Best Scotch of the Month Clubs

While there are plenty of services that will send you a bottle of Scotch at regular intervals, there are few outlets that make the user experience as rich and layered as Flaviar does. When you sign up for Flaviar, not only do you get access to a deep collection of esoteric whiskies, but you also get a bunch of supplemental perks including reviews, cocktail recipes, early access to exclusive bottlings, free virtual and in-person events, and, of course, delicious bottles of Scotch that you can enjoy without ever leaving home. Whether you’re a fan of sherry-cask Speyside or single malt Islay, Flaviar provides you with not just the juice but also a whole contextual framework in which to learn, explore, and interact with other Scotch lovers.

The Flaviar model is built around the concept of “products,” which are either full 750-milliliter bottles or “Tasting Boxes” that include three sample-sized bottles of your chosen spirit. When you sign up, the first step is to determine which membership plan suits you (one product per month, two products every three months, or eight products per year). Users who are just starting their Scotch journey may decide to try some Tasting Boxes early on, as each box contains three curated 1.5-ounce (45-milliliter) samples of premium Scotch, along with tasting notes (and a handsome concrete coaster to boot). That said, once you start browsing Flaviar’s deep selection of unique and diverse bottles, don’t be surprised if you can’t resist sourcing some new full-size additions to your back bar.

• Monthly Membership: 1 product, $60
• 3-Month Membership: 2 products, $110
• 12-Month Membership: 8 products, $315

While PourMore offers subscriptions in several different spirit categories—including bourbon, tequila, mezcal, and rum—its Scotch subscription is one of its best offerings, providing members with several ways to maximize value and user experience. While several of PourMore’s memberships are available in only one “tier,” the Scotch subscription is offered in three different tiers. The Intro tier is geared toward beginners, the Explorer tear is for more advanced imbibers, and the Enthusiast tier, according to the company, is “for the drinker that has dabbled in the best and plans to keep it that way.” The tiers are priced accordingly, with the Intro tier starting at $55 per shipment and the Enthusiast tier clocking in at $149 per shipment.

Extra value can be enjoyed by users who preorder multiple shipments in advance. Preorders are available in intervals of either three, six, or 12 shipments, which can be delivered either monthly or bimonthly. The savings can be significant when using the preorder format: a subscriber to the Enthusiast tier, for example, would save $118 over 12 shipments by paying in advance. But whether preordering or paying as you go, PourMore offers Scotch lovers of all experience levels the opportunity to enjoy fascinating bottles at a great value.

• Intro level: $55 per shipment
• Explorer level: $89 per shipment 
• Enthusiast level: $149 per shipment
  

Much like a fine Scotch, Mash&Grape is a balance of elegance and complexity. The company’s Scotch subscription service is elegant in its simplicity—one bottle per month, with no customization available beyond that. The club simultaneously offers great complexity, however, in the breadth of rare and esoteric Scotches that it sends its users. These aren’t your standard back-bar selections; expect to receive bottles as complex and varied as the Bladnoch Samsara, the Usquaebach 15-Year-Old, and the Highland Park Valkyrie.

Any Scotch lover on your holiday shopping list would be thrilled to receive a Mash&Grape membership as a gift, and the company makes gifting easy with prepaid subscriptions of either three, six, or 12 months. Or if the subscription is for you, you can pay monthly and cancel anytime. With over 350 bottles currently on offer in its retail store, you can be assured that Mash&Grape is a subscription that won’t ever leave you wanting for variety.

• $79 per month

Let’s face it: Scotch can be intimidating. Between the challenging distillery names, the subregions within Scotland, and the various cask finishes and special releases, the whole category can make the beginner Scotch enthusiast feel overwhelmed. However, Taster’s Club demystifies the process of learning about Scotch with its once-a-month deliveries of rare and interesting bottles, which are always accompanied by a “Digital 101” that provides extensive content including the history of the distillery, the inspiration behind the creation of the bottle, expert tasting notes, and more.

For a more advanced deep dive, you might choose to splurge for the Scotch Pro subscription, which includes rare and one-off releases from independent bottlers featuring Scotland’s top producers. Or, if your Scotch journey has inspired you to expand your expertise further, Taster’s Club boasts a total of nine different spirits clubs, each of which follows the “Digital 101” model and delivers rich educational context along with every bottle.

• $75.99 for Scotch subscription
• $175.74 for Scotch Pro subscription

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was founded in 1983 with the goal of sourcing rare Scotches and making them available to its members. Every month, the Society releases 20 to 30 single-cask whiskies from distilleries all over Scotland, handpicked by its Tasting Panel. It’s not technically a Scotch of the month club: Instead, a $99 annual fee grants you access to purchase bottles of Scotch whisky that are available only to members of the Society. Additional perks include in-person tasting events, a subscription to the Society’s monthly magazine, and access to private Members’ Rooms in the U.K. 

You can also choose to purchase a tasting kit with three 100-milliliter bottles of whisky, two snifter glasses, a pitcher, a water dropper, and a notebook, which is available for the reasonable fee of $195 with a one-year Society membership included. Alternatively, you can opt for the combo of a one-year membership plus a full bottle of whisky for a price ranging from $175 to $260, depending on the cask selection.

• Membership only: $99 per year 
• Membership and tasting kit: $195 per year
• Membership and bottle: $175 to $260 per year

Stumped on the perfect gift for the Scotch lover in your life who has it all? It’s hard to imagine a Scotch buff who wouldn’t be delighted to receive a subscription to the Whisky Runner Club from Bounty Hunter. Shipments go out either once a month or once a quarter, and each shipment includes not one but two intriguing bottles of whisky—often Scotch, but also malt whiskies hailing from Japan, the U.S., and elsewhere. Both the monthly and quarterly subscriptions cost $299 plus tax per shipment.

Even those Scotch enthusiasts who have deep collections will be impressed by the bottles in the Bounty Hunter subscription. Utilizing its purchasing power and industry access, Bounty Hunter has developed a reputation for sourcing hard-to-find malt whiskies, including limited releases and serious age-statement bottlings. In advance of signing up, you can peruse the archived tasting notes on their website to get a sense of the types of truly special bottles that the lucky giftee in your life can look forward to receiving.

• $299 per shipment, plus tax, either quarterly or monthly