As long as you’re dealing with a drinker, you really can’t go wrong with a liquor present. (And nondrinkers probably have tons of time for laundry and magazines, so in that case see above.)

But while I love giving and getting alcoholic gifts, I am deeply suspicious of any drink that seems to have been conceived of specifically for gifting purposes. In fact, this bias isn’t restricted to alcohol: Things that aren’t intended to be consumed by their purchaser have a shaky track record. If the person who buys it isn’t the person who uses it, there’s a disconnect that makes it harder to be an informed consumer. That’s why Hickory Farms yuletide meats and cheeses are so disappointing, why flowers ordered online or by phone are so overpriced, and why there are so many stupid golf-and-barbecue memoirs released right before Fathers’ Day.

This is why I was skeptical about the big box of Wines That Rock that came in the mail a few weeks ago. WTR partners with Mendocino Wine Company—producers of the credible Parducci and Paul Dolan labels, among others—to market Rolling Stones Forty Licks Merlot, Woodstock Chardonnay, Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon Cabernet Sauvignon, and red blends named for The Police’s Synchronicity album and the Grateful Dead. Such a straightforward bid to become America’s go-to gift for classic-rocking brothers in law certainly doesn’t condemn the wine to failure, but it could be a worrisome hint as to the vintner’s priorities.

But to be fair, isn’t a lot of alcohol sold using subtler versions of the same strategy? How can I or anyone else who’s ever bought a bottle of wine because it had a penguin or a pun on the label turn his nose up at a bottle featuring iconic album cover art? Hell, I bought Schlitz for 10 happy years simply because the word was fun to say and the can was fun to look at, and I regret that I ever brought that world crashing down with a blind-tasting that turned me into a reluctant Pabst man. If something makes you happy, how much does it matter why it makes you happy?