{"id":7367,"date":"2017-03-20T09:43:16","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T08:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/?p=7367"},"modified":"2017-03-20T09:43:16","modified_gmt":"2017-03-20T08:43:16","slug":"whisky-subscription-boxes-comparative-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/whisky-subscription-boxes-comparative-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Whisky Subscription Boxes: A Comparative Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re probably already familiar with the concept of subscription boxes\u00a0: a monthly\/bi-monthly selection of products you receive straight to your doorstep, designed around a specific theme. Beauty, food, dog & cat accessories, books and even panties (yes, true story\u00a0!), there\u2019s something to suit every taste and that shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise\u00a0: whisky lovers also have their own subscription services\u00a0! And each of those has its advantages and downsides, let\u2019s have a closer look at three of those malted boxes\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

(I’m only comparing 3 services here (which I chose because the concept was different), you’ll find a list of many other whisky subscription boxes I haven’t had the occasion to test at the end of the article)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Craft Whisky Club<\/a><\/strong> (from \u00a326.95\/month) has already been operating in the UK for a while (and recently launched in the USA). The overall concept of this box is to showcase the work of smaller or more uncommon distillers with an innovative approach. But Craft Whisky Club isn\u2019t only about good whisky, it also includes some foodie treats in every box to match with your dram, whether it is ginger oatcakes, dark chocolate or cheese crackers\u2026 Staying true to themselves by only selecting craft and\/or organic delicacies.<\/p>\n

CWC offers two types of subscriptions\u00a0: 1 full-size bottles every two months or 2 full-size bottles every two months. All their partners are featured on a dedicated \u00ab\u00a0highlight\u00a0\u00bb page on their website with more information about the distillery, interviews etc. In my opinion, a really cool way to connect their off-line service to their online activity.<\/p>\n

CWC is really what I would call a \u2018curated\u2019 experience and seems dedicated to helping customers find their way into craft whiskies. It would then suit all sorts of whisky lovers\u00a0: beginners, amateurs, connoisseurs and experts alike.<\/p>\n

Rate\u00a0: 4\/5 (just because you don\u2019t receive something every month and it can feel a bit long to wait 2 months between each box\u00a0\ud83d\ude09 )<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Flaviar<\/strong><\/a> (from \u20ac18\/month) has been around since a while now and seems to be quite successful, although, when browsing their website, the approach seems a bit complicated to me at first sight.<\/p>\n

First, there\u2019s a waiting list<\/strong> (hmm\u2026). Once you finally get on the club, you get a free taster box every quarter plus 1 free shipping credit per quarter on full-size bottle purchases. Cost depends on where you\u2019re based but seems to be around $20 per month for the quarterly sampler box, plus 1 free shipping credit per month on one-off purchases, and of course access to purchases of full-size bottles.<\/p>\n

While Flaviar has access to a great variety of spirits (15\u00a0000+) and can then offer very interesting, diversified expressions and more uncommon bottlings, it requires a lot of \u00ab\u00a0work\u00a0\u00bb from the customers who are responsible for choosing their quarterly taster box, and to do their own full-size purchases. If you\u2019re willing to enter the Flaviar club, make sure you have enough spare time\u00a0\ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Flaviar is therefore more designed for whisky connoisseurs to me, or at least consumers that already have some solid basics and don\u2019t need much guidance.<\/p>\n

Rate\u00a0: 2\/5 (especially for the waiting list\u2026 Although I must admit this is fairly well priced)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Caskers<\/strong><\/a> (from $79\/month)\u00a0: beside their online shop, Caskers also offers the possibility to subscribe to their \u00ab\u00a0club\u00a0\u00bb. Looking at the whiskey offering, Caskers\u2019 promise is to deliver a 75cl bottle to your home every month of what they refer to as a \u00ab\u00a0must have\u00a0\u00bb whiskey. There\u2019s no pre-announcement so the bottle you\u2019ll receive will come as a complete surprise.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t necessarily recommend it to someone who already has a great collection of whiskies (you could easily receive doubles of bottlings you already have) but more to someone really starting his whiskey discovery journey, as it is a great way to build a nice collection of diverse and iconic whiskies that you can\u2019t go wrong with.<\/p>\n

Along with your bottle, you\u2019ll also receive some informational whiskey-related content. Again, this content would mostly suit a beginner than a die-hard connoisseur which would already know a great deal when it comes to whiskey\u00a0!<\/p>\n

Rate 3\/5 (maybe my favourite if you just began your whisky adventure!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Of course there aren’t just 3 subscription boxes, you can also check The Dram Team, Wishky, The W Club from The Whisky Shop, Tasters Club, Tasting Collection, The Whisky Order, Yoco or Whisky Tasting Company – and that’s probably not an exhaustive list (Sadly I haven’t tested them all yet \ud83d\ude09 )!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psssst! Check my previous article on my favourite whisky subscription boxes<\/a> for more.<\/p>\n

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This article was previously published on The Whiskey Wash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Cover pic: Flaviar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re probably already familiar with the concept of subscription boxes\u00a0: a monthly\/bi-monthly selection of products you receive straight to your doorstep, designed around a specific theme. Beauty, food, dog & cat accessories, books and even panties (yes, true story\u00a0!), there\u2019s something to suit every taste and that shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise\u00a0: whisky lovers also have their own subscription services\u00a0! And each of those has …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[356],"tags":[1187,1191,530,261,1189,1190,647,1188],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7367"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7370,"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7367\/revisions\/7370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewhiskylady.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}