US Folks - Can you find Kirkland Macallan 18?

[The Scotch Chix]

Hey everybody,

Don't know if you saw the Wall Street Journal article on Costco's brand (Kirkland) bottling of Macallan 18. I've copied it below if you haven't.

Well, the Scotch Chix saw it and jumped on it for a blog entry. Of course, we also wanted to try it for a tasting (who wouldn't want Macallan 18 at approximately half price?). None of the Costcos in the DC area can sell liquor, so it was up to me. Interesting thing is, however, when I tried to buy it in San Diego, I couldn't find it.

I had a helpful clerk at my local Costco who looked it up on his computer, and it hasn't been sold there for awhile. He also gave me the phone number for the buying agent in San Diego who told me none of the Costcos in San Diego County had it.

Can any of you find it? We're wondering if it is a San Diego thing or if the Wall Street Journal had old information. If you don't find it, can you please pass that information along too? If you do find it, would you be willing to do a taste test for the advancement of single malt science?

Here is the article.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121580552523846681-lMyQjAxMDI4MTE1MzgxMDM1Wj.html

Thanks,

CA Scotch Chick

[Bob O.]

I haven't seen it at any of the Costcos around me for a while now.

[sku]

I've seen it in Los Angeles area Costcos. It is bottled by Alexander Murray & Co., the same bottler that does the Trader Joe's bottlings (they also have a Macallan 18 under their own label). That doesn't give me a lot of faith as I didn't like either of the two TJ's malts I tried in the review below. Indeed, they were probably two of the worst tasting malts I've had.

http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2007/09/ ... cotch.html

[Deactivated Member]

...who wouldn't want Macallan 18 at approximately half price?

Just because it's 18-year-old Macallan doesn't mean it's Macallan 18.

[Willie JJ]

Just the 19yo in Costco here. Its £35 and I've never regarded it as a real bargain. I think Mikeymad said the 18 was better though.

[orangedogofglory]

sounds like a mythical creature - overpriced Macallan selling at a wholesale discounter?

[Newbie]

It may not be a Macallan 18 but its the closest I can get for £35! Well technically I have the 19yo but its a good price for a malt that age and since I will probably never afford an OB Macallan 18yo I glad that Costco have this option available.

To be fair Costco have some good wines for a decent price, even picked up some sour dough bread the other day which I thought was amazing (I've never seen sour dough available in the UK)!

[The Scotch Chix]

It may not be a Macallan 18 but its the closest I can get for £35! Well technically I have the 19yo but its a good price for a malt that age and since I will probably never afford an OB Macallan 18yo I glad that Costco have this option available.

To be fair Costco have some good wines for a decent price, even picked up some sour dough bread the other day which I thought was amazing (I've never seen sour dough available in the UK)!

Wait! There are Costco's in the UK? That is amazing.

CA Scotch Chick
http://www.scotchchix.com

[The Scotch Chix]

sounds like a mythical creature - overpriced Macallan selling at a wholesale discounter?

It must be true. The Wall Street Journal would never fabricate a story.

All kidding aside, they claim it really is Macallan 18 - just sold off for Kirkland to bottle. From what Sku says, they also sold it to Trader Joe's.

CA Scotch Chick
http://www.scotchchix.com

[sku]

All kidding aside, they claim it really is Macallan 18 - just sold off for Kirkland to bottle. From what Sku says, they also sold it to Trader Joe's.

I think what Mr. Tattiehead meant was that just because it is an 18 year old Macallan doesn't mean it is the same as the original bottling Macallan 18 year old.

Macallan, like all distillers, blends their 18 year old to have a particular profile. An indie bottler doesn't have access to the same pool of Macallan, and while some Indies are very good, they are not necessarilly the same flavor profile as the obs. In this case, as I noted above, I would be hesitant based on my experience with this bottler (of course, I'm not a huge Macallan fan anyway, so it's not something I would likely buy in any case).

Given that it's Costco, I'm surprised you don't have to buy a dozen of them, shrinkwrapped together in a bundle

[The Scotch Chix]

All kidding aside, they claim it really is Macallan 18 - just sold off for Kirkland to bottle. From what Sku says, they also sold it to Trader Joe's.

I think what Mr. Tattiehead meant was that just because it is an 18 year old Macallan doesn't mean it is the same as the original bottling Macallan 18 year old.

Macallan, like all distillers, blends their 18 year old to have a particular profile. An indie bottler doesn't have access to the same pool of Macallan, and while some Indies are very good, they are not necessarilly the same flavor profile as the obs. In this case, as I noted above, I would be hesitant based on my experience with this bottler (of course, I'm not a huge Macallan fan anyway, so it's not something I would likely buy in any case).

Given that it's Costco, I'm surprised you don't have to buy a dozen of them, shrinkwrapped together in a bundle

Thank you Sku and Mr. TattieHeid. That makes perfect sense. I knew the distilleries blended when they bottled, but it never occurred to me that the independent bottlers would not have a variety from which to blend. Maybe that is why I don't usually like the Signatory or Gordon MacPhail offerings I've tried.

I should have realized that. It is a rather obvious conclusion. Guess the Wall Street Journal didn't think of it either.

Also, very funny. If we ever find it, we may discover that it is the 1 gallon size!

CA Scotch Chick
http://www.scotchchix.com

[Ganga]

It's not a mythical beast as I have had the opportunity to dram it. To bastardize from Tattie, "All Macallan 18s are not created equal." In addition, I have drammed the 1989 18 yo OB sherry matured; the FO 18; Trader Joe's 10 (2 versions) , 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, and 18; and the Kirkland 18 yo and 19 yo. I'd put the Kirkland 18 yo as the second best on this list.

What you may not know is that the Kirkland 18 yo is a sherry finished Macallan not a sherry matured. I believe I have posted notes somewhere on the forum (likely the What Are You Drinking Now thread). The 19 yo Kirkland expression was not as good.

I've not seen the Kirkland 18 in the San Fernando Valley nor the San Gabriel Valley Costcos. I found it up in northern California Costcos.

[malthead]

Why has this bottling created so much fuss that it is not a Macallan 18yo? OK it is not the same as the distillery bottling 18yo bottlings? One poster said alludes that because IBs don't have the pool of casks to chose from that it won't be as good as the OB bottling.

Do we not right on this forums about the joy of the single cask bottlings! I have not tried this Kirkland bottling it may be great it may be crap but am just curious as to why people are saying this on is not Macallan using words like "they claim" it's Macallan when we are not worried by other IB's.

Just a thought!

[les taylor]

Wait! There are Costco's in the UK? That is amazing.

CA Scotch Chick
http://www.scotchchix.com

They've been here for years.

[bcrossan]

It may not be a Macallan 18 but its the closest I can get for £35! Well technically I have the 19yo but its a good price for a malt that age and since I will probably never afford an OB Macallan 18yo I glad that Costco have this option available.

To be fair Costco have some good wines for a decent price, even picked up some sour dough bread the other day which I thought was amazing (I've never seen sour dough available in the UK)!

Wait! There are Costco's in the UK? That is amazing.

CA Scotch Chick
http://www.scotchchix.com

I have seen them all the way in Taiwan!!

[mikeymad]

PM sent....

I don't think that I can get a bottle of this around here anymore. There were only a couple of bottles left when I found it (many months ago).

I found it to be much better than the 19yo that was out before. Still not up to snuff with a current OB 18, but a nice beverage all the same. The label is very clear that it is a Sherry Finished beverage, not Sherry Aged. I think that I liked it better than the Sherry Aged vatted with Bourbon Aged like some of the other series. For some reason that just does not seem to work for Macallan for me.

Cheers,

[Deactivated Member]

Why has this bottling created so much fuss that it is not a Macallan 18yo? OK it is not the same as the distillery bottling 18yo bottlings? One poster said alludes that because IBs don't have the pool of casks to chose from that it won't be as good as the OB bottling.

Do we not right on this forums about the joy of the single cask bottlings! I have not tried this Kirkland bottling it may be great it may be crap but am just curious as to why people are saying this on is not Macallan using words like "they claim" it's Macallan when we are not worried by other IB's.

Just a thought!

I think you miss my concern. IB's are fine, but whenever this Kirkland bottling comes up for discussion, I get the impression that people are expecting that they are going to get the same whisky as in the OB Mac 18, or very similar, for half the price. Drinkers without much experience of IB's are often not aware of just how much variation there can be in any given distillery's output. This might be a fine bottle, or not; it might be very much like the OB 18, or not. Until you taste it, or get first-hand testimony form others (as has been given here), you won't know. I'm all for the variety available in IB's and single casks and such, but seek to temper unrealistic expectations that can only lead to shock and disappointment. That doesn't mean at all that I think no one should buy this bottle--not having tasted it, I have no opinion on that matter. If I were a Mac fan, I'd probably be tempted to take a flyer, just out of curiosity.

[The Scotch Chix]

[url]I think you miss my concern. IB's are fine, but whenever this Kirkland bottling comes up for discussion, I get the impression that people are expecting that they are going to get the same whisky as in the OB Mac 18, or very similar, for half the price. Drinkers without much experience of IB's are often not aware of just how much variation there can be in any given distillery's output. This might be a fine bottle, or not; it might be very much like the OB 18, or not. Until you taste it, or get first-hand testimony form others (as has been given here), you won't know. I'm all for the variety available in IB's and single casks and such, but seek to temper unrealistic expectations that can only lead to shock and disappointment. That doesn't mean at all that I think no one should buy this bottle--not having tasted it, I have no opinion on that matter. If I were a Mac fan, I'd probably be tempted to take a flyer, just out of curiosity.[/url]

Actually, you got it in one, Mr. Tattieheid. I was considering it to be the same thing, and I don't consider myself to be a whisky newbie.

However, I was very appreciative of Malthead's response, because I had swung full pendulum to rejecting the IB's.

Now, thanks to you both, I shall try the IB's, but for what they are, not what I anticipate they shall be.

Ah the world of whisky!

CA Scotch Chick
http://www.scotchchix.com

[Deactivated Member]

Oh, I do love a happy ending!

[sku]

I think you miss my concern. IB's are fine, but whenever this Kirkland bottling comes up for discussion, I get the impression that people are expecting that they are going to get the same whisky as in the OB Mac 18, or very similar, for half the price. Drinkers without much experience of IB's are often not aware of just how much variation there can be in any given distillery's output. This might be a fine bottle, or not; it might be very much like the OB 18, or not. Until you taste it, or get first-hand testimony form others (as has been given here), you won't know. I'm all for the variety available in IB's and single casks and such, but seek to temper unrealistic expectations that can only lead to shock and disappointment. That doesn't mean at all that I think no one should buy this bottle--not having tasted it, I have no opinion on that matter. If I were a Mac fan, I'd probably be tempted to take a flyer, just out of curiosity.

Well put. There are great IBs and IBs I've liked better than OBs as well as terrible ones, but, either way, they are often quite different than the OBs.

[Ganga]

Tonight, I found the Macallan 18, sherry finish at Costco. Looks like they finally got it down here.

[lohssanami]

Yup...a friend of mine said he saw it at Costco up here (South Bay Area) this week.

[The Scotch Chix]

Thanks! We'll start lookin' for it down here in SoCal. May be in for the holiday season.

CA Scotch Chick
http://www.scotchchix.com

[moose1]

I have found it at the Wayne Costco for months, but on 1/30/2009, it was no longer there. For me and my mother-in-law (the only scotch drinkers in the family), it is close enough to Macallan 18 - we could not tell the difference in a blind taste test. Admittedly, perhaps we are not the afficianados as some others here.

I hope it reappears soon - I'll hoard 6 bottles or so. Definitely a great bargain.

[moose1]

That's Wayne, New Jersey, by the way.