Tasting Club Changes: Taking The Dram Team Premium.

JANUARY UPDATE

Hello Dram Teamers!

Summary: Please read the full December update below, and email us if you want us to make a change to your arrangements.

I'm excited to say we're just days away from our first ever premium edition orders on February 1st, and some really top-drawer whiskies coming your way.

Besides a preview of the first ever super-duper new-budget line up, the purpose of this update is to give all of you an extra opportunity to be fully informed and NOT to be caught out by the changes.

I suggest you start by please taking in the full February line up for our inaugural premium edition, titled "Scotch Through The Ages":

https://www.thedramteam.co.uk/blogs/news/scotch-through-the-ages-february-2024

Hopefully you get the idea: the whiskies are truly epic! 

By default, your next order on February first will be for this new premium edition at the new £45 rate (Note: While the whisky budget has doubled, the price has not - I've done my best to keep the value for money high despite the price increase). 

(Please note: We're going to ship February's orders on the afternoon of Friday 2nd February, to give subscribers one extra day's grace to make changes after orders are processed, just in case)

Your alternative options remain as per the below December Update (See "What're my options?"), with one improvement: If you wish to keep the current price and switch to our "Find a new favourite" whisky subscription instead, this can now be for up to 6 further boxes (i.e. a full year!) rather than just 3.

You can read more about the "Find a new favourite" option on the product page here.

And remember, ALL subscribers will have access to the bottle shop and member pricing when this goes live (later in February, all being well!).

Again, please read the below information from December, email us to let us know what you want to do (if you've already emailed, thank you) and we'll set you up accordingly.

(Emails to woodhouse@thedramteam.co.uk please)

 I hope you're excited for some remarkable whiskies in the near future: I know I am!

Best wishes,

Chris
(Founder)

DECEMBER UPDATE

Hello dearest Dram Teamers,

You're hopefully here because you received a flyer like the one pictured above in your December "A Very Sherry Whiskymas" festive edition. Thanks for dropping by!

Chris here, writing to give you the low down on an exciting reconfiguration of our subscription offerings, as outlined already on that flyer.

I’m going to split this update into two sections.

1. The headlines / must knows (1 dram recommended)
2. All the detail (have your entire festive edition to hand!)

While you are here, I'd strongly encourage you to ensure you are registered to receive Tasting Club member updates, as this allows me to email you directly about things like this, as well as other Dram Team updates.

I keep emails minimal, and always include a summary at the top so you don't have to read the whole thing if you are not interested in the content.

THE HEADLINES

Some of these were already covered on the flyer, but here's a recap for completeness.

What’s changing?

• Our Tasting Club is going premium and we are doubling the whisky budget.
• Drams will now average £100 RRP per 70cl bottle (up from £50), with the dream Sixth Dram now weighing in at £200-£250 RRP per 70cl.
• To enable this, our subscriber price will increase from £32.50 per box to £45 per box (less than a 40% increase for double the whisky value).
• As a current Tasting Club member, you will automatically be upgraded to the premium boxes and new price, but you have alternative options.
• Additional membership bonus: You will soon be granted access to our member-only online shop, featuring 30 fantastic whiskies at fantastic prices.

What’re my options?

1. Take no action, and you’ll automatically be upgraded to our new premium Tasting Club (at £45) when the first box is released in February 2024
   
   
2. Maintain your current price for up to 6 more boxes, then automatically upgrade to premium. As part of a phased transition we will be implementing, we can continue to offer our £32.50 price for 3 more shipments. In this instance, most of your whiskies will be drawn from our brand new “Find a new favourite whisky” selection (see more below), and after as many as 6 more boxes, you’ll automatically be upgraded to our new premium membership and price.
   
   
3. Maintain your current price for up to 6 more boxes as above, then end your subscription (you maintain access to the online shop).
   
   
4. End your subscription now.

How do I make any changes?

Very simple: Just write to woodhouse@thedramteam.co.uk to let me know what your preference is, or ask any questions, and I’ll personally take care of updating your membership accordingly.

Note: If you want to keep your current price for 3 more boxes, you can choose from a unpeated, peated or mixed option, so please let me know if you have a preference.

Why are you making these changes?

Fundamentally, I felt our current offering did not serve dedicated whisky lovers well enough (I wanted to send more exciting whiskies), and also wasn't ideal for our gift subscribers (too random).

By splitting our existing offering into a premium subscription for whisky coinnoisseurs and introducing the "Find a new favourite" subscription, we do a better job of delivering drams that will delight the two different audiences.

What else do I need to know?

Firstly, doubling the budget profoundly changes the whiskies you'll get. Dream drams now come as standard, and higher age statements, cask strength editions and top-notch indepedent single cask releases abound. Do read more about this below.

Secondly, don't overlook the new membership benefit of access to our upcoming members-only online shop. We worked really hard on our “Find a new favourite” offering and the thirty whiskies included in it, and now you can buy these at very good prices (and we'll ship them with your subscription boxes to save you even more).

That’s it for the “short” version, but you can get into the reeds below, most importantly a preview of what’s to come whisky-wise, as well as the whiskies in the members-only shop.

Read on below for the full details!

Thanks for bearing with me as we implement these changes, and I look forward to hearing from you with your preferences and any thoughts or questions you have.

All the best,

Chris
(Founder, The Dram Team)