Man & Oak (website, instagram), a Maine-based whiskey event and education company, has announced plans to open a private bottle club in Portland.
Man & Oak will feature 500 private bottle lockers of various sizes. Members will be able to store their special bottles of whiskey, other spirits and wine which they’ll be able to access and consume onsite. Man & Oak will also include a space for trainings, tastings, education programs and other related events. The new business will not be a bar or a bottle shop, but will sell glassware, etc that an enthusiast might want to enjoy their love of alcoholic beverages.
Man & Oak Bottle Club will operate as a private, members only, bottle club, here in Portland Maine. Members will be offered bottle lockers of various sizes, with various rental plans, to store their favorite bottles. They can access there lockers and drink, share, and socialize…Man & Oak Bottle Club will also service as a World Class Whiskey Education Center, offering signature whiskey programs; such as Bourbon Certification Courses, Whiskey Blending Workshops, Master Classes, Tastings, & Brand Education…Man & Oak will be a unique membership experience to share amongst other enthusiast. Members can bring a guest, access their own lockers, pour their own dram, mix their own cocktails, all while feeling at home, in an upscale lounge and private atmosphere.
Lockers will come in three sizes:
- Small Lockers/ $45 per month. These lockers will hold 2 bottles
- Large Lockers/ $65 per month. These lockers will hold 2-4 bottles
- Master Lockers/$200 per month. These lockers will hold 10-12 bottles
Man an Oak is in the process of locating a space for his new business, and if all goes as hoped, plans to open the bottle club in time for summer.
they have launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of raising $75k towards acquiring and building out the space for the bottle club.
While In think Portland is due for a service like this… The storage size is far too small and pricing waaay too high. Storing a case of big money bourbons for the same price as 100+ cases with access to classy tasting rooms near Boston or other metro areas will be a hard sell.
Danton,
Thanks for the input, $45 for a locker that holds 2 bottles is set far lower than any other ‘Bottle Keep” nationwide.
Most Bottle Clubs are in financial hubs ie NYC, Boston, DC, …. we priced accordingly to the Portland Market. While we want to be exclusive, we want to remain obtainable.
Also, this will not diminish our ambiance or class, this will be a high class club with many perks. I invite you to swing by when we’re up and going
I suppose I was comparing this more towards traditional wine storage with private tasting rooms for members, which is a bit different. Most of those that I’ve been able to visit in my travels had great shared spaces and much larger lockers/open-air storage rooms for collections and my friends would store all of their wine, liquor and beer. As someone with a few hundred bottles in their cellar I’m intrigued by the idea and would love a space to transition my cellar completely off-site in this area. I wish you the best of luck!
Can we also talk about the name and logo? Why do we need a gendered bar or club? Makes no sense and alienates half the customers.
Dio,
I get it your concern.
When we started Man & Oak it was referring to me and my love for whiskey education; Man & Oak, the name, and the logo, are intrinsically tied to my persona and style.
As for alienating half the costumers, you can do a google search and be shocked to know while I run the programs, this company was named by, and owned 100% by a women.
Also, you can go to my website, I’ve listed all the folks I’ve certified through my events 1/4 of them are Women. Additionally, our Whiskey Blending Workshops were overwhelmingly attended by women.
There is more to us beyond our name and logo, you can’t judge a book by its cover, and we invite you to see for yourself once we’re up and running.