A New Premium Liquor Has Arrived On Costco Shelves

Everyone loves Costco deals on alcohol, which non-members are legally allowed to buy at the warehouse locations without a card, at least in several U.S. states. Occasionally, you find a real deal (or at least, a curiosity) in the Costco liquor store. Remember the time that they were selling whole barrels of Jack Daniels? One Reddit user encountered a pleasant surprise this week while doing some holiday shopping: Costco has started selling handles of Cognac imprinted with its Kirkland house label. At just $47, the Cognac is a steal compared to the $75 that a similar-sized bottle of Hennessy will set you back. It is stamped with the VS grade, for "very special," which means that it was aged for at least two years.

Cognac is a type of brandy, but the two spirits are not interchangeable. Per French AOC standards, brandy can only be legally labeled as Cognac if it is manufactured from grapes grown in the Cognac region of France. This specification means that genuine Cognac usually carries a weighty price tag and that the Costco Cognac is a real steal. But what do we know about where it came from, and how to best enjoy it?

While the big-name labels behind Costco's house brands are sometimes shrouded in mystery and up for heated debate, its house brand Cognac is not such a case. The back label of the bottle reveals that the spirit was apparently made by Peyrat, a 100-year-old Cognac house dedicated to producing this special liquor (or at least that it's distributed by Peyrat-Associés).

On the Reddit thread where the Kirkland Cognac was discovered, several Costco members pledged to do a taste test, comparing it with Hennessy. One user even said that the Kirkland handle was "absolutely better [than] Hennessy [...] much cleaner than Hennessy and way more smooth." It's a small sample size, but that's an endorsement worth celebrating!

If you are new to Cognac but want to sample the Kirkland variety since it's a great deal, here's a quick and dirty guide to drinking it. Cognac is best enjoyed at room temperature if you're sipping it neat, but it also pairs nicely with tonic water, iced tea, or even Coke. It's traditionally enjoyed with desserts, especially dark chocolate. What's more, buying the Kirkland Cognac gives you a relatively low-cost way to experiment and decide what you personally enjoy.