Costco 40 year old Glenlivet

[ForresterModern]

Came across this the other day and had to go back today with my camera to get the required verification (no pictures it didn't happen). For our out of the US members, Costco is a warehouse wholesale club where you pay a fee (about $30 a year give or take) for membership, and then are allowed to shop at their fairly deeply discounted warehouse stores. This is the kind of place where you can pay half the normal price of, say, Eggo's waffles, on a per waffle basis, by buying a box of like 80 waffles instead of the usual 10. Not as much variety as a grocery or department store or electronics store, but great values on good quality merchandise. Part of that is buying items in the store brand instead of big name brands sometimes, and this stores in-house brand. Enough background.

I was in their liquor department and saw in a locked case a collector's edition wooden-boxed bottle of 40 year old Glenlivet, labelled with the "Kirkland Signature" house brand name, selling for a penny shy of $700US, plus 6% tax, for a 750 ml bottle. House brand 40yr old Glenlivet at Costco, at that price (about $30 per ounce, and about 25 ounces in a bottle).

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I know that I am not dropping $700 on a bottle, but I could see the possibility of several interested buyers getting together to split the cost on a per oz basis. Anybody interested in a few ounces of 40 year old Glenlivet? It is not a bottle I would brag about having in my scotch cabinet, but a few ounces might be worth trying just to say you've drunk 40 year old Glenlivet scotch whisky. What do you think Mook, you game?

[HippieLee]

lol, I love Costco and I love Scotch but that's a little on the high side for me. I hope some of y'all do get it though and tell us all about it!

[mookien]

FM: Thanks for the enticing pictures, the offer, and thinking about me.

A couple of years ago Costco in Albuquerque sold a Kirkland 12-yr. (or 15-yr. old, I forget which) single malt with a distinctive sherry finish. It cost about $50 and was a pretty decent scotch, but not as good (to me) as the Glenmo La Santa at about the same price. So, I only got the one bottle, enjoyed it with friends and never looked back.

I am a believer in "you get what you pay for" up to a point. With scotch, prices seem to rise exponentially with only a linear increase in quality. My self-imposed limit is about $200, but only for a very few special distillations, eg the Glenlivet Archive 21 yr. for about $160. As you may recall, on XMTS you wrote about a bottle (or partial bottle at a restaurant bar) of 25-year Glenlivet you "discovered" at about $250. I have yet to sample a dram, but hopefully will some day.

So, as you may have already gathered from my comments, I would not spend that much money for any, or all, of that particular distillation, mostly because I would bet my bottom dollar it is not over two times better (to me) than the above-mentioned malts. But, if you and/or others do partake, by all means let us know your opinion. Make us jealous.

Slainte mhath!

[English Bloke]

We've got Costco in UK. They're not everywhere (nearest one to us is Haydock) but we do go from time to time. I picked up a 12y/o Singleton there last month for about 10 quid lighter than elsewhere but I've not seen any 40y/o. If they have got some I'll have a shuftie after Christmas. I imagine it'll still be there, I doubt it will be flying off the shelf at that price anyway.

[Phil]

We've got Costco in UK. They're not everywhere (nearest one to us is Haydock) but we do go from time to time. I picked up a 12y/o Singleton there last month for about 10 quid lighter than elsewhere but I've not seen any 40y/o. If they have got some I'll have a shuftie after Christmas. I imagine it'll still be there, I doubt it will be flying off the shelf at that price anyway.

Aldi are selling a 24 year old Speyside single malt at £34.99 just now. Got one put away for the festive season!

[New World Czech]

Even if I was tempted to drop that much, Virginia alcohol laws only allow sales of distilled spirits from state owned stores.

[plaid preacher]

Costco, you say? Are you sure you aren't buying a case lot for that price? [ sorry, I'm really not a scotch drinker - I know, the shame, the shame ]

[ratspike]

Funny, my wife and I were at Costco yesterday and were looking at this one. I was sorely tempted to try one of the slightly more reasonably priced Kirkland single malts, but I couldn't get over the idea of buying Kirkland branded scotch.

I did pick up a lovely bottle of Speyburn 10 for 25 bucks after taxes, so all's well that ends well.

[mookien]

... I did pick up a lovely bottle of Speyburn 10 for 25 bucks after taxes, so all's well that ends well.

It's all subjective of course, but it's hard to beat Speyburn 10 for the value it provides. Smith's (Kroger) had it on sale here for about $19 a bottle, but you had to buy multiple bottles. I bought three.

Assuming it's available, you might try Speyburn's Bradan Orach - about the same price, but a different quality to the flavor, nose, finish, etc. It's a little sharper (ie not smooth), but I like it even better than the 10.

[room2ndfloor]

Off-topic a bit: Forty year-old scotch? Where is that fellow I knew in the '70s who tried to woo 18 year-old me with the forty year-old scotch? It seemed wrong even then.