As we roll into the summer months of the year, the team at SMWS Australia like to look back, go through our activity log, our emails and messages, and see what the most asked questions of the year were from new members to the club, and see where we can improve.
If you’ve been on the fence about joining the best whisky club in Australia, but had some questions you might be shy too ask, this handy cheat sheet might be of use!
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“If I join, do I have to buy something each month?”
No! When you join the Society, there’s no obligation to purchase to maintain your membership. It’s your membership, your way. Unlike most wine clubs where you have to buy a few cases of wine each year, we just have the one membership fee, and it’s your membership, your way.
“I joined and received the latest Outturn, but cannot see any of the whiskies online?”
We like to get our monthly Outturn out to members at least a week before they go live on our site. Each month we send an Outturn to members with a list of great single cask, cask strength offerings, plus great articles and other offers. Check the front cover of your Outturn for when the bottlings on offer go up on the shop page. The Outturn list of bottlings available then usually goes live on the first Friday of the month, but best to keep your eye on the date from the cover of your Outturn.
“Everything on Outturn sells out so fast, is that normal?”
Yes. Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottlings are hugely desired by members around the country for their flavour. These are full-flavoured, cask strength, single cask, expert panel-approved whiskies truly unlike anything else on earth. Not to be compared with “independent bottlings”, these club bottlings are head and shoulders above what you might be used to. While 2020 has been a popular year for restocking the home bar and things have been unpredictable, we aim to really make sure members will have even more to choose from in 2021.
If you missed out on the Outturn release, which is typically the first Friday of each month at midday, then never fear: we also have a mid-month release and late-month release of great single casks and occasionally pop goodies up on the site from time to time.
“I joined and received one printed Outturn, but haven’t received one since. What’s going on there?”
When you join the Society, we send you the most recent Outturn to give you a feel for what is on offer each month. We discourage hunting particular codes, particular distilleries, but instead focus on flavour profiles and tasting notes. However, your following Outturn monthly issues will be instead delivered to your inbox. This saves on paper pulp and makes for a far more environmentally-friendly way for you to see what’s coming up.
“Where’s my quarterly Unfiltered?”
Membership to the Society includes a full subscription to Unfiltered Magazine, a full in-depth whisky publication. It used to be a quarterly magazine printed on lovely thick fresh paper for you to read and collect, but the times are changing and so are we. Some of the bigger changes happening here are:
- Unfiltered is moving from a quarterly to a monthly magazine
- We’ve removed the printed copy but replaced it with an immersive and interactive digital magazine instead
- We’ve localised each issue! That means a lot more Australian content, distillery features, local articles and more. The only dedicated monthly whisky magazine in Australia and proudly published by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society!
Here’s to 2021, here’s to being part of a great whisky club, and we wish you all a safe and festive period ahead!
