Flaviar Whiskey Club Reviews: Is It Worth It? Advent Calendar, Tasting Box, Membership Cost, Coupon, And More

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People drinking liquor (caption: Flaviar Liquor Subscription Review)

Are you interested in exploring all the flavors of fine liquors? Many online clubs carry premium blends of whiskey, scotch, bourbon, rum and much more that they deliver right to your door. One popular option, Flaviar, says it’s the world’s largest club of spirits enthusiasts.

What does a membership with Flaviar get you? We tell you about all their liquor offerings, perks, pricing and more so you can make an informed decision about whether it’s worth joining this exclusive club or not.

Visit Flaviar’s Website

Key Features

  • home bar where you can track your liquor collection, leave reviews, and get recommendations for “flavor matches” (libations you might enjoy based on your collection).
  • Ability to choose your tasting kit from a large selection of liquors, which include descriptions and customer reviews
  • Carefully curated selection of small batch and craft Scotch, Bourbon, Rye, Gin, Tequila, Rum, Vodka, etc.
  • Memberships includes a free bottle every quarter ($45 value)
  • Exclusive releases and private bottlings created exclusively for members
  • Live events, private tastings, and distillery tours with their network of distillers, bars and brands
  • Easy-to-use website with how-to guides and informative articles
  • Fun, creative packaging
  • Refer-a-friend program

Pros And Cons Comparison Table

ProsCons
You get a free tasting box every quarter (three two ounce pours of liquors you select)No prepay discounts
Free bottle every quarter with membership (approximately at $45 value)Some customers complain that individual bottle orders take a long time for delivery or are unavailable/refunded
Can purchase individual full-sized bottles via websiteNo return policy (unless your package is damaged)
Tasting events (in person and virtual)Bottle availability and price varies based on your location
Get personalized recommendations based on your flavor preferencesCustomer support is email only
Can cancel or pause anytimeSome bottle pricing is overblown
Free shipping for club members (one order per month)
Great selection of small batch, craft liquors hard to find elsewhere

Where Can Flaviar Ship To?

Flaviar logo

At the time of writing (this changes frequently as laws change) Flaviar delivered to all European Union (EU) countries, UK and the United States, with the exception of the following states: AK, AL, AR, DE, HI, IA, ID, MA, MI, MN, MS, MT, NC, OH, OK, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV and WY. They also do not deliver to Canada, Guam, or Puerto Rico.

Pricing

There are three membership levels, all billed annually. All memberships include:

  • On-demand virtual tastings
  • School of Spirits
  • Free shipping on orders over $60
  • Member prices in online store
  • Co-create new single batch releases
  • Early access to allocated bottles and exclusive releases
  • Cancel anytime, hassle-free

Bottle Hunter ($159/year)

  • 2 bottles of your choice ($90 value)
  • $10 store credit towards your first purchase

Knowledge Seeker ($279/year)

  • 4 tasting boxes of your choice ($100+ value)
  • $10 store credit towards your first purchase

All-Round Explorer ($349/year)

  • 8 products of your choice (choose 1 tasting box and 1 bottle each quarter) ($200+ value)
  • $20 Store credits towards your first purchase

Flaviar Coupon Code

Click here and use code HOLIDAY15 for 15% off.

Our Personal Experience

The value of Flaviar is hard to beat. I almost always enter the private bottling lotteries — those tend to be very high-quality bottles at affordable prices (think Deer, Bear & Moose (a 23-year-old fantastic scotch)), custom 14-year bottling of Dalmore, Whistlepig 12-year, Son of a Peat, etc.).

While the Vault has some really rare stuff, the prices are usually overblown and available for less elsewhere, although I always browse it because every now and then I’ll discover a rare and affordable gem.

Alex S., Exploring Life’s Mysteries

Customer Reviews

Our research into any product or service always involves scouring the web for reviews from real customers. Here’s a sampling of what we found online about Flaviar.

Positive Reviews

Flaviar is a great membership! The site is easy to use, and the choices are superb! I don’t have anything bad to say about it – customer service is spot-on, orders are shipped swiftly, and I really like all the choices of spirits. The flavor spiral is really nice to use before buying a new spirit – you really know what you are getting!

Sarah G., Trustpilot 4/30/2020

Ever buy an expensive bottle because you had heard it was great? Then you buy the bottle, go home and take a sip and it’s like vile urine in your mouth? Flaviar helps to avoid that experience with the Tasting Boxes! You find the spirits that are to your liking without the expense! I strongly recommend that you try Flaviar!

Hobo J., Trustpilot 4/30/2020

Complaints

If you want to get really frustrated, try this club. The website is really bad. Hard to read the nav bars. Checkout is complicated if you are trying to use what they call credits. (prepaid membership benefits). Tasting packs you want are always out of stock. Prices are on par with Total Wine, with better availability. The benefit of the site is good reviews. Unfortunately, the negatives outweigh the positives.

DonInSC, Trustpilot 4/2/2020

I am close to two months now waiting for three distinct orders. They’ve taken my money but not delivered any of my three orders. They state they will respond to customer needs within 24 hours but they have not returned repeated requests for updates. This company appears to be a SCAM or going out of business. I have no idea why any reputable business would treat customers this way. I’m not asking for a refund; I just want the product I’ve ordered. Completely unacceptable performance.

Andrew P., BBB 11/5/2019

What’s The Difference Between Whiskey, Scotch & Bourbon?

Here’s one of the dozens of fun and informative videos that Flaviar produces to help you enjoy your tasting experiences.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here’s the top questions we receive from our readers about Flaviar.

Can I Give Flaviar As A Gift?

Yes, a Flaviar membership makes a great gift, and the site promotes them heavily, sometimes with discounts. Some good times to purchase a gift and look for a potential promo on a Flaviar membership are:

Christmas

Not only does a Flaviar membership make a good Christmas present, they also offer their annual limited release advent calendars this time of year (basically a giant box with 12 or 24 two ounce pours of whiskeys from around the globe – fun to share with friends and a great way to experience a dram you never thought you’d try).

Father’s Day Or Mother’s Day

Father’s Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in June, and is one of Flaviar’s busiest days. A gift membership will let your dad or grand dad select their own tasting kits based on their taste preferences.

And of course, who’s to say mom wouldn’t enjoy a snifter of a craft bourbon after a hard day? Mother’s day is celebrated on different days around the world, falling on the second Sunday in May in the United States.

Our Final Verdict

Visit Flaviar’s Website

With all the membership perks you get with Flaviar on top of their high-quality tasting kits and full bottles, we say go for it — especially if your goal is to explore all the nuances of fine liquors. Their extensive tasting notes and flavor profiles, personalized recommendations, online events, holiday whiskey calendars, and much more make them one of the best clubs to join. These guys know their stuff.

If you want to see how Flaviar stacks up to other whiskey clubs, be sure to read our reviews of the best whiskey of the month clubs. We include features, pros, cons, pricing and more for the top services that deliver a variety of liquors to your door. And if you’re a beer or wine enthusiast, you may also want to check out our reviews of monthly wine clubs or beer of the month clubs.

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Disclaimer: the information provided through this website should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease; it is not intended to offer any legal opinion or advice or a substitute for professional safety advice or professional care. Please consult your health care provider, attorney, or product manual for professional advice. Products and services reviewed are provided by third parties; we are not responsible in any way for them, nor do we guarantee their functionality, utility, safety, or reliability. Our content is for educational purposes only.

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I just got an email from Flaviar announcing that “Your state has joined our full membership program, which means you’re getting an upgrade to a smoother claim process of your quarterly benefits.”

A notable change is that my complimentary tasting box credit now says “unavailable” but if I scroll down I’m able to select my free quarterly bottle and a tasting box. One of the changes is that instead of having a $45 credit to apply to a nicer bottle, it looks like it’s forcing me to choose a lower-tier bottle. I live in NC – anyone else seeing this?

They did mention other perks like shipping being combined, etc. which would be nice, but I’d still love to have the flexibility of applying my “bottle credit” as I deem fit.

Is the Flaviar advent calendar still available for order? And is there more than one version? I seem to remember hearing from a friend that he could pick whiskeys of the world, made up of just whiskeys, and another one that had all kinds of different liquors (I would opt for the whiskey one).

The Flaviar 2020 advent calendar is available for pre-order. From what I can tell, this year only the “Whiskeys of the World” calendar (24 1.7 oz pours) is available. The non-whisky calendar must have not have sold as well.

So, is the Piggyback bottle truly complementary? i.e. If I have a half-year (2 quarter) membership, will I still be able to pick 2 more bottles or does the Piggyback count as one of my bottles?

Hi JT,

I can see how that could be confusing. I had a similar question when I signed up. I think the easiest way to look at it is that for your membership, you get $45/quarter in credits which can be applied to bottle purchases.

In other words, the “bottles” are arbitrary (a marketing tactic). For a $35 bottle, you would have a $10 credit balance, for a $55 bottle, you would owe an additional $10 (this is simplified math, not taking into account taxes, etc.).

Just out of curiosity, what are some of the more famous exclusive bottlings Flaviar has offered members in the past?

Great question Jim! The one I always enter the lottery for is the “Deer, Bear & Moose.” It’s a 20-23 year aged scotch that is out of this world. Very hard to win though, everyone seems to be after it. I’ve been a Flaviar member since 2017, have entered every one of the lotteries, and only come away with 2 of these amazing bottles.

Other notables have been private bottlings of 14-year Dalmore, 12-year Whistlepig (fantastic – several different blends available), Son of a Peat, and Woodford Double Oaked. They also have their own Rum and Brandy. The rum is not bad, I enjoy it with my Friday cigar. Can’t speak to the Brandy.

Happy World Whisky Day Everyone! Enjoying some Flaviar samples to celebrate. Anyone know if there’s something like their 12 or 24 days of Christmas calendars available year round?

The Flaviar advent calendars are a limited (seasonal) release. Look for them again this holiday season! We’ll be posting here when they become available again as well.