You do the math.Īnd so on to the tasting. The Kirkland Macallan is $80 (sometimes as cheap as $60). The answer is simple: The distillery-bottled Macallan runs about $140. Before we start tasting, you might ask why would anyone even consider a Kirkland Macallan 18 when Macallan makes its own 18 year Scotch? After all, who knows where the Kirkland casks are aged and bottled (somewhere in Scotland, anyway)… and the climate of the aging facility can deeply impact the resultant spirit. Normally this means you see a label with two brands: The bottler and the source of the whisky, though sometimes the actual source is obscured or only hinted at.Īnd thus we arrive at Kirkland’s Macallan 18. The independent bottlers take the full casks, mature them in their own warehouses for whatever time they like, then bottle the whisky. So rather than sit on barrels taking up lots of space - barrels that they figured they wouldn’t even be able to sell later anyway - the barrels were sold outright to others for “independent bottling.” Often these are merchants, and though CostCo is not exactly a quaint shop in Speyside, it’s a merchant nonetheless. This was especially true 10, 20, 30 years ago, when single malt Scotch wasn’t popular as everyone was drinking blended Scotch. In a nutshell, this is how it works: In Scotland they make a lot of whisky. And yes, they bottle their own brand of Macallan Scotch whisky.įor newbie whisky drinkers, allow me to explain in brief. Kirkland? If that name sounds familiar it’s because it’s the house brand of big box megastore Costco.
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