FAQs
MEMBERSHIP
WHAT BENEFITS DOES MEMBERSHIP BRING?
AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE The benefits of becoming a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society are extensive. If you're not afraid of breaking the whisky norms and joining a community of like minded adventurers, the Society benefits are yours to reap! A full list of member benefits are available here.
HOW DO I ORDER A REPLACEMENT CARD?
CONTACT THE TEAM If you have lost your membership card then simply let dram-cierge know via email: dram-cierge@smws.com, telephone: (+44) 0131 555 2929 (Mon - Friday 9am to 4:45pm UK). Alternatively, if you let a member of staff know at your favourite venue we can pass a message through to the right team and arrange for a new card to be sent out.
CAN I BUY MEMBERSHIP OUTSIDE THE UK?
A GLOBAL SOCIETY WITH GLOBAL BRANCHES If you live in in the UK or anywhere in the EU except for Denmark or Switzerland, you can make full use of SMWS membership and can sign up here in the UK or at smws.com. If you live in a country where we have an active and supported local branch, you should join locally. This includes USA, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Denmark, & Switzerland; please see our International Branches page for details. If you live anywhere else in the world, you can also sign up here in the UK or on smws.com but for now we may not be able to ship orders to you, so you would need to have an address in the UK or EU to receive orders.
I AM A MEMBER OF ANOTHER SOCIETY BRANCH OVERSEAS – DO I HAVE THE SAME MEMBER PRIVILEGES IN THE UK?
ABSOLUTELY! Your Society membership is a global passport to branches around the world – with global benefits. You will not be able to log into the UK website as an overseas Member, but please call or email our office to organise any purchases/event bookings and we shall be more than happy to help. If you think you are here to stay, or for a prolonged time, we can organise for your membership to be transferred to the UK branch and provide you with a new UK Membership card and website log in.
WILL I RECEIVE MAIL FROM SMWS?
YOU'RE IN CONTROL We'll keep in touch with by email if you agree to it when signing up to SMWS, but you can unsubscribe from emails any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in an email or signing in to smws.com and amending the newsletter settings in your profile.
HOW OFTEN WILL I RECEIVE UNFILTERED?
YOU SOCIETY EDITORIAL Unfiltered content is always available online with a full back catalogue of issues always available. New editions are released monthly to keep you constantly entertained. You can view the Unfiltered archive by logging into your account (once you have a membership) and the link should be available for you there.
HOW DO I INTRODUCE A FRIEND TO THE SOCIETY?
INTRODUCE A FRIEND, GET REWARDS Simply visit our referral page. For every successful new member you introduce you will be rewarded with online voucher codes. Your friends will also benefit from initial discounts on the purchase of their membership packs.
HOW DO I RENEW MY MEMBERSHIP?
RENEWALS MADE EASY You can continue to pay for your renewal as you have in the past either by Direct Debit (with a UK bank account), online or responding to the renewal letter/email you will get sent by us. Simply head over to the renewals page for more info and special offers.
HOW DO I ACTIVATE MY MEMBERSHIP?
GOT A CODE? ENTER IT ONLINE If you have received membership as a gift or purchased your membership at an event or festival simply click here.
CAN I PURCHASE ONLINE BEFORE I'VE RECEIVED MY ACTIVATION CODE?
MEMBER FIRST If you have purchased your membership at an event or venue, unfortunately, you will need to receive your activation code and activate your account before online transactions can be carried out. If you have purchased your membership online you can continue to purchase whisky almost immediately, however, it may take up to 15 minutes for your account to be populated. At present, it's in place to help stop non-members from having access to your whiskies!
DO YOU OFFER MEMBERSHIP FOR BUSINESSES?
COMPANY MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS We do offer company membership packages that are available to businesses. You can contact queenstreet@smws.com to find out more information on our company memberships.
CAN I CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP?
WE'D BE SAD TO SEE YOU GO You can cancel your membership in line with statutory policy with the provision it hasn't been used. You may let your membership lapse when your renewal is due and sign-up as a free subscriber. Please be aware that you will lose your membership benefits. If you pay your SMWS renewal by Direct Debit, please notify us and your bank that you'd like to cancel payment or email the team via: dram-cierge@smws.com.
Why does my order summary display a different number of products to what I ordered?
The calculation the website uses is the number of different products, rather than quantity of each item e.g. two bottles or more of Cask No. 5.78 would be counted as 1 product line being ordered. The order price will reflect the number of items ordered per product.
VENUES
ARE THERE EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR THE VENUES?
SPEAK TO THE TEAM You can contact the venues by emailing their relevant emails: Queenstreet@smws.com, Thevaults@smws.com, glasgow@smws.com or London@smws.com. Other contact details area available via the venue pages or on their social media.
HOW MANY GUESTS CAN I BRING TO THE SMWS MEMBERS’ ROOMS?
BETTER WHEN SHARED You’ll be able to sign in up to three guests at our Members’ Rooms at The Vaults, 19 Greville Street, 40 Bath Street and at our two private member lounges at 28 Queen Street. The Kaleidoscope Whisky Bar in Edinburgh is open to all, you may bring as many guests as you like.
WHAT DISCOUNT DOES MEMBERSHIP GET IN VENUES?
REAP THE REWARDS The Vaults, Greville Street, 40 Bath Street and 28 Queen Street are members only venues so the pricing is set to member only prices. In Kaleidoscope Edinburgh on Queen Street non-members pay a 10% surcharge on all food and drinks. With your membership you can sign up to 3 guests in at any visit to a Members' Room.
CAN I HIRE OUT THE VENUE FOR A PRIVATE EVENT?
PRIVATE EVENT AVAILABILITY Venues are available for individual bookings. You can contact the venues by emailing their relevant emails: Queenstreet@smws.com, Thevaults@smws.com, glasgow@smws.com or London@smws.com. Other contact details area available via the venue pages or on their social media.
WHAT ARE THE OPENING HOURS OF THE VENUES?
EACH VENUE VARIES These are all available on their individual venue pages.
IS THERE PARKING AVAILABLE AT THE VENUE?
PLANNING YOUR TRIP Each venue has paid on street parking.
ARE THE VENUES CHILD AND DOG FRIENDLY?
GUIDE DOGS ALLOWED Unfortunately none of our venues are child friendly unless you have a private venue booking or have hired a room. With the exception of guide dogs, no animals are allowed into the members' rooms.
WHERE ARE THE VENUES?
4 MEMBERS ROOMS ACROSS THE UK We currently have 1 London venue, 1 in Glasgow and 2 Edinburgh venues. To find out more please view the venue pages for maps and addresses.
PARTNER BARS
WHERE ARE THE PARTNER BARS?
A NATIONWIDE AND INTERNATIONAL NETWORK We have a growing partner bar programme - depending where you are in the world you can discover our partner bars under our venue section. Please ask our membership services team if you need further help about a specific partner.
WHAT BENEFITS CAN I EXPECT AT THE PARTNER BARS?
A HOME AWAY FROM HOME SMWS Members get exclusive discounts in all our partner bars as well as access to Society whisky. Please ask the team on service when you arrive at a partner bar directly or contact the membership services team or venue if you need further help about a specific partner.
CAN I RECOMMEND A PARTNER BAR TO THE SOCIETY?
YES, OF COURSE! We are always looking to partner with great partner bars that share our vision of the whisky community and great single casks. Please contact dram-cierge: dram-cierge@smws.com if you have a potential bar we should be talking too +44 131 555 2929 (Monday – Friday 09:00 to 16:45pm UK Time)
EVENTS
HOW CAN I FIND OUT ABOUT EVENTS?
DISCOVER EVENTS HAPPENING NEAR YOU. Events are listed in the tastings section of our website. Please use the filters to find what's suitable for you. If you ever need to find out more about an event contact the venue directly if it’s in one of our Members’ Rooms or if its elsewhere contact our dram-cierge team via +44 131 555 2929 (Monday – Friday 09:00 to 16:45pm UK Time) or on email via dram-cierge@smws.com
WHAT CAN I EXPECT AT AN EVENT?
NO ONE EVENT IS THE SAME.
We take pride in delivering the worlds' most colourful whisky events and hosting our wonderful community of whisky fans! Attendees are lavished with the best we have available and quite often across different themes and whisky combinations. Most events are informal and treated as a get together for whisky friends, however we do run more formal education building events and new member intro events. Keep an eye on your emails, the outturns and the events pages to discover great events happening near you.
If you have bought a ticket for one of our events and are no longer able to attend, please let us know as soon as possible. You must give us a minimum of 72 hours notice of the date of the event in order for us to process a refund. Any cancellations made within 72 hours of the date of the event will be charged at full price and no transfer of tickets to other events is allowed.
I HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY TICKETS FOR AN EVENT?
IT'S ALL OVER EMAIL We do not issue physical tickets. Just arrive at the venue with your email confirmation and we will have your name on an attendance list at the door.
HOW CAN I BOOK A PRIVATE EVENT?
BOOK WITH US enues are available for individual bookings - for smaller private whisky tastings you can book for Edinburgh whisky tastings here, contact our London venues via email or simply browse through the venues and private venue hire brochures.
I'D LIKE THE SOCIETY TO RUN A TASTING AT MY PRIVATE EVENT?
GET IN TOUCH, WE'LL COME TO YOU! Cool, simply let us know where and when and we'll see what we can do. The best way to get the ball rolling for this would be to contact queenstreet@smws.com.
ORDERING, DELIVERY AND SHIPPING
HOW LONG WILL MY DELIVERY TAKE?
USUALLY WITHIN 2-3 DAYS, BUT PLEASE GIVE UP TO 10 WORKING DAYS
Orders are usually processed within 48 hours of receipt. We are unable to guarantee the timescale of the service provided by our couriers, as this may be affected by circumstances out with our control, such adverse weather conditions, government importation processes or strikes.
ARE THERE DELIVERY CHARGES?
DELIVERY TO MAINLAND UK AND NORTHERN IRELAND IS FREE* FOR MEMBERS
Due to differing rules imposed by couriers, legislative and aviation bodies regarding the national and international shipments of alcohol, please be aware that it is not possible to send orders to Channel Islands, or orders over 10 litres to the Highlands & Islands of Scotland, Isle of Man, Isle of Scilly and Northern Ireland.
Our delivery partners are DPD and DHL. We use standard delivery tariffs as set by our partner. We strive to offer free delivery when we can and are able to offer this for our members in the UK, with the exception of some remote delivery locations.
HOW CAN I TRACK THE STATUS OF MY ORDER?
CHECK ONLINE AND WITH COURIER All your tracking details can be followed up with your courier - you will receive shipping information directly from the courier upon collection from our warehouse. At this point you will have all the details required to manage and maintain your delivery process.
CAN I DELAY MY ORDER?
UNFORTUNATELY NOT. Once an order is placed, there is no way of delaying it.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I AM NOT THERE WHEN THE DELIVERY IS MADE?
MANAGING DELIVERY WITH THE COURIER If you are not home to sign for your order, the driver will leave an attempted delivery delivery message. This will contain contact details for you to re-arrange delivery or pick up your parcel directly from their depot.
CAN I ORDER WHISKY OR SINGLE CASK SPIRITS AS A NON-MEMBER?
NOPE. WE'RE A MEMBERS' CLUB! Unfortunately not. We take pride in create a variety of interesting and exciting whiskies and other single cask spirits solely for the enjoyment of our members. You can try a dram or two in Kaleidoscope but website purchasing and members rooms are solely for members or those looking to join.
CAN I HAVE MY ORDER DELIVERED TO A FRIEND FOR A PRESENT?
OF COURSE! You can select any delivery address you like as long as it meets our delivery T&Cs.
I HAVE A CASK TO SELL, WHO DO I SPEAK TO?
SPEAK TO US! Great! We'd be delighted to chat. Please contact us via casks@smws.com
GIFTING
Most Common Questions
Ordering gift membership is easy and comes with plenty of options. Our starting membership costs £85 (this includes the members new welcome letter, activation code - so they can make their account, and some small welcome information. You can then choose to add extras (like a full size bottle of Society Whisky, tasting packs or tasting experiences). You can have it all sent to yourself to hand it over as a present to the recipient, or have it sent directly to the recipient of the gift. We recommend informing the recipient about a gift arriving soon so they do not refuse the receipt. We need your full details as you are paying and this is required for security purposes (your details are not stored unless you check the relevant boxes to accept this). We do not need the details of the new member (your gift recipient) as they will provide this information when using their account activation code online and starting their Society membership.
HOW CAN I BUY MEMBERSHIP AS A GIFT?
EASY! Simply select gift membership from the whisky club membership page and pick any extras you'd like to add. The lucky recipient will then receive an activation code as part of their present which means they can open their membership up and start exploring the wonderful world of the Society.
CAN I RENEW A MEMBERS MEMBERSHIP AS A PRESENT?
OF COURSE, JUST SPEAK TO THE TEAM Yes all you need to do is call the team via +44 131 555 2929 (Monday – Friday 09:00 to 16:45pm UK Time)
CAN I BUY A BOTTLE AS GIFT?
AS A MEMBER YES, AS A NON-MEMBER SADLY NOT. Current members just need to change their delivery options on checkout or send the bottle to themselves to package as required. We only offer our bottlings to our members and to protect that benefit of membership we don't allow for non-member purchasing, even as a gift. Sorry! If you would like to speak to the team to arrange different delivery details or discuss gift giving please contact us Mon-Fri 9am - 16:45pm UK via +44 (0)131 555 2929 or via the email: dram-cierge@smws.com