Best Whiskey Subscriptions

Flaviar is a unique online spirits interface that boasts a long list of member benefits. These include reviews, product and distillery profiles, cocktail recipes, access to distillery tours and free events, and, of course, top-shelf spirits delivered right to your door. Flaviar subscribers get exclusive access to the site’s online store, which carries more than 15,000 different spirits, including Scotch, Irish whiskey, Japanese whisky, and bourbon. Members can also branch out into other spirits categories like rum, gin, or mezcal, as well. 

Rather than a standard yearly membership, Flaviar's subscription is available in monthly, three-month, or 12-month increments. Each tier includes a specific number of "products" of your choice—either full-sized bottles of your chosen spirit or "Tasting Boxes," which include three small vials of different spirits that you can sample before committing to a whole bottle. Signing up for a monthly membership will get you one product, and a three-month membership will get you two. But for the best value, opt for the 12-month membership, which includes eight products that can be shipped to your door whenever you choose.

• Monthly Membership (one product): $60
• 3-Month Membership (two products): $110
• 12-Month Membership (eight products): $315

If your experience of Irish whiskeys is limited to Jameson and Bushmills, Irishmalts can help you expand your horizons. The company specializes in Irish whiskeys you aren’t likely to find stateside, like offerings from Teeling’s Distillery, the first new distillery to open in Dublin in more than a century. Irishmalts also wants to prove that there is a thriving industry that goes well beyond whiskey, offering spirits like Irish-made gin and vodka, craft beers, and unique spirits like poitín (a traditional Irish spirit distilled in small pot stills, from which it gets its name).

Customers can choose deliveries from Three Drams, which offers a selection of three different single servings of whiskeys each month, or can choose from hundreds of bottles of Irish spirits. The website makes it easy to filter by distillery or style of whiskey, giving you access to brands that are hard to find outside of the Emerald Isle.

• Three Drams Box: $24.80
• Single Malts: from $28
• Single Pot Stills: from $33
• Single Grain: from $26
• Blended: from $17
• Shipping to the U.S. varies by quantity

Mash&Grape’s deep selection of unique, unexpected bottles has made the company popular among whiskey lovers. And their simple, affordable subscription club delivers one curated 750 ml bottle of whiskey to members each month. Eschewing the familiar labels you see in supermarkets or liquor stores, Mash&Grape’s whiskey club focuses on eclectic brands and small producers, with helpful tasting notes included with every shipment. 

Choose from three-, six-, or 12-month whiskey subscription options, each with the reasonable price of $69 per month. There’s also a bourbon-only subscription with the same pricing, as well as a Scotch subscription with the slightly elevated price of $79 per month. 

• Whiskey and Bourbon Clubs: $69 per month
• Scotch Club: $79 per month

PourMore features a deep selection of whiskeys from Scotland, Japan, the U.S., and beyond. ​​And the company’s variety, particularly in the pricing department, sets it apart from other one-size-fits-all whiskey subscriptions. With pricing plans for enthusiasts of all levels, PourMore’s extensive whiskey collection can be accessed at a monthly or bi-monthly rate that perfectly fits your budget.

PourMore offers three tiers of subscriptions: Intro, Explorer, and Enthusiast. The Intro package, designed for beginner whiskey fans, goes for $49 per installment. The Explorer package, featuring higher-end bottles, costs $79 per delivery. Finally, the Enthusiast package boasts rare and hard-to-find bottles for $129 per shipment. Each subscription has an additional shipping fee that varies according to location, and billing occurs on a month-to-month basis. (However, you’ll save money if you pre-pay for a number of months in advance.) 

• “Intro” club: $49/month (plus shipping)  
• “Explorer” club: $79/month (plus shipping)  
• “Enthusiast” club: $129/month (plus shipping) 

A maverick in the whiskey subscription world, Shots Box does a number of things differently than its competitors. Rather than asking customers to let the company curate a selection each month, Shots Box sends its users a box of shots. The subscriber then tries them all and selects which they’d like to receive in full-bottle form. To enhance the tasting experience, Shots Box includes a pair of elegant Glencairn tasting glasses with the first delivery.

Instead of monthly billing, Shots Box offers subscriptions on either a six-month basis (which includes three shipments) for $299, or a full-year basis (with six shipments) for $499. The full-year subscription includes one extra 750 ml bottle of top-selling whiskey, bringing the yearly total to seven bottles. Both the six-month and full-year subscriptions offer free shipping, which adds even more value to the membership.

• $299 for 6-month subscription (3 shipments)
• $499 for full-year subscription (6 shipments, plus extra bottle)
  

Craft Whisky Club was formed in the UK (hence the spelling of “whisky” without an “e”) with the intention of helping new distilleries get a foothold in a crowded marketplace. The company sources compelling whiskeys from across the globe, seeking out small, emerging brands whenever they can. And, unlike any other subscription we reviewed, the Craft Whisky Club also includes regional food pairings with every shipment.

As far as pricing, members will be billed every month, but they’ll only receive a shipment once every two months. Users can choose to receive one bottle in that bi-monthly delivery, which costs $55 monthly (or $110 per shipment) or two bottles at $95 monthly (or $190 per shipment). When factoring in the food pairing, plus occasional bonus gifts from distilleries, it works out to be a solid value. Plus, can you really put a price on supporting up-and-coming whiskey producers? We think not.

• $55/month for 1 bottle, shipped bimonthly
• $95/month for 2 bottles, shipped bimonthly

The whiskey subscription from Taster’s Club is a great way to access offerings from some of the world’s most unique distilleries. Expect to see plenty of American whiskeys (including bourbon, rye, malt whiskey, and Tennessee whiskey), as well as eclectic offerings from Japan, Ireland, and Scotland. Cask-strength and single-barrel bottles aren’t uncommon, and certain distilleries will offer bottlings exclusive to Taster’s Club, so you’ll get to taste whiskeys you truly can’t source anywhere else.

Best of all, the Taster’s Club whiskey subscription offers additional value through its monthly “Digital 101” materials. This includes information regarding the whiskey’s production, images of the distillery and its unique story, expert tasting notes, and cocktail recipes. These extra details make Taster’s Club the ideal choice for whiskey fans who want to go on an educational journey.

• Whiskey and Bourbon: $69.99/month, plus taxes and shipping
• Scotch: $79.99/month, plus taxes and shipping
  

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has been on a quest to deliver exclusive single-cask Scotch to its members since its founding in 1983. Every month, the Society releases 20 to 30 single-cask whiskies from distilleries all over Scotland, hand-picked by their Tasting Panel. 

While it’s not a recurring subscription, per se, 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, guided virtual tastings, and access to private Members’ Rooms in the UK. 

You can also purchase a tasting kit—which includes three 100 ml bottles of whisky, two snifter glasses, a pitcher, a water dropper, and a notebook—along with the membership for a total of $195. Furthermore, you can select a one-year membership plus a full bottle of whisky for a price ranging from $160 to $260, depending on the cask selection.

• Membership only: $99/year 
• Membership and tasting kit: $195/year
• Membership and bottle: $160/year to $260/year