to think that a bottle of fortified wine is not a suitable birthday present for a recovering alcoholic?

[IKnowItsMyFaultBut]

Yes the present buyer knows. Yes the addict is an adult and doesn't have to drink it but....

If the giver knows, Then it is bizarre at best.

That's just awful. I enjoy a sick joke but that's in no way funny. What a bastard.

YANBU

odd and unkind

Howevers I do know that some folk think that fortified wine is somehow Good For You viz sanatogen wine

Not tonic wine.

Glad it's not just me that thinks this is insane.

That's incredibly insensitive.

Its disrespectful amd crass in the extreme

Inappropriate and insensitive. Totally ridiculous.

How cruel and insensitive. YADNBU

The argument being - that it's her favorite but she doesn't have to drink it....

How does anybody get better with this kind of sabotage? Urgh.

So who bought it for who? Thinking there's more to this?

Oh
My
God

What a twunt..............suggest you give them it back and tell them your present to said RA is the gift of their life..........

Return it and just say no thanks

Really mean and YANBU.

Horrendous.

You are definitely NBU.
In this situation I would return the 'gift', or alternatively pour it down the sink. I might also want to ask the 'giver' what their motive was.

Dreadful

Thinking about it, this used to happen to a friend of mine. Her [now ex] boyfreind used to give her bottles of her favourite drink ,as she was struggling to deal with her drinking problem. He was a recovering alcoholic himself, yet for some reason he didn't really want her to be sober.
OP if you are the recovering alcoholic then I would suggest you take a close look at this relationship. This person doesn't have your interests at heart.

That's why I asked for details. Could have been perfectly innocent eg much older relative who thinks recovering alcoholic means the person is 'better;' or it could have been malicious. You need to enlighten us OP.

It's her favourite but she doesn't have to drink it????? What kind of a twisted argument is that? Talk about adding insult to injury.

Do you think they did it on purpose as some kind of weird joke or to sabotage the person's recovery? Or was it just a thoughtless/insensitive choice?

Either way, sounds a pretty stupid thing to do.

I very insensitive thing to give as a gift.

When she gives it away, that will be a huge boost to her confidence.