Best Bourbon of the Month Clubs

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Why You Should Try It: Mash&Grape focuses on providing its customers with top-quality products, including bourbons from lesser-known distilleries.

Key Specs

Price: $69/month

Estimated Shipping Time: 1-5 days

Availability: 39 states

A spin through the type of bourbons Mash&Grape assembles for its monthly subscriptions ($69 per month) reveals a lot of quality producers (think Old Scout, Kings County, and Kentucky Owl) and range (bottled-in-bond to peated).

The original idea with MashBox was straightforward: Take the curated experience of Mash&Grape’s spirits and wine market and put it on autopilot. Or, as founder and CEO Adi Pal puts it, ”Our customers like what they see and trust us to send them something awesome every month, and that feels great.”

Pal and his team hunt for top products (rather than bargains) and approach the maker with the chance to appear before a desirable and engaged buyer. The search is aided by the fact that dozens of brands—many of them new bourbon—seek Mash&Grape’s e-commerce services (under Barcart), giving Mash a jump on scouting.

“We know we have good taste and we back it up—we’re betting on ourselves and our selection,” Pal says. “It’s premium bourbon and you get a deal.”

Members receive finds worth remembering, access to Mash’s retail marketplace, and discounts on extremely allocated spirits from partner distilleries that simply aren’t made in enough quantity to be found elsewhere. Barrell Bourbon, for example, is now an established ally after Mash&Grape discovered it—and before Barrell Bourbon earned a windfall in awards.

“These days we’re seeing more bourbon brands, but more brands of better quality,” Pal says.

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Why You Should Try It: There’s a great feel to the whole program and it checks all the boxes including some many might not think of, such as a taster sampling and notes about each delivery.

Key Specs

Starting Price: $159

Estimated Shipping Time: 4 to 14 days

Availability: 25 states

The appeal with this annual club (starting at $159 per year) is manifold. For one, shipments can include your choice of desirable 750-milliliter bottles in addition to a “tasting box” with three dram-sized 50-milliliter samples grouped around a theme and paired with lively tasting notes, a coaster, and helpful tasting guides.

Sign up for the standard ($159) membership to receive two free bottles, the Premium ($279) membership for four bottles, or the All-Access membership for a quarterly delivery of products. Your order will also arrive with a copy of the "Flaviar Times" magazine, which is both well designed and rich in content. Monthly access to Flaviar's Vault offers opportunities to acquire rarities like WhistlePig The Boss Hog VII. A strong roster of auxiliary elements—including tasting and blending events (live and online) and VIP distillery tours—are appealing factors too. Meanwhile, Flaviar’s online “Boozefeed” provides a worthy range of additional content, whether that’s a video exploring Winston Churchill’s favorite drinks or a rundown of rye cocktail recipes.

Members select a bottle from a gallery of spirits (including a wealth of non-bourbons); while having control over the options is inviting, it can be hard to choose from the heretofore-unknown bottles. But the number of rich and revelatory options is undeniable—and something CEO and co-Founder Grisa Soba takes pride in.

“The fact is consumers tend to stick with their go-to drink if ordering through regular online retail channels, which tend to inevitably favor the big boys, and this is why platforms like Flaviar are so important to smaller producers,” he says. “Discovery and a diversity of flavor [are] a fundamental part of what we’re all about.”

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Why You Should Try It: Taster’s is a textbook example of what one would want in a monthly club: interesting bourbons, one price ($84, including shipping), frequency variability, and thorough educational materials.

Key Specs

Price: $69/month

Estimated Shipping Time: Varies

Availability: 45 states

Taster’s Club takes pride in its atypical selections ranging from Washington, D.C. (Buckshee Bourbon), Iowa (Cedar Ridge), to the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country (Bardstown Bourbon Company). “We like surprising our members with new, interesting bottles so you can try something new, expand your [palate], and maybe even discover a new favorite,” according to the company's website. Members gain entry into the house Bottle Shop, and gift-givers are enthusiastic about how the club caters to them with personalized certificates and more.

Each bottle comes with details on flavor profiles and tasting notes associated with your order. However, if you are wanting more details on the subject they offer additional online resources with helpful down-to-earth information. All told, it’s a simple, straightforward, no-frills club that focuses on gift-giving with options like the three-bottle gift pack.

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Why You Should Try It: The Pour More team prioritizes exploration and education with poise.

Key Specs

Starting Price: $49

Estimated Shipping Time: 10 days

Availability: 46 states

Pour More co-owner Scott Cohen was well familiar with the experience of seeking something interesting at the liquor store but not knowing what to get amidst the plethora of options. “What’s most fun for us is customer feedback telling us they’re loving the variety and the education, and liked it a lot more than the overwhelming feeling of looking at a whole wall of liquor,” he says.

Subscriptions fit into two tiers (Intro and Explorer, $49 and $79), with some rare bourbons once circulated with the high-end enthusiast category sprinkled in whiskey club shipments. Cohen and company work with small producers and their distribution partners to spotlight distillers like Cooperstown Bourbon and Rabbit Hole Dareringer. Bottles come monthly or bi-monthly with plans ranging from three to 12 months, accompanied by brand background and a recipe, with optional gifts (Whiskey balls and Corkcicle glasses) and one-off offerings from partner producers.