Review of Reserve Bar
Reserve Bar needs little introduction for those who are into fine spirits. From custom engraved liquor bottles to limited edition labels, Reserve Bar is not only an online retailer of exclusive spirits and wine. It’s also a club where members can earn loyalty points, vouchers, and special offers.
Discover below what Reserve Bar has to offer, how to sign up, and all the membership perks. .
Reserve Bar Review - From Sign-Up to Checkout
How to Join Reserve Bar?
With Reserve Bar, there isn’t any waiting list, special invitation, or complicated sign-up process. All you have to do is go to the official Reserve Bar webpage, click on the hamburger icon to access the menu, and select My Account.
Fill out a simple online form and in a few seconds, you’ll receive a confirmation email asking you to verify your membership. The welcome email that follows explains more about what you can get with Reserve Bar.
Reserve Bar Perks
As soon as you sign up, you are a VIP Gold member and can participate in a points system that earns rewards and vouchers. A $5 voucher (equivalent to 500 points) is a reward that you can claim right away. If you want to get more, there are plenty of ways to do it.
You can earn 2,500 points by referring a friend. Upon your friend’s signing up and making a purchase, you get a $25 voucher which you can use to get up to a 70% discount. This means that you can’t use the voucher to get something priced at $25 for free – you’ll still have to pay 30%.
To earn even more points, you can follow Reserve Bar on social media and sign up for the mailing list. The latter is worth 100 points (equivalent to $1), which is the same as following Reserve Bar on Instagram. Liking Reserve Bar on Facebook nets 250 points and following its Twitter feeds 300 more. In total, this is 750 points ($7.50) from social media and newsletter.
On top of that, there are 2 points for every dollar spent. If you buy a $100 bottle, you’ll get 200 points (which is like a $2 cashback). And there’s an extra 25 points should you visit the website within 9 hours of signing up.
Long story short, Reserve Bar may have a gimmicky loyalty program to some, while others may think it’s one of the best out there that really incentivizes one to use the service. You can be the judge.
Click here to sign up for Reserve Bar
How to Become a Platinum Member?
After spending $1000 at Reserve Bar, you will be elevated to a VIP Platinum Member, which comes with its own set of perks. For example, you get a significant bump in earned points. A friend referral will now be worth 4,500 points and the social media points double.
The Checkout
You can use the express checkout and pay via your PayPal account. Or use the regular checkout and select your address. Like most online liquor stores/clubs, Reserve Bar does not ship to P.O. Boxes.
The online forms and checkout are standard and simple. Depending on your mood, you might find Reserve Bar’s upsell and cross-sell of other bottles and accessories during checkout helpful or off-putting.
Reserve Bar Offer
Reserve Bar has a good selection of scotch, bourbon, whiskey, and rum, among others. It also stocks three moonshine brands, four craft beer brands, and more than ten tequila and mezcal brands. Wine and champagne are part of the offering as well.
The website does offer something for every budget and taste. The main menu features separate categories for custom engraved bottles, gifts, and barware. For example, Reserve Bar’s custom engraved champagne bottles cost anywhere from the $60 Moet & Chandon to the $520 Armand De Brignac.
The engraving price and options are to be added separately. After adding a bottle to your cart, you have the option to check Custom Engravings and add a custom message. Custom engraving costs $40 and is not available for all bottles.
For example, you won’t find a custom engraving option next to a bottle of Perrier-Jouët in your cart. The exception seems to be isolated to the champagne category. Look under the website’s Custom Engraved menu for the available list of champagne bottles.
Reserve Bar Subscriptions
There are fourteen subscriptions at Reserve Bar, and some of them are quite similar. The website offers four Johnnie Walker subscriptions, two for CÎroc vodka, and two for Woodford Reserve bourbon. Considering that Reserve Bar is Johnnie Walker’s official e-commerce partner, it’s not surprising to see this brand prominently featured.
Be that as it may, the highlights are the single malt scotch club, premier bourbon club, and moonshine enthusiasts club. The single malt scotch club has on offer 12 and 18-year old Highland Park, Glenrothes, and Macallan. There are six bottles in the premier bourbon club from Jefferson’s Ocean to Old Forester.
On the other hand, Reserve Bar’s moonshine enthusiasts club is the most affordable 6-bottle subscription. It includes five bottles (more like jugs) of potent Ole Smokey moonshine and a bottle of salty caramel whiskey from the same distillery.
Among them, Ole Smoky Blue Flame is a 128-proof moonshine with a clean aroma that is bound to inflame your heart. But if you are into more fruity flavors, the other four bottles of moonshine ought to be agreeable.
The Takeaway
If you take a closer look at the subscription boxes/clubs, you’ll find that they are more like bundle purchases that run over a few months. While you do get a set of Darlington glassware as a gift, you might want to consider the discrepancy between the subscription costs and purchasing each bottle of liquor individually.
For example, we’ll dissect the 6-month moonshine subscription box. Each bottle of Ole Smoky moonshine and whiskey retails for $26, which should add up to $156 for 6 bottles. However, the club subscription is $184, which leaves $32 for shipping.
This breaks down to $5 and change for shipping each bottle, which seems fair. But the point is that you may not save any money compared to buying the bottles individually. If you so choose, you can pay extra for expedited shipping.
All in all, there is room for improvement with Reserve Bar’s subscription boxes. Perhaps it’s possible to sweeten the deal with the inclusion of beer, wine, and other spirits/drinks.
Reserve Bar on Social Media
Since you can earn points by liking and following Reserve Bar pages, social media seems to be a major focus of Reserve Bar’s marketing efforts. Just remember to not get too excited, as every point is equivalent to $0.01.
Reserve Bar has about 30,000 followers on Facebook, 6,000 followers on Instagram, and 2,600 followers on Twitter.
On the surface, these pages may look and feel professional, but if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that Reserve Bar’s social media presence is a bit underutilized. While the photos appear professional enough, the images are too generic and non-personalized. The one-liner descriptions with links to the website aren’t attention-grabbing and may leave you guessing about the nature of the spirit.
On the bright side, the links within the post-work well on mobile devices. Overall, this makes for a smooth shopping experience via social networks.
Is Reserve Bar Worth Your Time and Money?
Whichever way you look at it, Reserve Bar seems interested in providing pleasant user experiences. Here’s a quick recap of the pros and cons to summarize what you can expect to get.
Pros:
- Reserve Bar has a nearly unrivaled loyalty program/reward system for its niche.
- The prices per bottle are the same if not lower than the competition.
- There are a bunch of ways to earn discounts.
- The offer/selection is encompassing enough to appeal to a wide clientele.
- The gift options are almost second to none (both drinks and barware).
- The website is user-friendly and easy to get around.
Cons:
- The subscription/club offers could be more varied.
- It would be nice to make social media pages less about sales and more user-oriented.
Here’s the verdict. For most people, Reserve Bar lives up to its tagline of “Good spirits. Delivered.” The exclusive section features bottles of Macallan that can be custom engraved to take the labels to another level.
All things considered, Reserve Bar has something to offer every connoisseur or casual fan of liquor. It has in stock some highly collectible bottles, and the website excels in terms of gift packages and barware.
Your Online Bar – No Reservations Needed
Could you use an exclusive label to stock up your home bar? Or perhaps you might wish to surprise your partner with a custom engraved bottle and a high-end glass set? Reserve Bar has the answer.
Considering all the VIP member perks and the variety of spirits, a subscription to Reserve Bar may seem even more attractive, assuming you’re into that kind of stuff. In any event, it wouldn’t hurt to try. You might like it.