SMWS - worth joining?

[robbi@laurenson.com]

We have a local chapter of the SMWS. Is membership worth it? What's ypur experience been?

[Ganga]

Recently the costs for joining and renewing the society have greatly increased. Keep this in mind with my response.

I believe you need to assess your personal situation. What kind of selection is available to you? What kind of pricing is available to you? Do you have a friend that is already a member? How much do you plan to purchase?

In my area, there is a very large selection available to me. Whereas liquor control states (countries) have less availability. Low whisky pricing will make the Society bottlings a little less attractive. High whisky prices, especially in areas of limited availability, will make the Society bottlings more inviting.

If you have someone already a member or you have other friends that would like to join, then share a membership. You split the membership dues and make orders to save on costs. This is especially true if you don't want to purchase more than a handful of bottles each year.

My experience has been quite good with the bottlings I've tried. So I wouldn't back out based on the quality of the bottlings.

[lbacha]

Ganga,

I live in Ohio which is one of the worst states to get scotch in bit even with that I can still get just about anything I want through the mail. I'm only saying this because I'm still a member and love thee scotches I'm going tithe extravaganza in DC next week and can't wait to try some of their bottles. I got introduced to SMWS in Limburg Germany and have been a fan ever since. I wish the US chapter did 5cl sample bottles because I would try every bottle they come out with, as it is I probably have 20+ 5cl bottles from germany still at home to try.. Hope this helps

Len

[robbi@laurenson.com]

Splitting a membership is a great idea...the bottles seem to run a bit under market price for similar strength OBs so it's not a steal (depending on the quality, of course).

Ordering from TWE in the UK is actually cheaper for me than buying locally, sometimes up to 40%, and of course there's a far greater selection available. This would offset somewhat the additional selection offered by the SMWS.

Robbi