Cognac clubs offer a mail-order membership program where members receive different bottles of cognac every month or few months, often at reduced prices. Payment options vary, with some clubs requiring a fixed fee upfront and others billing members for each shipment. Clubs may focus on specific regions, brands, or vintages of cognac.
The term “cognac club” most often refers to a mail-order membership program through which participants are mailed a different bottle of cognac every month or every few months over the course of a year. Cognac clubs often boast reduced prices on bottles and sometimes sell vintages and labels that aren’t widely available. Joining a cognac club is typically as simple as filling out an order form, providing proof that one is of legal drinking age in the jurisdiction of the shipping address, and submitting payment.
At their core, cognac clubs are typically little more than long-term contracts for a fixed number of shipments of cognac. Clubs are generally organized around these expeditions. Some clubs may ship one bottle per month, for example, while others might ship one bottle every three months, one bottle every quarter, or regular shipments of two or more bottles.
Contents may also vary. A monthly cognac club, much like the similar wine club, is usually designed as a way for subscribers to try many different types of cognac. Variety is usually a given. Some clubs focus on cognacs from a particular region or one or more specific brands of cognac. Others promise to include a certain number of bottles of vintage cognac or limit their shipments to what connoisseurs would call “fine cognacs.”
Payment options vary based on the cognac club structure. The most common clubs are essentially a way to purchase cognac in advance. Club memberships cost a fixed amount and include both the price of the bottles and the cost of shipping. For people who enjoy drinking cognac, these kinds of pre-purchase programs can often be a way to save money. More often than not, the price of each bottle, when pulled from the yearly total, is lower than it would be if purchased independently.
Other cognac clubs take a billing approach to shipping. Members of these clubs often pay a flat fee to join, then agree to be billed for each shipment upon arrival. A cognac club that follows this model will rarely publish its consignment prices. Club owners usually set a limit — they promise, for example, that no shipment will exceed a certain amount — but won’t disclose the total amount owed until the bottle or bottles arrive. More often than not, membership in these clubs comes with a contractual obligation to buy everything sent in, making this type of club best for people who don’t mind spending a significant amount of money developing their cognac palate .
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