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.

Choose your GUARDIANSHIP TIER

Transitioning from Patreon?

This is a cleaner, fixed monthly subscription. It’s been difficult to match the Patreon ‘per-creation’ 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.

DRAMBASSADOR

Aqvavitae Drambassadors
£2.50
Every month

(This replaces the base Drambassador tier on Patreon) All benefits including day three (pm) priority access to releases and events

✓ Exclusive content - including monthly vPub Sunday "Lock-ins"
✓ Exclusive releases (after higher tier access fulfilled)
✓ Exclusive events (after higher tier access fulfilled)
✓ Access to the community chat, 'Guardians Klaxon' blog & news
✓ End credits

DRAMBASSADOR PLUS

NEW

Aqvavitae Drambassadors Plus
£5.00
Every month

(This replaces the multi-creation Drambassador tier on Patreon) All benefits including day three (am) priority access to releases and events

✓ All previous tier benefits, Plus...
✓ Higher priority access to products, bottles and events

DISCIPLE

Aqvavitae Disciples
£10.00
Every month

(This replaces the base Disciple tier on Patreon) All benefits including day 2 (pm) priority access to releases and events

✓ All previous tier benefits Plus...
✓ Higher priority access to products, bottles and events

DISCIPLE PLUS

NEW

Aqvavitae Disciples Plus
£15.00
Every month

(This replaces the base Evangelist tier on Patreon) All benefits including day two (am) priority access to releases and events

✓ All previous benefits, Plus...
✓ Higher priority access to products, bottles and events

EVANGELIST

Aqvavitae Evangelists
£25.00
Every month

(This replaces the multi-creation Evangelist tier on Patreon) All benefits including day one (pm) priority access to releases and events

✓ All previous tier benefits, Plus...
✓ Higher priority access to products, bottles and events

AQVAVITAE GUARDIAN

NEW

Aqvavitae Guardians
£40.00
Every month

(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...

✓ All previous tier benefits, Plus...
✓ Highest priority access to products, bottles and events

FAQ’s

  • 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.

  • I sincerely hope this is my main source of support going forward, replacing Patreon. 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.

  • Yes, you can - of course.

    If you’d prefer that your name was not included in the end credits just email me whisky@aqvavitae.com and I’ll make sure you remain anonymous.

  • I know. A lot of nouns right? OK…

    A Barfly is anyone who enjoys or orbits around the Aqvavitae community and/or enjoys the content. It doesn’t require sign up, subscription or support. Anyone in the community may choose to self-refer as such. 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 moved away from the Patreon platform, we needed another name.

    We are all guardians of whisky and the positivity and inclusiveness of its community. But you are most definitely guardians of me.

  • In theory, yes. I get asked this questionby some who’d prefer to make a one-off donation ‘to the cause’, but the only thing set up for that at the moment is PayPal. paypal.me/aqvavitae

  • 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.

    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.