14 Most Affordable Whiskeys You Can Buy At Costco

Nobody does bulk like Costco, and the whiskey selection there is a diverse bevy of amber beverages, beautifully stacked in their boxes and waiting to be taken home and popped open. Costco offers a robust spectrum of different flavors and ages in its whiskeys, but one thing they all have in common is the price. Costco's prices are hard to beat, and this is especially true of certain entries in its whiskey selection. And whether it's spelled "whiskey" or "whisky," the term always refers to some variant of liquor derived from fermented grains like rye or barley.

While every Costco is different, this list represents a range of bottles that are sold at Costcos around the United States (though, sadly, you can't sample them like you can in Korea). Pricing and selection depend on exactly which Costco you visit, but if you find one Costco selling a certain whiskey at a specific price, that means its other storefronts price the same items similarly. Most whiskeys are aged in oak barrels for years at a time before they're ready to drink. Thankfully, they can be bought and consumed much quicker. Here are some of Costco's most affordable whiskeys.

Costco has its own proprietary brand for many of the goods that it sells, and this scotch whiskey is no exception. It's the Kirkland brand of whiskey, which is named after Kirkland, Washington, where Costco's head office is located. There are a few other brands of Kirkland whiskey, but the 12-year tends to get you the best bang for your buck. This whiskey is sourced by Alexander Murray, an independent bottler from sunny California. You'll know it by its light amber color and simple black label, which is endowed with a large gold "12" toward the top.

Kirkland's 12-year contains notes of brown sugar, dried fruit, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and a smoky flavor. Reportedly smooth, it's an overall sweet beverage with a combined flavor similar to honey. Though it's not Kirkland's most aged whiskey, 12 years is still a pretty good age for a liquor of this kind. You'd normally expect a 12-year whiskey at 1.75 liters to cost a good deal more than $43, making this a solid deal for the average whiskey enjoyer.

Whiskey is often seen as a vaguely Old-West style product, suitable for swigging from the bottle around a campfire. And while that is an exciting take on whiskey's prevailing theme, there is something awfully special about the marketing efforts of Japanese whiskey makers. Nikka is one such whiskey, identifiable from a distance by its bottle shape alone. Known officially as "Nikka Whisky from the Barrel," Nikka comes bottled in a squat, rectangular container with a minimalistic, textured eggshell label and black text, featuring symbols from a couple different Japanese scripts.

You might also recognize its small metal twist-off cap, which is an interesting deviation from the norm of corks or similar plug lids, or even just a cap wrapped with plastic. This whiskey has a sharp, sweet flavor with heavy notes of oak and even a bit of tart cherry flavor. Reportedly, you can also expect notes of black pepper, smoke, and toffee. In 2022, Nikka actually won something called the Online Scotch Whiskey awards, or OSWA for short. This is a great little whiskey with an excellent reputation, and for $58.99 at 750 milliliters (though the price varies), it's something of a steal compared to how expensive it is in other stores.

Here's another Kirkland entry, the younger brother of the 12-year blended scotch. Scotch, for the uninitiated, is a type of whiskey, typically produced in Scotland (as this one is), and it's made from malted barley. This scotch is aged only three years making it one of the younger offerings from Kirkland's whiskey line. Scotch tends to have a smoky flavor, and this one is no different. Kirkland's three-year blended scotch is described on the bottle as having "a smooth and rich blend with notes of dried fruit, vanilla and cedar with a lightly peated finish."

It is a honey-sweet drink with floral notes to its scent, it's been described as possessing notes of orange zest and a mild pepper flavor. However, it's not always a hit with consumers. One customer reported that the drink was not as good as its older siblings. Maybe think of this one as a cheaper alternative to some of the pricier scotches that Costco sells. At 28.99 for 1.75 liters, it can be a good choice for any whiskey lover on a budget.

Basil Hayden is recognizable by its novel bottle, which features a bronze-colored metal band around its midriff and a neat little metal "BH" logo on the front of the bottle. It's also a Kentucky bourbon, which means it has to meet a few requirements: It has to be made in Kentucky, aged in charred oak barrels, and the grain mixture used in its making must contain at least 51% corn. Basil Hayden Kentucky bourbon is produced from a distilling mash with a very high level of rye involved. It's then aged in American white oak barrels for eight years before it's ready to sit on your shelf.

This whiskey offers a series of exciting flavors, including a kind of spicy rye grain, oak spice, and vanilla. Some customers also report tasting things like milk chocolate or oak timber. As Kentucky bourbons go, this one is generally more mild than a lot of comparable drinks, making it a gateway into the whiskey world for those just looking to wet their whistle. This is another great deal at only $32 per 750 milliliter bottle.

Here's another whiskey of Japanese origin, again presenting with a squared bottle, a white label, and identifiable by the large black kanji symbol against a white backdrop, charmingly rendered in calligraphy style. This whiskey has a fun origin story, involving a man named Masataka Taketsuru, who spent a lot of time in the 1920s traveling in Scotland to learn about whiskey-making from the masters.

When he finally returned, he would apply his newfound knowledge to whiskey-making in Japan, only he also employed the processes of soy sauce brewing and shochu distilling. It's thanks to Taketsuru that we have such a delicious liquor as Japanese whisky to enjoy. This beverage is light amber in color, and when drinking it, you can expect plenty of sweetness, citrus, lemon zest, notes of honey, and a slight floral aroma. And Costco is selling it for $34 at 750 milliliters, so next time you go bulk grocery shopping, check out the liquor section to see if your local Costco is carrying Suntory.

It's no surprise that Kirkland features on this list so many times — Costco saves a lot of money by carrying its own brands, which means those savings get passed onto you, the customer. Hence all the great Kirkland deals. Here's another Kirkland entry, this time known as "Old Fashioned Whiskey," the Costco version of Kentucky bourbon. Unlike Basil Hayden, this stuff is not "straight" bourbon but contains added bitters and syrup for flavor. That's because this whiskey is named after the cocktail known as the "Old Fashioned," which contains many of the same ingredients.

Just think of the bottle as a pre-mixed drink instead of normal liquor. This makes Kirkland's Old Fashioned Whiskey a great choice for last-minute alcohol if you're throwing a get-together with guests who prefer mixed drinks instead of straight ones. Or maybe it's perfect for relaxing after a long day when you're not in the mood to arrange a cocktail. It rings up at $22 for 1 liter, so if you're looking for a simple, no-frills cocktail, this could be your guy.

Canadian whisky usually boasts a very high rye content in its makeup. It also has to be aged to a minimum of three years in a barrel, and this stuff, Kirkland's own Canadian whisky, is reportedly aged for six years. Whatever barrel it was aged in (Kirkland can be a bit secretive about its liquor making process), we can only know for sure that it was in a barrel made of Canadian wood, and that the whole thing happened in Canada. That's because no matter their process, it wouldn't be legal to market this beverage as Canadian whisky without technically meeting all of the standards developed for the label.

Kirkland's version comes in a big 1.75 liter bottle, a shapely glass number with a beautiful gold-text-on-purple label reminiscent of Crown Royal. Expect butterscotch toffee and oak notes when you try your first sip, a privilege that will set you back about $23 for 1.75 liters, another killer deal from Costco.

Also known as "Jim Beam White Label," this Kentucky bourbon is a world-renowned bestseller. It's not top shelf stuff, so check your expectations going in. Of course, given how well it's sold over the years, there's gotta be something here to love, right? This is an affordable whiskey that's worth what you pay for it. Jim Beam is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley — it's called the "mash bill," AKA the recipe used by distillers to make the whiskey.

Jim Beam is also what you call a "non-age-stated bourbon," meaning that the company prefers not to disclose how long it's aged. This is probably the reason Jim Beam's price is so low — if the age isn't stated, you can assume it wasn't aged for very long. While it's still more expensive than most of the Kirkland whiskeys, $28 for 1.75 liters is a great price for a national brand. Expect notes of peanut, caramel, vanilla, and oak.

Look for the golden stag head on an embossed scotch bottle, and you'll find yourself 750 milliliters of Loch Lomond Single Malt. The Loch Lomond distillery has been around since 1814, but each bottle of this stuff is only 12 years old. Still, that's a great age for whiskey, offering a nice balance between age and cost. All Loch Lomond's whiskeys are made "using our unique straight neck stills and more traditional swan neck stills, before being aged in three varieties of American oak casks — bourbon, refill and re-charred."

This stuff is a dark gold tribute to the highlands, a perfect manifestation of the Scottish spirit in liquid form. Expect peach and pear notes, vanilla, and a little smoke at the finish. Your palate may also detect such flavors as guava jam, honeydew, and pepper. Reasonably priced at about $37, this beautiful 750 milliliter bottle contains one scotch that belongs on your liquor shelf.

This charming old-timey bottle is another rectangular beauty, this time with a fat, porous cork stuck right in the neck. Woodinville Flagship Straight Bourbon looks like it belongs on the shelf of an early American tavern, but in real life, you can find it at Costco — which, in fairness, is near the holidays only slightly less rowdy than a Wild West saloon. That branding gets the message across though: This is a Kentucky straight bourbon. No added frills or flavors, just the smooth oaky spice of a good whiskey.

Woodinville is located in Washington, as are its staple grains, which come from a farm in Quincy. This is a five-year-old bourbon, which isn't too bad as whiskey ages go. Ideally, you want to drink a 12-year bourbon, but the price of $45 is a great deal at 750 milliliters. Expect notes of peach, brown sugar, caramel, and vanilla as you lounge in a rocking chair on the porch of your old-west shanty, whiskey in hand.

One of the wilder entries on this list, you won't find the word "straight" on Skrewball's label. That's because this is a heavily flavored whiskey, the mascot of which is a sheep's head in front of a dark, (presumably) peanut-buttery ball. Even just the scent of this whiskey offers intense notes of peanut butter — so much so that you may feel it's only missing jelly. It's a refreshingly unique take on a beverage that typically only sees flavor deviations this bold when Fireball or other cinnamon whiskeys hit the table. There's a nice little story behind this flavor as well.

Skrewball is the product of one Steven Yeng, a Cambodian refugee who remembers one of his earliest forays into American foods: peanut butter. This brand has done quite well for itself, growing 1,976% in the year 2020. Whiskey connoisseurs and those with a sensitive palate may find Skrewball overwhelming, but you can't say that it doesn't pack a punch. This is another Costco find that can be consumed "straight" due to its added flavors. It rings in at $23 for 750 milliliters, and it's worth every penny.

With what might be the most standout bottle on this list, Maker's Mark bears its own seal of approval with its iconic wax top, which it allows to melt down the neck of the bottle before shipping the product off to retailers as-is. It's a really cool effect, and the red wax blends beautifully with the gold liquid behind the eggshell label.

On the Maker's Mark website, it describes its product as "the world's first premium bourbon," which is such a vague accolade that the Maker's Mark's marketing team must have really wanted to lay claim to the title of "world's first something." It's hard to deny this is tasty stuff though. The company uses a product called red winter wheat in its bourbon, which it credits with the resulting quality of flavor and smoothness of its beverage. Expect notes of burnt sugar, toffee, caramel, and chocolate bars. This 1.75-liter bottle goes for $45 at Costco, and if you haven't tried it yet, do yourself a favor and pour a glass of Maker's Mark neat or on the rocks — you won't be disappointed.

Johnnie Walker's most affordable whiskey comes with a really nifty red label glued diagonally across the bottle. The company does this thing where it markets the whiskeys by color, so there's also black, green, and blue. Every label of Johnnie Walker's looks roughly the same — it's always a man in an 19th century suit walking in a stylized way with one leg seeking that next great swathe of terrain, cane in hand, his tailcoat billowing behind him. It's awfully picturesque, and while the price of the red label is awesome, the flavors are, according to some, not quite where they need to be.

Dramface scored Johnnie Walker Red at an abysmal 2/10, citing chemical flavor issues, and even going so far as to compare the smell of the drink to Windex. Even though the more expensive Johnnie Walkers are generally well liked, this may be one that you use for mixing instead of drinking it straight. It rings in at $42 for 1.75 liters, which is a hard deal to walk away from, flavor issues notwithstanding.

Pendleton is not truly a Canadian whiskey, but it's developed using the typical Canadian methods. This stuff comes in a delightfully round-topped bottle that begs to be traced with your fingers. Unlike some of its Canadian competition, like Crown Royal and Kirkland's Canadian whisky, this bottle doesn't market itself with any striking purple colors, nor does it make a pretense of royalty. In fact, Pendleton seems to be aiming more for that old-timey American vibe that is usually the territory of Kentucky bourbons. Maybe that's because it is bottled and sourced in Oregon. This is kind of like a loophole for patriots who want to drink American but prefer the taste of Canada's signature amber liquor.

However you like to think of it, Pendleton's whole image is one of rugged, yet classy America — think cowboy dressed up to go to the theater. Expect notes of burnt caramel, vanilla, and maple syrup. At $43 for a 1.75 milliliter bottle, this stuff is great for drinking straight or mixing.