Emma Like surprises through the post? That’s the spirit!
If you love spirits and enjoy trying new flavours but can’t justify splashing out on bottles that you might not even like then Flaviar might be up your street. Each month, or every 3 (depending on the subscription) you get 5 x 45ml sample sized bottles of premium spirit to delivered to your door, along with tasting instructions and information on where the booze has come from.
In our welcome pack we received 5 whiskies; each pack is designed for 3 people to partake in a tasting session and so we did as suggested and had a blind taste test with 3 participants, we kept the names hidden but numbered them and here’s how we got on…
Number 1 was dark brown in colour with a very smokey aroma (described as “like kippers” by one of us!) and a bit of musky after-shave too! It tasted pretty strong, rich & heavy-going but importantly smooth and we all thought it was an Islay whisky.
Number 2 was straw coloured and a bit chemical and winey – like a sauvignon blanc, it was light & sweet so like something you’d drink with a dessert
Number 3 was light and straw coloured too but was a bit more fruity and nutty. It was thicker and oilier and even tasted a bit salty – we all agreed so we thought this was another Islay or west-coast Scottish whisky.
Number 4 was darker with a sweet vanilla, caramel and citrus fruit aroma. It tasted smooth and sweet with just a hint of smoke. We thought this might be a west coast whisky in a bourbon cask
Number 5 was red/brown in appearance with sweet toffee/caramel. It was rich and smooth and we thought it might be from a sherry cask.
And then we totted up the results number 4 won and to our surprise our favourite wasn’t a Scottish whisky at all but in fact a 10 year Japanese whisky! It was only then that we realised that we had a “whiskies of the world” pack and that it wasn’t restricted to Scotland!
And so the results of the 1st Food & Drink Glasgow blind whisky tasting session are in:
1st place: Nikka Yoichi 10 year old
2nd place: Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban
3rd place: Santis swiss peated*
4th place: Amrut Indian single malt**
5th place: Greenore Irish whisky
*We had no idea there was such a thing as a Swiss whisky though we have tried French and Swedish whisky before!
**Strangely we have actually tried a couple of Amrut Indian whiskies before!
So how did our taste notes compare with those in the pack? Well we didn’t differ too much (geography aside of course), the Japanese whisky actually won Whisky magazine’s best of the best in 2001 so we felt justified about our choice and we thought the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban had a sherry-like quality but it was from a port cask so we weren’t too far off.
Flaviar is a great idea and we had a lot of fun with our tasting session. It’s an excellent idea for a get together with friends. I perish the thought of the cost of various types of Whisky, Gin etc bought to try and then find out you don’t like it. With this you can try some, have a chat, learn something and find a new tipple.
The quarterly subscription is £29.99 inc. postage and you will receive 1 pack every 3 months, while the monthly subscription is £24.99 and you will of course receive 1 pack every month.
Sign-up here.
I made an order well over two months ago and despite assurances it had been shipped (about 6 weeks ago) it is yet to arrive. No response to emails from management. Looks surprisingly like a well put together scam. If not, they are not a very well run company.
I ordered early Nov for a Christmas present – still hasn’t arrived. Fed up!
I ordered 28th November via Groupon and still no delivery. I have sent emails and even messages via Facebook but predictably no answer. I have escalated via Groupon and at least I will get my money back via them if still no delivery.
Poor customer service, been reading a lot about this lately
OFFICIAL REPLY FROM FLAVIAR.COM
You know how they say, “demand was so high it crashed our website”? Well, the logistical version of that happened to us in November and December. We saw a 700% increase in tasting packs sold and although the website had no issues, we were not ready for this in the warehouse.
We had to order more drinks, boxes, sample bottles and staff up, to cope with the demand. We did our best to react quickly, but it’s not easy getting various suppliers to deliver 5- or 10-times the usual quantities in a few days.
These are not excuses, they’re explanations so you know what was going on in the background as we were working triple shifts, days and nights to fulfill your orders.
We failed to predict this kind of demand and set the right expectations. We apologize for that.
We’re a young company and believe us, we’ve learned from this. Less than a month later, we’re back on track, shipping most orders next day and sending tasting packs out as fast as we can make them.
Thank your for your patience and support in achieving our mission – Flavour to the people!
This is absolutely not true. I have had an order out since Beginning of Jan that has not arrived. The company has not changed at all.
What, then, is your explanation for this happening in February??
I ordered on Jan 27th. Got a message that the order shipped on January 29th. and….Still no order. It is March 4th.
Enjoy my fifty bones, Flaviar.com Crap company.
AWFUL COMPANY….I also placed an order over a month and half ago and have yet to receive it. They say it has been shipped but no info is available. They have no info to give me besides stupid “quirky” remarks that they think is being funny but I want details. They gave me a $10 credit for their company which I will never use again. DO not ever use this service!!!
I ordered a tasting pack somewhere around mid of January. This pack was supposed to be Valentine’s gift for my boyfriend. Its been more than a month now and there is no delivery. The customer support is very friendly and the email responses are quick. While they keep assuring you in every email that customer loyalty and satisfaction are of utmost importance to them, their actions do not reveal the same. The tracking website has no updates sine 12th february. The most funny part I noticed was in one of the email they assured me if I order one more pack, I will be surprised by the lightning delivery speed. Why in the world will I order one more pack when I haven’t yet received the one I ordered almost a month back?!
I am really disappointed and they did not agree on cancelling the order and giving me refund because they say your order has been shipped already, so we cannot cancel it now.
Thanks Flaviar for spoiling my Valentines plan.
Glad we didn’t sign up! Shocking,
Fantastic service! I have placed many orders with them over the last 6 months (18 bottles, not tasting packs, and counting). Delivery to the United States was slow during the Christmas rush, but they have really improved their shipping and delivery. The last several orders have all arrived in less than three weeks, and every single order has been well packed and arrived in perfect condition. Their email communication is excellent and they even located a special bottle for me. They guarantee delivery and stand behind their service. I had one issue which they stood behind and immediately issued a refund. Highly recommended and I will continue to purchase more from them. These guys are serious about what they do.
Agree Jeffrey! We love to organise tastings when our friends are over and Flaviar is perfect for it. Good selection of drinks from around the world and just enough to share it around the table and taste a selection. We’ve ordered from them a few times already and the service was absolutely fine. Keen to order again!
I first heard of this site via Groupon and ordered a tasting pack for my husband for Christmas. He loved it. Since then we have ordered another three bottles and another tasting pack. The company has kept us up to date with ordering and delivery details via e mail. The deliveries have been quick and well packaged. Some products are out of our price range but others are well priced. We would recommend this company to others because we have always received good service.
FLAVIAR is not a Spirits Box subscription service. It’s an online community of sorts and not a subscription service. You pay their subscription fees for the chance to buy small tasting boxes at questionable market prices and to be allowed to purchase from their online shop. The packaging and accompanying materials that are included with purchases are very well made and expertly/humorously written (they have someone there who’s adept in prose), and they seem to be knowledgeable and capable in the world of tasting and spirits. If you’d like to subscribe to an online resource, and accompanying community and exclusive shop, then this is for you. If you’re looking for a monthly drinks box, like I was, then this isn’t it. Sadly, Flaviar’s “marketing” is ambiguous and vague (maybe on purpose) on this state-of-affairs, thereby snagging unsuspecting monthly-box subscribers like myself…