Costco's 12 Best Under $20 Liquors You Can't Skip

There are many reasons to love Costco. Among them are the giant packs of toilet tissue and jugs of laundry detergent, freshly-made pizzas that can feed an army and $1.50 hot dogs in the food court, and hot, juicy Kirkland Signature rotisserie chickens. Every department at Costco offers members quality products, often at affordable prices, particularly compared to typical grocery stores. 

Still, for liquor drinkers, if you are not shopping at the wholesaler for alcohol, you are missing out. Particularly because you don't have to be a member to shop in the department at all Costcos. In 12 states across the country, non-members can shop for liquor at Costco. From name-brand options to Costco's popular Kirkland Signature liquor products, the big-box store offers tremendous value throughout the department. Many offerings are available for under $20, such as the 12 products featured here. As an added value, Costco sells many in large-format bottles, delivering even more bang for your buck. While pricing varies by location, we verified product availability at select Costco locations within the past month.

In putting together this best-of feature, I began by scouring the inventories of Costco locations across the country. I narrowed the many to the 12 best liquors that are available for under $20. I included a variety of categories to satisfy a range of liquor drinkers. Still, all deliver quality, authenticity, and well-defined character within their segment of the liquor industry. 

The overall taste and ability to mix well in cocktails were the main drivers for inclusion. However, I also considered the history of each liquor, its relevance in the marketplace, and its provenance. I utilized my knowledge, expertise, and training as a Certified Sommelier and spirits writer with 20 years of industry experience. I have tried each of the options included, and currently have several on my home bar cart.

The spritz cocktail is one of Summer's favorite drinks. Likely the most famous of these is the Aperol Spritz, using the bitter Italian liqueur Aperol. The drink includes three parts Prosecco, two parts Aperol, and one part club soda, poured over ice. It is the perfect ratio for making a delicious spritz every time. With a vibrant orangish-red hue, the Italian liqueur is a blend of orange, vegetal gentian root, and cinchona. The taste is both bitter and sweet, with flavors of tangy, ripe oranges, bitter orange peel, wild herbs, and a touch of vanilla.

The Italians are famous for their bitter aperitivos, or aperitifs, including Aperol and Campari. However, Aperol differs from Campari in its overall bitterness. Aperol is sweeter not as pungent as Campari on the bitter scale, and has lower alcohol. Aperol has a modest 11% ABV (alcohol by volume) where Campari has up to 28% ABV. 

While the spritz is the most popular cocktail with the liqueur, you can also easily use Aperol instead of Campari to create a less bitter, slightly sweeter Negroni cocktail, or use it with grapefruit juice and gin to create The Bracco, an easy-drinking, summertime cocktail of your dreams. The versatile Italian liqueur is available at Costco locations across the country for as low as $17.99 for a 750-milliliter bottle. This is a bargain considering the average price is $33.00.

Bombay Sapphire crafts its London Dry gin using a mix of 10 international botanicals through a production method known as vapor infusion. Its secret recipe dates back to 1761. The artisanal production method is thought to have been introduced in 1836. Bombay Sapphire suspends a perforated copper basket containing the botanical mix above the spirit during its triple distillation. This technique allows the gin to take on the botanicals' flavors, producing a smooth, distinct, and refined taste. The quality is what makes it such a must-buy; select Costco locations offers the English gin in 1¾-liter bottles for as low as $16.97.

The production creates gin with a light palate and fresh taste, even with its exceedingly high alcohol by volume of 47%. The 94-proof liquor has high alcohol heat on the front and mid-palate. Still, there are lovely floral, fruity, herbaceous notes balancing the heat and the piney juniper flavor. Bombay Sapphire uses it with a botanical mix that includes licorice from China, lemon peel from Spain, cubeb berries from Java, and, of course, the essential ingredient in gin, juniper berries from Italy.

Nothing transports you to a tropical vacation filled with sea breezes, steel drums, and rum punches like Malibu Original Caribbean Coconut Rum. The spirit was originally produced in Barbados. However, today distilleries in Canada, the U.S., and Spain craft the liquid sunshine. Available for as low as $17.69 for a 1¾-liter bottle at Costco, a great value as that is the average price of a 750-milliliter bottle, the aromatic rum is delicious in classic cocktails, such as a pina colada, bringing out the coconut flavors, or in modern drinks, such as a sweet and tangy cranberry-infused Malibu Barbie cocktail.

Made from a sweet sugary syrup from a molasses base, Malibu rum is infused with natural coconut flavors from coconuts grown in the Philippines. The taste is like a sun-drenched holiday, giving island vibes in every glass. The low-alcohol, 42-proof spirit tastes like a sun-drenched holiday, giving island vibes in every glass. While the brand offers an array of flavored options, including peach, strawberry, and watermelon, the original, in the distinctive white bottle, has been a staple on cocktail bars' menus since it was introduced under the brand name Malibu in 1980.

If Malibu is a liquor that transports you to a cocoa butter-filled Caribbean vacation, Pallini jets you to Italy's Amalfi Coast, where lemon trees thrive with its sweet, citrusy, sun-kissed limoncello. With 26% alcohol-by-volume and a price just under $20 at Costco, you can have a taste of the summer-in-a-bottle feel Pallini gives.

The Pallini family crafts the lemony liqueur from a historic family recipe uses premium, hand-picked Limone Costa d'Amalfi PGI lemons from Italy's Amalfi Coast. Here, the Sfusato category lemons grow on terraces overlooking the sea without the use of pesticides or harmful chemicals. The family-owned Roman distillery has roots dating back to 1875, with limoncello production featuring Sfasato lemons since its start. 

Italy's Amalfi lemons are unique due to their large size and the fact that the entire lemon is edible, including the essential oil-rich peel. These peels steep in pure alcohol made from natural molasses and sugar, with additional lemon oils to intensify the lemon flavor. Pallini's taste reminds me of slightly sweeter Lemonhead hard candies wrapped in a powdered-sugar shell; the liqueur tastes like sunshine. The best way to drink limoncello is as an after dinner digestif drink, served straight-up and chilled. However, you can also mix it into summer spritzes, pour it over ice cream like Ina Garten, or swap the vodka for Pallini in an Amalfi mule cocktail.

For rum drinkers who enjoy cocktails with a full-flavored mixer, such as a refreshing, minty mojito, citrusy daiquiris, or easy-drinking Cuba Libres, Bacardi Superior Light Rum delivers a clean, smooth palate that is easy to mix with. The Puerto Rican rum is one of the most popular rum brands in the United States, and one of the best-selling. Costco sells a 1¾-milliliter bottle for the low price of $15.49 at select locations, a nice savings compared to the $19.77 price at Sam's Club. 

The sugarcane-based, 80 proof liquor is a light or white rum. White rum is different from dark rum because white rum is either aged in stainless steel barrels or charcoal-filtered after oak barrel aging to remove the color. As the barrel lends color to aging spirits, aging the rum in the oak barrel lends the wood's characteristics, such as warm spices and vanilla. Dark rum ages in wooden barrels and are typically not charcoal filtered. The filtering removes the color, while also helping to create a clean, crisp taste. White, or light, rum, such as Bacardi, displays a sweet, slightly floral freshness rather than heavy oak or toasty spice. Flavors of blanched almonds and fresh cream mingle with sweet whipped marshmallow mousse in this crisp, crystal-clear light rum.

Spiced rum was born in the Caribbean in the 1600s, during the age of exploration. Producers would add a mix of botanicals, such as fruits, herbs, and spices, to their rums to enhance the flavor, while taking the edge off the spirit's harshness. The botanicals would mask some of the alcoholic burn of the roughly made spirit. Fast-forward a few hundred years to the 1990s and early 2000s, when craft cocktail innovation led the spiced rum category to blossom as bartenders found unique and flavorful ways to showcase the liquor's warm spice, vanilla, and caramel notes. Today, you will likely find at least one bottle of spiced rum in every bar in America. 

And that bottle is likely to be Captain Morgan. It is among the best spiced rums available which Costco offers in a 1¾-liter bottle for $19.49, the typical price for a 750-milliliter bottle. Although the brand launched in 1944 with an array of rums in its portfolio, it wasn't until 1984, when it relaunched with the introduction of Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, that its popularity rose. This was due in large part to its smooth palate and well-rounded, well-balanced flavor. The 70-proof, sugarcane-based liquor delivers ample warm baking spice notes of clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon, with brown sugar, caramel, and toasty vanilla. The taste is sweet, but not cloyingly so; the perfect base for mixing with ginger beer or fruit juices to create a flavorful rum punch. 

Vodka is the top selling alcohol that American consumers buy every year. For those looking to stock up on the liquor Costco offers an extensive range of unflavored and flavored options, many at prices that are less than their competitors, including the incredibly refreshing Deep Eddy Lemon Vodka. Pick it up at select Costco locations for $19.97 for a 1¾-liter bottle. Total Wine & More sells the same bottle for about $29.00.

Relatively neutral vodka proves to be the ideal vehicle for delivering flavor. As flavored vodka goes, Deep Eddy is one of the best. The Austin, Texas-based brand's flavored offerings deliver an authentic taste that isn't the least bit cloying, a surprising rarity. It would make sense that the brand knows a little something about flavored vodka offerings, as it originally debuted in 2010 with a flavored offering, Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka.  

The brand cracked the top 10 in our American vodka brands ranking, largely due to the quality of the flavored offerings, which contain real fruit juice. The corn-based liquor is distilled 10 times and filtered through charcoal four times. The bright yellow, 70 proof, Deep Eddy Lemon Vodka delivers a sweet, citrusy, lemony flavor with just a hint of alcohol burn, confirming you are drinking vodka instead of lemonade. Mix it with iced tea to make a very grown-up Arnold Palmer cocktail. 

Kirkland Signature American Vodka is one of the best store-branded liquors from Costco. The corn-based vodka has a base and production style strikingly similar to Tito's Handmade Vodka, which is distilled six times through charcoal, ensuring a crisp, light, and clean spirit. However, Costco's brand costs less than half as much as the popular Texas spirit. Kirkland Signature ranked number 2 in our best American vodka ranking, largely due to the quality of the product in comparison to the price, which for some Costco shoppers is as low as $11.49 for a 1¾-liter bottle. For comparison, the average price for a 750-millilter bottle of Tito's is $23.00.

The similarities are so strong that shoppers often speculate that Tito's is the producer. However, the producer of Costco's Kirkland Signature American Vodka is actually a California-based distillery, LeVecke Beverage Group, which offers private-label liquors. The overall profile is relatively neutral, with subtle hints of sweet corn, fresh floral notes, and sweet cream. While I would not suggest using this vodka for drinks where the vodka needs to be the star, such as a martini with a twist.

Bourbon drinkers who appreciate a classic gravitate to Jim Beam's Original Kentucky Straight Bourbon. The Beam's White Label whiskey is known for delivering straightforward flavor without the bells and whistles. Jim Beam's history began with corn. The Boehm family, which later became Beam, immigrated from Germany to America and began making rye whiskey in the 1700s. However, the American government began to incentivize farmers moving west and growing corn, so the family moved to Kentucky and changed their recipe and farming practices to corn instead of rye. 

Legally, bourbon must contain at least 51% corn, it is the one ingredient all bourbon must be distilled from. As such, the change proved advantageous, as Beam sold its first barrel of Old Jake Beam Sour Mash whiskey in 1795. Today, the whiskey is one of the most popular due to its consistency, general affordability, and widespread availability. 274 Costco locations have the product in stock today. While some Costco's offer Jim Beam in 1¾-liter bottles for $19.99, it is as low as $18.25 at select locations.

Using a mashbill of approximately 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley, a proprietary yeast used since the repeal of Prohibition, and pure limestone-filtered water, the smooth, sweet, 80-proof whiskey is perfect in easygoing cocktails, such as a Jim Beam and Coke. While a bottle of Jim Beam doesn't deliver robust complexity that other bourbons with higher proofs or distinct finishing techniques offer, it is reliable, particularly for the price. 

When you think of bargain scotch, you may not think that bottle will be a high-quality, well-aged option from a name-brand with a 225-year-old history, such as Chivas Regal, would fit the bill. Thankfully, Costco delivers once again. A 750-milliliter bottle of Chivas Regal 12-year-old Blended Scotch Whiskey is available for as low as $15.07. This amount is less than half of the average retail price.

The Speyside brand began in 1801 with brothers James and John Chivas, who mastered the art of blending scotch whisky to meet the desires of Scotsmen seeking a smoother-tasting whisky. Blending liquor helps smooth rough edges, creating a harmonious, supple palate that is sometimes lacking in single malt. The first Royal Warrant as a supplier of luxury goods from the Queen of England came in 1843, solidifying the brand's regality and its tie to the Crown. Queen Victoria loved the blended whisky, which became a regular pour for the monarchy. 

To this day, the brand's signature 12-year-old whisky reveals the focus, precision, and refinement that drove the Chivas brothers to the success they found all those years ago. While the 12-year-old whisky is the youngest in the Chivas portfolio, it is consistently is a favorite for its freshness and clean, straightforward flavor profile, showing notes of butterscotch, honey, roasted hazelnut, vanilla, and wild herbs. While Chivas 12 is perfect for classic scotch cocktails, such as a Rob Roy or Rusty Nail, it is also delicious served simply in a rocks glass with a large ice sphere.

Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon is a solid choice for an uncomplicated, entry-level bourbon that novices and aficionados can appreciate. It delivers exactly what you might expect from a corn-based whiskey. It does so with a unique process not often seen in whiskey. Four Roses crafts the product from 10 distinct recipes. It creates the 10 bourbon recipes from two different mashbills and five different proprietary yeast strains. 

Four Roses blends the component bourbons together to create a smooth, balanced taste with consistency, and at Costco, a great price. The average 750-milliliter bottle of Four Roses Kentucky Bourbon is $20.83 at Costco. However, lucky shoppers at the Costco in Carson City, NV, can pick up a bottle for $19.99. This is about $5.00 less than you will find the bottle for at Target. 

With 40% alcohol-by-volume, the approachable, 5-year-old bourbon shows soft flavors of honey, vanilla, and orchard fruits, with hints of citrus blossom, cinnamon, and lightly toasted oak. The palate is light, crisp, and easy to enjoy, even if it lacks the complexity or robust flavor that longer aging and a higher proof would deliver. As such, it is a good option for mixing into sweet, fruity cocktails, such as a frothy whiskey sour or a honey-infused gold rush cocktail. 

Canadian whisky delivers a smooth taste and an easy-to-enjoy style. Name brands such as Crown Royal and Canadian Club have been popular for generations. While craft distillers such as Forty Creek and Lot 40 have gained a loyal following due to their bold flavor and smooth character. 

The regulations for Canadian whisky are not as strict as those for bourbon. By law, the whisky must age in wooden barrels for a minimum of three years and be made from a grain mash. However, any grain can be used in the liquor's mashbill, giving distillers endless options to create unique flavor combinations. 

They say imitation is the best form of flattery, and the oak cask aged, six-year-old, Kirkland Signature Blended Canadian Whisky strikes a strong similarity to Crown Royal. However, Kirkland Signature's 1¾-liter bottle is available for $17.99 at Costco. The price is a steal compared to a comparable-sized bottle of Crown Royal which can cost up to $56.99 at Costco.

While the rumors of who makes Costco's Canadian whisky often point towards Crown Royal, Costco keeps the producer under wraps. Still, the bottle design, purple label, and flavor-profile prove that Kirkland's product is comparable to the name-brand on every front. Both are vanilla and warm baking spice dominant, with toasty oak, honey, butterscotch, and maple notes. The similarities are so striking that not buying Kirkland over Crown is almost nonsensical.