Costco Has the Best Prices on Allocated Whiskey, but There's a Catch

I’m not a gambler, but on a recent bourbon hunt I rolled the dice with a visit to my local Costco liquor store. I’d edited a story about Larceny’s new Barrel Proof bourbon and knew I needed a taste. After striking out at my usual spot, I turned to a familiar big box wholesaler. Costco regularly makes news for its surprise—albeit limited—appearances of rare bourbons, Scotches, and Japanese whiskies at astoundingly honest prices.

That’s right, come for the $1.50 hot dog-soda combo, stay for the world’s best deals in whiskey. One recent find that made waves was Blanton’s, a prime target of bourbon collectors over the last decade with bottles—when you can find them—going for as much as four to fives times its $50 to 60 MSRP. But not at Costco. Keen spirits shoppers know the chain has been steadily establishing itself as the best sources for whiskey fanatics over the last several years.

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Although the shelves are stocked by forklift drivers rather than spirits curators, it should be no surprise that Costco gets its hands on large quantities of rare spirits. Distillers and distributors send the best bottles to the best accounts, and Costco’s annual alcohol sales are measured in billions. The company also keeps a strict policy of capping product markups to 15 percent, resulting in those eye-popping whiskey prices.

Fortunately, I live in one of the 14 states where Costco is required by law to sell alcohol to non-members—though the usual $60 annual fee would make itself back with a single case of good mixing bourbon. However, aside from the prices and concrete barn aesthetics, the biggest difference between Costco and your local liquor store is the retailer’s shockingly small selection.

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Can the prices be beat? Never. But can you find allocated bottles? Not usually. Of its 30ish whiskeys, I didn’t even see a standard bottle of Larceny, let alone the Barrel Proof expression I set my sights on. But I did find stalwarts like Knob Creek, Angels Envy, and Maker’s selling for about $5 below my local shop’s prices. (Naturally I had to buy a couple bottles to recoup my gas costs.)

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If there’s a Costco that’s convenient, I recommend dropping in regularly to restock your essentials and hope you get lucky—befriending staff for delivery tip offs never hurts. My Costco is a half-hour round-trip when traffic isn’t terrible, though it reliably is, so I won’t make it a weekly pitstop. But in the spirit of whiskey hunting, I’ve signed up for the liquor store’s newsletter and I’ll keep following the Costco_Alcohol subreddit in case my location makes an appearance. And even if I arrive there after a cache of Weller or Booker’s has been exhausted, a reasonably priced bottle of Woodford is a lovely consolation prize.