8 Of The Most Expensive Whiskies Sold At Costco

When it comes to getting a good deal, perhaps no store is better known than Costco. Although the chain requires a paid membership, millions of shoppers are investing in some of the best bargains available from any grocery store. It would then be safe to assume that this is a store for more general, and not luxury, food and drinks, right? On the contrary, Costco has been home to many prestigious products that, while boasting a hefty price tag, still offer significant markdowns — such as liquor. While Costco carries its own Kirkland Signature brand of whiskeys (and whiskies), customers are also spotting expensive and rare bottles at the discount chain, and these bargains are starting to become much more prevalent. 

With that in mind, here are some of the most expensive whiskies sold at Costco. These bottles were all sold within the past year, except for the last two, which each have an enormous price tag ... even within the context of this list.

Suntory has long been in the business of distilling Japanese spirits, and it does so with a level of care and attention that imbues its products with an artistic air of excellence. The company's award-winning Yamazaki whisky line — which is produced in the country's oldest commercial distillery of the same name — represents its keystone single-malt whisky. But the bottle in focus today is the Yamazaki 18 Year Single Malt Whisky. 

A 750-milliliter bottle of this fine whisky runs from about $1,000 to $1,300 at distributors like Total Wine and Rare Bourbon Shop. As one lucky Redditor and Costco shopper with the username dr-engineer-phd would discover, however, Costco often stocks rarer whiskies like this at much lower prices. Finding a bottle for only $599.99, this price point would equate to about $800 per liter. This price for such a distinguished whisky is a liquor lover's dream, and it shows just how good Costco's deals can be. 

This Yamazaki whisky line, as a whole, is known for its fruity and oaky flavors, and it also comes in varieties that are aged 12 and 25 years — the former of which has also been spotted at Costco. This particular 18-year selection boasts a dry, fruity nose and a rich palate of raspberry and dark chocolate, complemented by a smooth yet spicy finish.

Another bottle of Suntory liquor, this selection represents another one of the company's distinguished and more prestigious product lines. Hibiki, founded by Suntory during the late 1980s as a celebration of the company's 90th year, and as a blend of malt and grain Suntory whiskies, is dedicated to a celebration of Japanese culture and whisky-making. The brand's 21-year-old blended Japanese whisky, a double gold medal winner at the 2024 International Spirits Competition, is known for its dry, fruity flavors and comes in a faceted glass bottle fit with nods to traditional Japanese glass craftsmanship.

As previously seen, Reddit user dr-engineer-phd was able to also find a deal on this bottle while perusing through Costco. It costs $690 at the wholesaler, which is arguably still pricy, but it's much easier to stomach than the original price tag. Indeed, typically going from around $900 in a 700-milliliter bottle at Japanese Dreams (which is also selling a 100th-anniversary edition of this whisky for $6,500) to $1,399 at Rare Bourbon Shop, the Hibiki 21 Year Japanese Whisky is rather expensive. But at Costco's discounted price, it would cost just under $1,000 per liter.

Woodford Reserve prides itself on producing only the highest-quality bourbon and has a multitude of finely crafted varieties to choose from, such as its classic Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey bottle. A 700-milliliter bottle of its Baccarat Edition typically retails for around $2,000 to $2,150 when stocked at distributors like The Booze Cartel and Total Wine. But Costco shopper and Reddit user WhilePrimary found a bottle at a Scottsdale, Arizona, store location going for $1,499. This may be a lot of money, still measuring out to over $2,000 per liter at this price, but a 25% discount on this quality of liquor is difficult to find.

The Woodford Reserve Baccarat Edition owes its distinct flavor to another liquor. This Kentucky bourbon is first distilled, then stored and finished in extra-old cognac barrels for at least three years. It's then poured into a simplistically elegant decanter, where it boasts notes of vanilla, chocolate, fruit, oak, and caramel, and represents one of the brand's finer products.

The Weller Millennium collection comprises bourbons and whiskeys distilled between 2000 and 2006 into one luxurious, 99-proof drink. It accentuates the effects of wheat in the whiskey-making process by incorporating warm flavors of toffee and caramel into this otherwise fruity spirit. The liquors used in the Weller Millennium blend were some of the first produced by the company in the 21st century. They were thus set aside for the creation of this exclusive bourbon, which is a celebration of both the Buffalo Trace Distillery's innovation and its W.L. Weller bourbon brand.

Housed in a 750-milliliter bottle, and the first of the exorbitantly priced drinks on this list, Weller Millennium usually has a price tag of just under $8,000 at liquor distributors such as Liquor Barn and up to nearly $10,000 at Rare Bourbon Shop. However, Redditor -EventHorizon- found (and alerted the r/BourbonHunt group to) a bottle of this Kentucky bourbon at their local Costco listed at a cool $6,000 even. Measuring out to as much (financially) per liter as one of these 750-milliliter bottles usually sells for, this is an excellent deal for anyone in the high-end whiskey market.

Although a bottle from Suntory's Hibiki whisky line has already appeared on this list, this selection — Hibiki 30 Year Old —is a bit pricier. Further celebrating Japan's rich whisky history, this bottle has a warm palette, giving notes of brown sugar, dried fruit, and gingerbread, with a rich finish tasting of cinnamon and Japanese oak.

Reddit user hguy4x was lucky enough to find a 700-milliliter bottle at the Costco in Almaden, California, going for just under $5,999 — which stretches out to just under $8,600 per liter. This is significantly marked down not only in the dollar amount, but also proportionally, as this bottle is going for only 2/3 of the usual price point. Indeed, a bottle of this blended whisky (complete with a facet along the side for each of the 30 years spent aging) will typically sell for around $7,950, as seen on Total Wine, or as much as $9,000, as seen on Dekantā and Rare Bourbon Shop — and thus, it can be rather difficult to track down. So, for whisky collectors and connoisseurs, it's the kind of deal that adds another feather to Costco's liquor-carrying cap.

Royal Salute's 52-year-old limited-edition Scotch, from the company's Time Series, was crafted with excellence and elegance in mind, and this trickled down and imbued itself into every aspect of this fine liquor. A 750-milliliter bottle of this rare Scotch sells for as high as around $45,700, as seen on Cask Cartel Premium Spirits, which is quite a hefty price tag — though, fortunately (again) for Redditor and Costco member WhilePrimary, they found a discounted bottle at their local store in Arizona. 

In typical Costco fashion, the bottle was marked down by over 50%, going for just under $20,000. This would be about $26,666 per liter, which is by far one of the priciest bottles of whisky found at the discount chain. It is not, however, close to being the most expensive (more on this below). 

With the whisky line's origins dating back to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, this patiently aged, blended Scotch comes in a hand-crafted glass bottle encased within a wooden box, which is engraved with nods to the drink's distillation process. This liquor spent (as you may have guessed) 52 years aging, concluding with the final 14 in a single oak cask, and led to only 106 bottles produced.

Midleton's Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection is the oldest whiskey collection in Ireland, and it was released in six different editions, which Midleton labeled as chapters. This collection represents the last of the whiskey distilled in the iconic copper kettles of the Old Midleton Distillery, which dates back to 1854. Chapter Three, aged for 47 years and released in 2022, had only 97 bottles produced. The box for each bottle was personally designed by a local craftsman, John Galvin, with elm burr — which is fittingly a form of rare wood — and imbued with nods to the drink's history, with the help of Irish artist David Rooney.

A 700-milliliter bottle of its Chapter Three single pot still Irish whiskey, which is taken from sherry and bourbon casks, retails at $53,600 but typically sells for around $49,000, as seen at the Wine Gallery. As a bonus, it also includes another 50-milliliter bottle in its case. That said, one lucky Costco shopper, who goes by Its_Shatter on Reddit, found a set of this highly sought-after whiskey (both the 700- and 50-milliliter bottles) selling for $32,999.

At this price point, a liter would cost nearly $44,000. While this is an exuberant price, Costco was still able to apply its signature price slash to this rare whiskey, dropping over $20,000 off the drink's original retail price.

Limited to a total of only 235 bottles, The Singleton 54 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky — from its Paragon of Time Collection — is one of the rarer bottles on the market, period. Tracking down one of these bottles, then, seems unlikely, and stumbling upon one by chance feels downright impossible. Against all odds, however, one of these rare collector's items wound up at a big box store. A Costco member and Redditor, Casakid, spotted a 750-milliliter bottle of this Singleton Scotch whisky at their local store going for $36,999. This equates to over $49,000 per liter.

With every aspect of its distillation and production defined by a slow, careful process, as the casks were filled in 1966, this bottle of Scotch is perfect for any big-game whisky collector, as it also comes encased in a decadent wooden cabinet accented with leather. With such limited production and distribution, and a recommended retail price of $40,100, a 750-milliliter bottle will typically sell for just under this mark, coming in at around $38,500 on Top Shelf Wine & Spirits, for example.

Costco is known for its lower prices compared to other stores, so that $36,999 tag is a bit jarring to see on its shelves. With these bottles of rare whisky, though, this warehouse store proves to be a sneakily good spot for whisky connoisseurs to make their next big find.