AQVAVITAE GUARDIANS
SINCE 2017 we’ve been building an amazing whisky community...
this is how to support it
When I’m asked what I do for a living, I find it difficult to explain. Yet somehow, this whisky thing, it’s what I do. I love it.
Since the emergence of the Covid Lockdowns in 2020, this became my living. I jumped in with both feet. I have no regrets.
So, these days I continue to evangelise about whisky and everything it can achieve: through building community, knowledge, recommendations, reviews, advice and anything that helps me further the value of responsible whisky enjoyment for anyone discovering how wonderful a thing it can be.
BUT THIS NEXT BIT IS IMPORTANT:
I’ve somehow managed to build a way to remain completely independent and autonomous. I never use ads, sponsorships or affiliate links. I buy all my own bottles. I do my own thing. I never take payments from the industry or their agencies in exchange for opinion, favour or promotion. This is critical. I’m 100% funded by the community.
These days, that happens here. By supporting, you can become a guardian of everything that’s been built, and help it endure.
It means that everything I share is done earnestly, honestly and openly.
What are the benefits?
Well, beyond supporting independence, not much. In my experience, over the previous eight years on Patreon, people supported because they enjoyed the content and community. So while I’m not sure how much of an incentive said benefits might be, I can offer these…
MONTHLY vPUB SUNDAY “LOCK-INS”
These are non-themed, laid back and personal monthly sessions where I share all the behind-the-scenes going on and connect with supporters directly. Usually on Sundays at 9pm, it’s a far more intimate and relaxed version of the Thursday vPub broadcasts that may have brought you here.
PRIORITY ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE AQVAVITAE RELEASES
On occasion, I approach distillers, brands and whisky producers in the spirit of collaboration. If there’s mutual benefit for both them and my community, I can work with them to develop and release interesting examples of their work.
It’s through this platform only I’ll share that information and offer priority access to these releases.
PRIORITY ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE AQVAVITAE EVENTS
Throughout the year we have opportunities to turn our virtual whisky world into something real. Festivals, gatherings, tastings and events have become some of the most fun and life-affirming things we do.
Supporters are prioritised here for pre-release information, tickets and access.
ALSO…
NEW APP PLATFORM: GUARDIANS CIRCLE
NEW
For those of you interested in getting a little more involved, you can sign up for the Guardians Circle. It’s free and included in your membership.
Simply create an account or download the mobile app and take the Aqvavitae community with you everywhere!
Choose your GUARDIANSHIP TIER
Transitioning from Patreon?
This is a cleaner, fixed monthly subscription, purchased in advance. It’s been difficult to match the Patreon ‘per-creation’, retrospectively charged model, so have a look at your monthly Patreon pledges and match to whatever you’re comfortable with. Thank you for taking this step. It means a lot.
If you would like to be notified about products, events, posts and videos, you must accept marketing for email notifications. I will never spam you with anything other than Aqvavitae related content.
DRAMBASSADOR
(This replaces the base Drambassador tier on Patreon) All benefits including day three (pm) priority access to releases and events
DRAMBASSADOR PLUS
NEW
(This replaces the multi-creation Drambassador tier on Patreon) All benefits including day three (am) priority access to releases and events
DISCIPLE
(This replaces the base Disciple tier on Patreon) All benefits including day two (pm) priority access to releases and events
DISCIPLE PLUS
NEW
(This replaces the base Evangelist tier on Patreon) All benefits including day two (am) priority access to releases and events
EVANGELIST
(This replaces the multi-creation Evangelist tier on Patreon) All benefits including day one (pm) priority access to releases and events
AQVAVITAE GUARDIAN
NEW
(This replaces the all-creations Evangelist support tier on Patreon) All benefits including day one (am) priority access to releases and events. First in line for new ideas and special invitations. More to follow...
FAQ’s
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At the time of writing, it’s still there. I spent eight years investing and building a community in Patreon. I still have patrons supporting me. But over the years, Patreon couldn’t offer what I needed to continue to grow my support and be able to offer them bottles and events.
That’s why I created these member support pages.
Patreon will remain live as long as there are supporters there. But these pages will be prioritised for the future. Due to Patreon policies, I cannot offer - or even link to - bottles or events for sale through Patreon, even when it’s via legitimate, licensed premises, retailers and exporters.
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I sincerely hope this is my main source of support going forward, eventually replacing Patreon. However, as a funding source this will run in parallel with Patreon for some time.
I also get paid a commission on collaborative bottle releases and receive revenue from YouTube/Google for those who sign up as YouTube members (Aqvavitae Barflies) on the channel - keeping all the content completely ad free. These additional revenue streams are a ‘bonus’ and I’m very grateful, but these pages are my focus for funding growth.
Thank you.
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Yes, you can - of course.
After registering your name you can change to a nickname or enter ‘anonymous’.
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If you want to take advantage of the new features, yes.
Here’s why…
The subscription platform is this website. This is the Aqvavitae Guardians home, built into Aqvavitae.com. When you sign up to support, you have an account here. Easy.
Thereafter you have access to my Klaxon blog keeping everyone up to date with posts and email notifications prioritising you for news, access to Lock-ins, bottle releases, events and tastings.
However - if you’d prefer to interact a little more I’ve added some upgrades - these are designed to be optional and suit however you’d prefer to support here.
Firstly - Hyvor.
This is simply an add-on to the website. To use rich comments to interact under the blog posts, add images, GIFs, emoji, what-have-you, you’ll need to sign up for a Hyvor account. But it’s free and you can use this same account on any website that uses Hyvor as it’s comments handler (such as Dramface! - you may already have an account if you’re active there).
It’s a safe, clean and manageable way to keep me in control of comments and it adds interaction to an otherwise uni-directional blog-post. I hope that makes sense.
Then there’s the Guardians Circle.
This is a big upgrade. It’s a separate app integrated into the website on the desktop and also available as a mobile app. It allows lots of abilities to post, share, connect and interact with each other. It’s also the best way to contact and stay in touch with me. This is designed as a separate platform only for those who are keen to interact in such a way. Many supporters are happy just to sign up and support quietly.
This structure gives everyone the option to control support as it suits them.
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I know. A lot of nouns right? OK…
A Barfly is anyone who enjoys or orbits around the Aqvavitae community and/or simply enjoys the content. It doesn’t require sign up, subscription or support. Anyone in the community may choose to self-refer as such, should they wish to. It’s all of us.
A Guardian is someone who has taken an extra step. That is to sign up here in support of what I create. Once upon a time they would have been known as Aqvavitae Patrons or ‘Patreon folk’, but as I move away from the Patreon platform, we need another name.
We are all guardians of whisky and the positivity and inclusiveness of its community.
But you are most definitely guardians of me.
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In theory, yes. I get asked this question by some who’d prefer to make a one-off donation, but the only thing set up for that at the moment is PayPal. paypal.me/aqvavitae
You can also choose to join as a YouTube member (The Aqvavitae Barflies on the YouTube channel ‘Join’ button) but you can also support for free by sharing Aqvaviate content, subscribing and remembering to like and comment. Everything helps the channel and content remain vibrant and continue to grow.
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If you like the vibes and philosophies of the Aqvavitae content you can find similar output in the other platforms I’m involved in.
Dramface https://www.dramface.com/
Dramface puts out daily long-form whisky reviews and articles. All fully independent and written by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts. I founded Dramface in 2022 and remain its editor and a contributing writer.
We have a truly fantastic team and it’s one of the most incredible things I’ve been involved in. Dramface has its own, separate subscription funding model.
The OSWAs https://www.oswa.co.uk/
The Online Scotch Whisky Awards were co-founded by Ralfy and me in 2021. It’s a fully independent, community-sourced, collaborative awards initiative designed to harness the power of the community to determine the best in whisky, from the perspective of the Scotch Whisky-loving community.
The OSWAs are funded fully by a 50/50 split between myself and Ralfy http://ralfy.com/