Shipping Spirits Right: How Taster’s Club Builds Repeatable Growth

December is often the ultimate stress test for gifting businesses. As demand spikes and tight deadlines loom, businesses that can't keep pace can quickly see their operations overwhelmed. For most of SureSwift’s acquisitions, the holidays require some planning but don’t result in the same kind of customer surge. 

But for Taster’s Club, SureSwift’s unique B2C curated alcohol subscription service and bottle shop, the holiday season acts as a grand finale to the year, bringing an influx of new customers and gift hunters. Taster’s Club’s primary model is simple: customers choose a subscription to receive curated spirits on a recurring schedule, with the option to gift a membership to a friend or family member. They also offer an impressive selection of giftable bottles and seasonal releases, including standout holiday favourites like their new Whiskey Advent Calendar.

On the surface, a B2C business that ships physical products can feel different from a portfolio primarily known for B2B SaaS. But Taster’s Club still runs on the same fundamentals SureSwift looks for: recurring revenue, operations that stay consistent month after month, and a customer experience that earns repeat purchases. 

In this spotlight, we’ll take a look at the system behind Taster’s Club’s success and discuss how the company’s emphasis on predictability and long-term value give it strong standing as part of SureSwift’s portfolio. 

Table of Contents

1. Behind the bottle: Designing systems that keep subscribers coming back
2. Recurring revenue done right: Breaking down the Taster’s Club model
3. Taster’s Club takeaways: What other businesses can learn
4. Conclusion

Behind the bottle: Designing systems that keep subscribers coming back

Taster's Club's success comes from creating a formula that helps turn one-time buyers into long-term subscribers. The company has refined its operations around several pillar offerings that combine to create a repeatable customer experience.

Curated themes and partnerships play a foundational role in making Taster's Club stand out. Each delivery centers on a theme, whether exploring regional whiskeys, highlighting craft distilleries, or showcasing seasonal releases. Their partnerships with distilleries give subscribers access to hard-to-find bottles and exclusive releases they can't easily get elsewhere. The team's ability to source and curate unique bottles is what separates the company from competitors that offer similar packaging but generic selections. 

Tasting guides included with each shipment add educational value, with detailed notes on the spirits, tasting recommendations, and distillery backgrounds. This helps inform each product’s premium positioning while inspiring subscribers to engage further with the selection. 

What also pairs well with their unique offerings is the consistency of their fulfillment process. Subscribers know they can trust that their bottles will arrive on time and undamaged, even when seasonal spikes come into play. This predictability not only reduces support overhead, but it also helps bolster brand loyalty over time. 

Gift subscriptions and standalone boxes work as a natural acquisition channel, generating word-of-mouth without requiring heavy ad spend. When someone receives a Taster's Club gift, they experience the brand firsthand. Many gift recipients later become paying subscribers, which helps extend company growth well beyond the holiday season. While strong curation and reliable operations maintain current subscribers, the gifting model brings in new ones, creating sustainable growth for the company.

Recurring revenue done right: Breaking down the Taster’s Club model

Taster's Club's subscription model follows the same principles that make any recurring revenue business work: predictable operations and strong retention. The company currently offers eleven different monthly clubs (Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch, Scotch Pro, Tequila, Tequila Pro, Rum, Gin, Vodka, Stock the Bar, and Wine), plus a bottle shop with over 5,000 SKUs. The business capitalizes on foundational practices like solid SEO, managed PPC campaigns, the advantages of seasonality, and attentive customer service.

During peak planning, the team uses a holiday marketing calendar to target different buyer types. Email campaigns reach previous gift purchasers they want to re-engage, as well as members who bought for themselves but might consider sending a gift to loved ones. The company continues to invest in tech enablement and operational improvements as part of this approach. These automated systems help maintain customer relationships over time without requiring the team to manually track every interaction. 

Customer support also plays an important role in keeping subscribers engaged. Unlike competitors relying on AI chatbots, Taster's Club makes itself accessible by phone, email, and through social channels. The team addresses issues directly and follows up to confirm resolution, maintaining a personalized approach that stands out in the alcohol subscription space. The particular attention paid to problem resolution also helps keep subscribers around longer.

The bottle shop adds another dimension to the recurring revenue model. Launched in 2022, it serves as both an additional revenue stream and a retention mechanism. And with online shopping continuing to trend upward, the company has seen higher order volume through the shop this year than in previous years. Working in concert with the monthly subscription services, the bottle shop gives subscribers additional opportunities to engage with the brand through specialty orders between deliveries. 

Taster’s Club offers prepaid gift memberships for 3, 6, or 12 months, along with ongoing monthly subscriptions for customers who want regular curated selections. This setup helps the business win during peak gifting season while also retaining year-round enthusiasts who are looking for hard-to-find bottles.

One popular seasonal offering that Food & Wine calls “one of our favourite whiskey subscriptions for any time of year,” is Taster’s Club’s Whiskey Advent Calendar. Over 12 months, the calendar delivers curated, full-size whiskey selections handpicked from iconic distilleries across the world, straight to your door. Each bottle comes with a digital tasting guide that provides an in-depth look at that whiskey and its distillery, so you can learn about what you're drinking while building your palate.

Looking ahead to 2026, the team plans to focus on e-commerce marketing and further process optimization. In 2025, the company up-leveled their marketing and foundational practices. Now, the focus has shifted to applying what they learned to support growth without losing the operational stability that customers expect from the brand. 

Taster’s Club takeaways: What other businesses can learn

Taster's Club operates in a different space from most of SureSwift's portfolio, but the fundamentals that make it work translate across industries. The business runs on predictability, operational consistency, and a clear value proposition, all of which applies whether you're shipping bottles or managing service contracts. Here are some primary foundational principles that Taster’s Club follows. 

Predictability enables growth. 

Taster's Club's subscription model allows for easier revenue forecasting, similar to how recurring service contracts work in maintenance industries. When customers commit to monthly or prepaid subscriptions, the business can plan around future revenue, which makes it easier to invest in operations without overextending. This predictability reduces the ups and downs of one-time sales, making growth easier to manage.

Strong brand positioning supports customer loyalty.

Taster's Club’s branding is clear: they offer curated, hard-to-find spirits with expert guidance included. This positioning matters in the same way it does for businesses operating in regulated industries, where customers seek out credible, knowledgeable providers. When customers understand exactly what they're getting and why it's valuable, they're more likely to continue their subscriptions. The company's accessible customer service and educational tasting guides help shore up this trust by demonstrating to subscribers that there are real experts behind each bottle.

Simple, repeatable systems establish better margins.

The company has built operations that handle both regular monthly volume and seasonal surges without requiring retooling. Automated workflows combine with personalized assistance to manage customer needs, while established fulfillment processes keep shipments moving smoothly. These methods mirror what works in specialized service businesses, where repeatable processes allow companies to serve more customers without skyrocketing overhead. With this system, businesses can see major growth without watching operational costs inflate at the same rate.

Curation and consistency work across industries. 

The lessons from Taster's Club's model apply beyond alcohol subscriptions. When it comes to selection, sourcing specialized materials, and choosing services, customers value expertise over unlimited choice. By pairing curation with operational consistency, Taster’s Club has laid a strong foundation for customer retention. 

These fundamentals show up in SureSwift's new acquisition thesis, which prioritizes businesses with recurring revenue, repeatable operations, niche focus, and room for tech enablement. Taster's Club might ship bottles instead of providing maintenance services or manufacturing components, but it follows the same model: a sustainable, repeatable business that creates long-term customer value.

Conclusion

Taster’s Club has mastered the art of repeatability. Subscribers know what to expect each month, gift buyers have an easy way to send a thoughtful present, and the bottle shop encourages both to return between deliveries. Year after year, this combination helps the company make seasonal gifting trends a strong growth strategy. 

This is one major reason why Taster’s Club deserves to be spotlighted in the SureSwift portfolio conversation. Even as a B2C company shipping physical products, it follows the same fundamentals SureSwift prioritizes across industries: recurring revenue, easily scalable operations, and customer value that extends into the long term.

If you’re interested in the lessons that other portfolio businesses have taught us in 2025, head to our Blog to read on. And if you’re looking to gift some premium holiday spirits this year, Taster’s Club can help make it happen.