5 Simple Cocktails You Can Make With Costco's Kirkland Signature Bourbon

If you're lucky enough to have access to a Costco with a liquor department, you might already know how versatile and flavorful Kirkland Signature bourbon is. With each bottle containing 1.75 liters, it's one of the best options balancing taste, price, and quantity to deliver something good enough to drink straight but not so fine and expensive that you'd feel bad about using it in a cocktail.

Although bourbon is a sweet liquor, especially compared to other whiskies like rye and scotch, Kirkland's is fairly dry. It certainly has a touch of sugariness that comes out with the heavier notes of vanilla, but all this really does is make it great for balancing sharper, acidic flavors. When you're considering what kind of cocktail to make with this brand, try aiming for something that incorporates these tastes through citrus juices, bitters, or something heavy on botanicals. These complex ingredients tend to overshadow others, but Kirkland's balance of sweetness and 46% alcohol should help mellow them out.

Batch cocktails are especially great because this bourbon is so affordable but doesn't necessarily taste cheap. While unlikely to wow anyone in a blind taste test, it earned a "Kentucky Straight" label, meaning it is aged for two years in new charred barrels, made of at least 51% corn mash, and has no artificial flavors or colorings. Overall, Kirkland Signature bourbon is a strong contender at its price point that only becomes more competitive when you factor in its affordability.

The Collins family of cocktails is essentially spiked, fizzy lemonades, with the first name changing based on the liquor used. The "John" Collins is the perfect four-ingredient bourbon summer cocktail, especially when you let Kirkland Signature bourbon provide most of the flavor. Since all the ingredients are so affordable, it's a particularly great cocktail to make in batches, though you may want to add the club soda to individual glasses to keep it from going flat.

Kirkland's liquor already brings plenty of sugar and spice, so balancing it with lemon juice rather than lemonade is the perfect way to create complexity without over-sweetening. While most recipes call for a bit of simple syrup, you can always leave it out for a sharper beverage. If you find that your drink is a touch too sweet, tonic water, rather than club soda, can be a great balancer thanks to its bitter quinine.

If you're looking for something that stands apart from other drinks, the Lion's Tail cocktail might be exactly what you need. While sugar from the liquor and simple syrup does make it a touch sweet, it's similar to the mulled winter beverages you'd expect around the holidays thanks to the allspice dram, a rum-based liqueur heavy on crushed pimento berries.

Kirkland Signature bourbon is fairly heavy on spice and oak, smelling almost like a baked good. While some people may find that combining this with an allspice dram produces far too much spice flavor, others may really appreciate the uniqueness of this drink. If you prefer your cocktails straight-up, chilled, and with no small amount of kick, a Lion's Tail should definitely be on your list.

A French 75 is probably one of the most famous champagne cocktails, but if you're not a fan of gin and have some Kirkland bourbon on hand, try a French 95. Swapping out the botanical taste of gin for the smoother, sweeter taste of bourbon, it's a surprisingly great combination with champagne and elderflower liqueur, like St. Germain.

Kirkland bourbon is especially good for a French 95 because its middle-of-the-road sweetness keeps your other ingredient options wide open. You can use drier champagnes without making a bitter drink, but those with a strong sweet tooth can still use a Doux or even Prosecco to top off their glass. Served with your choice of citrus peel garnish, it's easy to find everything you need at Costco for this high-end cocktail.

If you're looking for a unique whiskey cocktail, no city appreciates bourbon quite like New Orleans. Its milk punch is the perfect after-dinner cocktail, combining the best of dessert and booze into a refreshing, easy-to-drink concoction that's practically made for Kirkland bourbon.

Whereas the other cocktails we've mentioned balance Kirkland's vanilla, sugar, and spice notes, milk punch leans into them and makes them even stronger. Simple syrup, vanilla extract, and whole milk combine into something creamy and satisfying that's not quite an eggnog or a White Russian, but straddles the line between them. Finished off with a sprinkle of mulling spice like cinnamon or nutmeg, the ingredients pair with Kirkland's bourbon for something powerful and sweet, like a boozy, chilled baked good. To make it extra refreshing, try a frozen Southern milk punch, and swap the brandy for bourbon.

With just three ingredients, you can make one of the best summer cocktails. Since the lemon and pineapple juice will be providing most of the flavor, you'll want something affordable but with just enough taste to bring a little substance to the cocktail.

This recipe is similar to a low-effort whiskey sour, with the pineapple juice providing a frothy top and the lemon juice and bourbon creating a strong, flavorful base. By using Kirkland bourbon and juice with no added sugars, you get something quite fruity but not sweet at all. The vanilla and oak notes from the liquor pair perfectly with the pineapple, even if you do decide to tweak things with some simple syrup or sugar-added juice.