. It’s cut to proof with Rocky Mountain water and bottled at 5,251 feet—just shy of a mile high.

Best Whiskey for Your Backpack: Garrison Brothers Boot Flask Garrison Brothers Boot Flask

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It can be tough to find a premium whiskey in anything less than a standard 750ml bottle, but Garrison Brothers understands that you, dear whiskey drinker, want a nice bottle that’s also portable. Garrison Brothers Boot Flask’s 375ml glass bottle is filled with award-winning small batch bourbon and is ergonomically designed to fit inside of a boot—which is fitting because the 94-proof liquid has a strong kick.

On the nose, you should pick up saddle leather (this is a Texas whiskey after all) and flavors including pound cake and baking spices. The finish is long and complex. Enjoy it under a starry night sky.

Chef’s Pick for Best Bottle: High West Double Rye High West Double Rye

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Chef Matt Vawter, who owns two restaurants—Rootstalk and Radicato—in his hometown, Breckenridge, CO, is an avid camper and hut trip-taker. I asked what’s his favorite bottle to pair with campfire fare. He’s a fan of High West Double Rye—toting it in a flask or packing a bottle for his trips.

“I love this double rye not only because it’s a great spirit to sip neat while sitting around a campfire or straight from the flask on a hut trip, but it also goes great with hearty camping fare, such as steaks done over an open fire—my favorite thing to make while camping—and potatoes,” says Vawter.

The bottle has some fun flavors for enjoying the outdoors, including mint, herbal tea, and wildflower honey.

Best Tequila for Your Backpack: Nosotros Tequila Blanco Minis Nosotros Tequila Blanco Minis

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If you’re a serious backpacker, you’ve probably sawed off the bottom of your toothbrush to save a little weight. We get it, space is precious. So, if you’re going to pack some shooters, they better be worth their weight in gold—or agave. Founded by Costa Rican immigrant Carlos Soto (a Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur), Nosotros Tequila bottles are made with 100 percent recycled glass and the brand offsets carbon emissions from shipping by planting trees.

Instead of a diffuser, the agave is cooked in a brick oven for 60 hours. It’s a delightfully complex blanco, bridging the best of the highlands and lowlands with citrus notes (courtesy of the highland agaves) and herbal, peppery notes from those in the lowlands.

Nosotros Tequila Blanco Minis (50ml) are designed to be sipped, savored, and shared with friends around the campfire. You can get a dozen of the pocket-sized bottles for $70. 

Best Bottle for Your Flask: Stranahan’s Blue Peak Single Malt Whiskey Stranahan’s Blue Peak Single Malt Whiskey

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Short on space? Pour Stranahan’s Blue Peak Single Malt Whiskey into your flask and enjoy it in the mountains, its native habitat. The whiskey is named after a 13,000-foot peak in Aspen. It’s aged for four years in American oak barrels.

With notes of creamy butterscotch, brown sugar, and baked apples, it’s a warming drink best enjoyed in the crisp mountain air. Pair it with a ribeye cooked over open fire—or a bag of trail mix.

“Slightly higher-proof whiskey is typically better for filling flasks because it stretches the savor, especially great at apres-hike time,” says Justin Aden, Stranahan’s Head Blender. “At 86 proof, Stranahan’s Blue Peak Single Malt Whiskey fits like a glove—warm, toasted flavor from your flask, from campfire to final destination.”

Best Mezcal for Your Backpack: Ilegal Mezcal Joven Ilegal Mezcal Joven

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Whiskey is a no-brainer around the campfire. But with an enjoyable subtle smoke and some lingering heat, Ilegal Mezcal Joven is also a solid contender for any adventure in the outdoors. With a 375ml bottle available, this hardy receptacle can be tucked into your backpack, and there’s no need to pack any mixers; it’s great on its own.

Have your tastebuds search for the green apple notes. They’re definitely there, and I found them become more prominent as I continued sipping. 

Best Liquor to Spike Your Coffee at the Campsite: First Light Coffee Whiskey  First Light Coffee Whiskey

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At home, you can incorporate First Light Coffee Whiskey into fancy brunch drinks and after-dinner cocktails. But co-founders and cousins Ryan Espi and David Elizondo, who surf together in San Diego, empathize with fellow adventurers who want a nip of booze in their coffee before a day on the water (or trails, or mountain). So, they created an “Adventure Pack” that comes stocked with eight 100ml bottles of coffee whiskey that can travel with you on whatever adventures you take.

Stash a couple of these mini bottles in a backpack pocket so that you can spike your camping mug of coffee as bacon crackles in the cast iron. The whiskey is also a special treat after a backcountry winter hut trip. It’s made with real coffee extract and raw blue agave.

Best Boozy Batched Cocktail for Your Backpack: Bulleit Old Fashioned