The Best Gin of the Month Clubs of 2021

Best Overall: Mash&Grape MashBox

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Why We Chose It: Interesting flavors from new, quality brands translate to constant discoveries and value for members.

The foundational concept for MashBox was to capture the curated experience of Mash&Grape’s impressive spirits and wine market and automate it with regular shipments.

“We are in the middle of a distilling boom not seen in a hundred years, and are lucky to have new and amazing options to explore,” Mash&Grape’s mission statement reads, in part. “Making this exploration easier is our job and we scour the planet looking for products that excite and amaze us, so that we can share them with you.”

Testimonials reveal Mash&Grape’s audience is pleased with the results, which makes founder and CEO Adi Pal proud. 

”Our customers like what they see and trust us to send them something awesome every month,” he says.

For the Gin Explorer box, the "something awesome" includes flavorful revelations like Desgin Gin, Cold River Gin, and Bitter Truth Pink Gin, at a modest $44 a month.

Mash&Grape’s search is aided by the fact that brands contact it for the e-commerce services of sister business Barcart, giving the company a built-in advantage on unearthing new producers.

Members receive tasting notes and “gin secrets” with each shipment. They also get access to Mash&Grape’s retail marketplace, and discounts on very limited spirits from partner distilleries.

Best Education: Taster’s Club Gin of the Month

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Why We Chose It: Taster’s Club provides exciting new gin discoveries and comprehensive educational materials at a reasonable rate.

Taster’s Club announces upfront—“To us, appreciating gin is about more than just its taste”—and backs it up with its boxes, which include unique and extensive “Gin 101” course material. It covers a given month’s selection, production techniques, trends and history, plus topics like how to properly taste and evaluate a gin, different styles of gin, distilleries around the world, and gin production techniques.

The grade of gin that comes with those materials matters much, of course, and Taster’s comes through there too. Sample craft brands include Denning’s Point Distillery, Sipsmith London, and St. George Spirits.

Best Style: Flaviar Gin Club

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Why We Chose It: Flaviar does gin with style and substance, delivering the most gins to try with a bundle of other extras to boot.

It's Gin O'Clock. Ori-Gins. Gin Lane. So go the tempting themes with which Flaviar builds its gin tasting boxes: three dram-sized, 1.5-ounce samples paired with lively tasting notes, a coaster, and helpful tasting guides. Each quarter those tastings—which are perfect for a mini tasting party—are joined by a comely issue of Flaviar Times. A notable 750ml bottle of small-batch gin anchors the delivery, with brands like Funky Pump Gin, Citadelle Gin, Edinburgh Gin, and Wenneker Elder among those featured.

For $95 per month (or $300 per year, which includes a bonus bottle) subscribers also get monthly access to "The Vault," which offers the chance to acquire rarities made possible by Flaviar's partner producers. A strong roster of auxiliary elements—including tasting and blending events (live and online) and VIP distillery tours—are appealing factors too. Meanwhile, Flaviar’s “Boozefeed” online flow of spirits news, recipes, and history is a rich resource as well.

Members select a bottle from a gallery of spirits (including a wealth of non-gins), and while having control over the options is empowering, it can be hard to choose from unfamiliar bottles.

Whatever the case, it's a lot of fun built on the foundation of exploration. “Discovery and a diversity of flavor is a fundamental part of what we’re all about,” says CEO and co-Founder Grisa Soba.