Black Friday alcohol deals 2021: The offers to expect on everything from gin to wine

There’s no better time to stock up ahead of Christmas

Thursday 02 September 2021 12:28 EDT

Whether you’re a fan of gin, vodka, tequila, beer or wine, you’ll be able to bag a bargain (iStock/The Independent)

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With summer coming to an end and autumn’s imminent arrival, the countdown to the biggest and best shopping event of the year – Black Friday – can officially begin. And we’re excited.

The annual sale event provides the perfect opportunity for you to invest in big ticket items or just something that’s been on your wishlist for a while, with the prices of everything from TVs, laptops and gaming to home appliances, kids’ toys and beauty all being slashed.

With such a broad range of retailers, such as Boots, John Lewis & Partners, Currys PC World, Argos and even Aldi, taking part, you’ll undoubtedly bag a bargain and get your Christmas shopping lists ticked off.

It’s also prime time to stock up on your favourite alcoholic beverage at an affordable price since there are plenty to top tipple savings to snap up. So, whether you’re a fan of gin, vodka, tequila, beer or wine, you’ll be able to bag a bargain. Better still, it’s delivered to your door, saving you a trip to the supermarket.

To save you from endlessly scrolling, throughout the big shopping bonanza, we’ll be handpicking the very best deals and discounts on alcohol and sharing them here for your disposal.

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If you want to know more about Black Friday (i.e. what it is) and the deals you can expect, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for everything there is to know.

What is Black Friday?

For the uninitiated, Black Friday is a sale event kicks off the day after Thanksgiving. This year it lands on Friday 26 November and runs across the weekend into the following Monday (coined Cyber Monday).

The shopping event marks the start of Christmas shopping, so make sure you make your list (and check it twice) ahead of it. You can expect some seriously whopping savings, both in-store and online.

Why is it called Black Friday?

It’s unclear on the exact origins of the name of the sale event, but it was likely first used by Philadelphia police officers in the Sixties. They coined this term as a means of describing the traffic chaos caused by people returning home from seeing their families after Thanksgiving. It may also be a nod to the fact it’s the period in which American retailers make most of their profit, moving from “the red” and into “the black”.

But the concept really took off as a global retail phenomenon in the Noughties, after videos of Americans piling into shops to bag discount TVs and games consoles started to go viral. It didn’t take long for UK retailers to jump on the bandwagon and of course Amazon led the way, launching its first UK Black Friday event in 2010 and now, thankfully, a huge number of retailers and brands participate every year.

When is Black Friday 2021 in the UK?

Traditionally, Black Friday takes place the day after Thanksgiving, but for most retailers, it now lasts the entire weekend and finishes on 29 November – also known as Cyber Monday.

However, each year the Black Friday weekend gets longer and longer, so you can expect to see deals from online giants such as Amazon, Argos, Currys, and Very beginning weeks before the actual event has even started. We’re expecting the same to happen for the 2021 event, so you’ll want to keep your eyes out for all the early bird deals as they happen.

In 2020, Amazon launched many of its deals four weeks before the Black Friday weekend, which was two weeks longer than the early deals that it had offered in 2019. For 2021, we’re expecting the event to follow a similar format, and could even be longer.

When is Cyber Monday 2021 in the UK?

The name “Cyber Monday” originally described the day when online purchases would peak ahead of Christmas, but now it’s a term used to describe the final day of discounting after the Black Friday weekend. This year it falls on 29 November and it offers a great opportunity to find those deals you may have missed out on and even to grab any further discounts.

How to find the best alcohol deals on Black Friday

The best and easiest way to find competitive alcohol deals on Black Friday is of course by reading this guide, we’d recommend bookmarking so you’re good to go on the big day. We’ll be updating it regularly with all the latest new discounts as we spot them, to save you searching endlessly.

During the lead-up to the event, we’ll be bringing you all the latest news and information on the top alcohol offers, but also on products like tech, kids’ toys and beauty from Boots, John Lewis & Partners, Currys PC World, Argos and even Aldi.

What were the best Black Friday alcohol deals last year?

There are a number of deals to be had on gin, whisky, vodka, tequila, beer or wine and last year’s offers were particularly good. And because the shopping event is so close to Christmas, it really is the perfect time to stock up.

Last year, Majestic wine was offering up to 40 per cent on selected bottles of wine when you you bought six or more. Some of the tipples included were a Beronia rioja (from £15.99, Majestic.co.uk) and Oyster Bay sauvignon blanc (from £7.99, Majestic.co.uk).

Meanwhile, Morrisons slashed the price of everyone’s favourite Christmas tipple, Baileys, by a whopping 50 per cent, reducing it to just £9.99.

Its expansive champagne range was reduced by a third, with popular brands like Moët (£38, Morrisons.com), Taittinger (£38, Morrisons.com) and even Veuve Clicquot (£42, Morrisons.com).

We’re hoping for more of the same this year, too. But of course, we’ll update you as soon as the discounts drop.

If it’s gin you’re partial to though, last year 58 Gin delivered by offering 20 per cent off its entire range of hand-crafted spirits, even on its navy strength gin (£40, 58gin.com), so fingers crossed it’ll repeat the same offer this year.

Of course, Amazon also had a huge range of discounts on its booze offering – we saw cheap whiskies, champagnes, gins and festive tipples too. Big hitters included Jack Daniel’s gentleman Jack Tennessee whiskey (was £36, now £29.95, Amazon.co.uk) and an Aperol Spritz gift pack, which included two Aperol glasses, and a bottle of the popular Italian apéritif.

What were the best Cyber Monday alcohol deals last year?

Cyber Monday saw plenty more discounting action on some of our favourite alcohol brands. So, we’re quite sure you won’t be disappointed this year.

Standouts included Master of Malt’s sale, which actually began on Monday 23 November with huge offers on its range of spirits. While over at Amazon, it slashed the price of Patrón XO cafe tequila (£30.71, Amazon.co.uk), which was great for those looking for their New Year’s Eve tipple.

Similarly, it reduced Seedlip (was £27.95, now £21.99, Amazon.co.uk) to less than £20. And when our tester tried its pre-mixed G&Ts they were impressed, writing that it was “complex and refined”, adding that it was “bursting with bright, fresh flavours, with a lovely savoury note from the homegrown peas the gin-style spirit is distilled with”. So, it’s clearly a brand that knows what it’s doing.

There was no shortage of deals at Waitrose & Partners either. The price of Nyetimber rosé (£41.99, Waitrosecellar.com) was reduced to £29.99, a whopping £12 discount, while Cotswolds London dry gin (was £37, now £30, Waitrosecellar.com) was slashed to £28. So this is also another supermarket to keep an eye on over the shopping bonanza.

Where can I find the best Black Friday 2021 deals?

You’ll find the best deals during the event by visiting our designated Black Friday section and we’d recommend browsing our main guide, which we’ll be updating regularly with only the very top discounts.

Similarly, we’re covering all the latest and best offers across tech, laptops, TVs, gaming, fashion, kids’ toys, home appliances and more. But that’s not all, we’re also rounding up what the big-name brands and retailers are doing, including Amazon, John Lewis & Partners, Currys PC World and even Aldi (which last year hosted its first [and unmissable] sale).

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