The average whisky lover can't afford rare or premium Scotch as a casual drink. We share the cost of expensive whiskies between customers by splitting bottles into drams. Now you can enjoy the best whisky at an accessible price.
The best whisky samples
Step 1
Selection
We select bottles of premium whisky that taste fantastic but are outside of most people’s price range. You can only get most of the whiskies we select at specialist whisky auctions.
We don’t put the name of the distillery on the bottle because:
1. The labels are too small to hold all the information about each bottle. Our labels meet the minimum requirements set by the Scotch Whisky Association. The accompanying information cards supply the rest of the information.
2. Most distillery names are trademarks. We don’t want to break the law. That's not our style.
We give each of the bottles we release a specific CBTD reference number. The number refers to the individual bottle we used to fill the dram. You can find the details of the CBTD reference on the information card.
Step 2
Separation
We separate the whisky into samples. Each bottle makes around 23 drams. We package the minis along with a short information card about the whisky.
We worked with the Scotch Malt Whisky Association when we developed Cheaper by the Dram. We wanted to ensure we adhered to all their standards. The facility that bottles our whisky samples is:
1. Located in Scotland
2. A HMRC bonded warehouse
3. An accredited member of the spirits verification scheme.
The facility bottles the drams in a quality-controlled environment in an official bottling hall using specialised bottling machinery.
Step 3
Release
We release the drams with a unique reference number. When they’re gone, they’re gone. You can sign up to our mailing list to get access 24 hours before we release them.
We label our bottles 'not for resale' because of the ethos behind Cheaper By The Dram: #SipDon’tFlip.
We created a product that you can open, sip and enjoy. If we see Cheaper by the Dram on a whisky auction site, we will be very sad.
We will also do our utmost to ensure they cannot buy another dram from us.
Step 4
Delivery
After you pay for your dram, we check it, pack it and ship it to your door. We deliver to just about everywhere in the world. If you want to know more about shipping, go here.
"Go see what they've got on their list. They have a Bruichladdich Octomore 1.1. If you see a 1.1 anywhere you're a lucky person. ... Go check it out." - Vin PF, No Nonsense Whisky
"I think it's very interesting and very different and allows me to explore history and my palate ... comparing older whiskies with newer bottlings which is something I've wanted to do for a long time." - Whisky Wednesday
The best whiskies are
Cheaper by the Dram
The trend for collecting and investing in whisky has increased its price. That’s a fact. The average whisky lover can’t afford rare or premium malts as casual drinks. We face hefty price tags to try the most exciting malts.
That’s a problem. We wanted to do something about it.
Mark Littler started Cheaper by the Dram to bring whisky back to the drinkers. Not the collectors.
We source the finest rare and collectable whiskies from around the world. Then, we split the otherwise expensive bottles of whisky into drams. Our customers share the bottle price between them and enjoy the very best whisky at accessible prices.