Being a whisky enthusiast is always described as a “journey”. There’s powerful memories associated with moments like a first sip with a parent, a recommendation given at a bar, or that bottle you buy off the supermarket shelf that opens your mind and palate. It’s cheesy but it’s true. Drinking whisky isn’t a hobby (sorry everyone), but it does follow the same broad strokes of discovery, education and mastery with similar pitfalls along the way. Anyone who had taken a punt on a bottle and hated it will attest to that.

The rise to ubiquity of subscription services is the biggest disrupter to this journey since online shopping in the noughties. The world of whisky has been opened far beyond what your supermarket and pub offered for decades, but subscription services like Whisky Pioneer mean you don’t need to gamble on bottles or even need to leave your house to discover new things.

Whisky Pioneer is the little sibling operating alongside the popular Summerton Whisky Club which offers full bottles every other month to its members at a cost of £59.95. Many of the bottles are exclusives and some are from distilleries that you cannot buy in the UK otherwise. There is definite value here for enthusiasts but it requires a very open mind and wallet to fork over that much cash for bottles that may not be to your taste.

With Whisky Pioneer you are paying a modest £7.95 per month for a sample of interesting whisky from around the world. It’ll be on par with Summerton’s offering in terms of distillery quality, but more likely to be available at specialist retailers. During my five month subscription I received the following:

• Fielden (England) – Harvest 2019 Rye
• FEW (USA)  – Straight Bourbon
• Morris (Australia) – Muscat Barrel Single Malt
• Wire Works (England) – Bourbon Barrel Single Malt
• The English Distillery (England) – Small Batch – Heavily Smoked Cask Fusion

These whiskies are diverse in flavour and region and whilst England has dominated my time the list of past bottlings shows a huge global range stretching back to the founding in 2021. Have I enjoyed these samples? Yes, all of them have been good quality whiskies from smaller distilleries. I had tried three of them at festivals before they landed through my letterbox, but most people aren’t out here reviewing whisky events! Whilst not all have been my usual choice that’s the point of the subscription. These all cost far less than they would for a double measure in a bar and it’s a far cheaper option than the full Summerton service. 

The drams are obviously the stars of the show but the bottle they come in is a lovely bonus and the reasons why are so numerous I needed a list:

• It’s 100% recycled and recyclable.
• 60ml is a decent size that means you can have multiple small pours of the sample.
• The tall rectangular shape and branding are aesthetically pleasing and reminiscent of classic 350ml or 500ml bottles.
• It’s reusable and letterbox sized so perfect for sharing your own whiskies with others.
• You can return empty 10 bottles to Whisky Pioneer for a free dram.

As someone regularly sharing whiskies I cannot understate how these bottles have become a currency. I recently participated in a whisky Secret Santa where I received all my gifted samples in Whisky Pioneer bottles and found myself thrilled to have three more of these beauties to reuse myself!

As subscription services go Whisky Pioneer is honest and friendly too. The shipping date is reliable and hampered only by the fortunes of Royal Mail. Each shipping date is marked by an email beforehand meaning you get a reminder to cancel if you want to. Most monthly subscription services rely on you forgetting to cancel but Whisky Pioneer is always upfront and clear. If your payment card changes and you forget you can still get a later delivery so long as things haven’t rolled over into the next month whereas other services often have hard deadlines.

The closest competitor to Whisky Pioneer is Whisky Me which at the time of writing costs £8.95 per month and delivers the same sample size of a more mainstream selection in a pouch that’s novel but can’t hold a candle to Whisky Pioneer’s bottles. Unless you really want to play it safe with bottle availability I see no reason to recommend their service as Whisky Pioneer beats it on value and product alike.

Whisky Pioneer is worth your money if you want a little liquid treat every month in the post. It also makes a great gift for whisky fans at any stage of their journey. It’s affordable too as gift subscriptions currently start at just £23.85. All But Drams will be trying more subscription services in 2025 but I can comfortably say Whisky Pioneer will be hard to beat at the entry level. The bottles and the spirit inside have set the bar very high.