The 3 Best Cocktails To Make With Costco's Kirkland Signature Canadian Whisky

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Everyone knows that shopping at a wholesale club like Costco can save you money on everyday grocery purchases. Buying Costco's house brand Kirkland Signature can help you save even more. It's so popular that for some customers, having access to Kirkland Signature is their main reason for shopping at Costco. For instance, being able to buy cheaper yet still satisfying options for higher-ticket items like liquor is a major advantage for members who like to keep a bottle of Kirkland Signature Canadian whisky on hand. For the mixed drink fans out there, we also have some classic cocktail suggestions to go with it: a whisky sour, whisky and Coke, and last but certainly not least, an Old Fashioned.

One truth about Kirkland Signature whiskeys is that they hold their own against more recognizable brands. Kirkland Signature Canadian whisky has been likened to Crown Royal, with many speculating that Crown Royal is the distiller behind Costco's brand. Whether that is true remains unknown, but customers recommend using Kirkland Signature in many of the same ways as you would Crown Royal, and consider it a serviceable mixer to keep around. The taste is sweet and smooth with notes of vanilla, caramel, honey, and cinnamon, all of which which would complement the supporting ingredients of our recommended cocktail recipes.

The whisky sour (or whiskey sour, depending on the specific liquor used) is such a beloved cocktail that it has its own holiday, National Whiskey Sour Day on August 25th. The first known mention of a whisky sour was in a Wisconsin newspaper, the Waukesha Plain Dealer, published on January 4, 1870. As for the recipe for a classic whisky sour, it's pretty simple.

Add 2 ounces of Kirkland Signature Canadian whisky, a ½ ounce of lemon juice, a ½ ounce of simple syrup, and 1 egg white to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds. Add a couple of ice cubes to the shaker, and continue shaking until chilled. Strain into a rocks or coupe glass, then garnish with a dash of Angostura bitters, a maraschino cherry or two, and an orange peel. If consuming a raw egg concerns you, you can buy pasteurized eggs or egg whites from the grocery store or omit the egg altogether. The egg white adds a creamy texture, some richness, and is mostly optional in more modern versions of the cocktail.

Whisk(e)y and Coke have been best friends almost since the beginning of Coca-Cola's existence. The first written record of mixing whiskey with Coke is from a 1907 United States Bureau of Chemistry report investigating the still fairly new soft drink. The owner of a southern soda fountain reported selling Coca-Cola to soldiers from the local military base. Soldiers residing on a military base added whiskey to their Cokes, which the local soda fountain owner called Coca-Cola highballs.

Technically, any whiskey or whisky can be paired with cola. In the U.S., bourbon, or a domestic whiskey like Jack Daniel's, tends to be the liquor of choice. In Canada, Canadian blended whisky or rye is often preferred. Kirkland Signature Canadian whisky's notes of caramel and spice bring depth to sweet Coca-Cola. The sugar in Coke tempers the whisky's hard edge, and the carbonation adds a delightful effervescence. Combine 2 ounces of whisky with 4 ounces of Coke, and you've made the drink in its most basic form. Adding a ½ ounce of fresh lime juice brightens up the drink. Garnish with a twist of lime.

By the 1870s, cocktails had been popular for several decades, and variations in how different liquors and ingredients were mixed had developed. The name "Old Fashioned" came into use as a way for customers to request a whisky cocktail made in the old-fashioned style with sugar and bitters. Rye whisky was the liquor of choice for this cocktail until Prohibition, when the alcohol industry in the U.S. was completely shaken up.

Today, a classic Old Fashioned recipe resembles the late 19th century version and includes 1 sugar cube, 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, 1½ ounces of whisky, and 1 orange peel for garnish ( a maraschino cherry may also be added). The sugar cube gets saturated with the bitters and muddled until mostly dissolved. This may result in some undissolved sugar settling in the glass after the ice and whisky are added and everything is stirred together, but this was actually a mark of quality back in the cocktail's heyday. If this texture is a turnoff, a ½ ounce of simple syrup or, in keeping with the Canadian theme, a ¼ ounce of maple syrup may be substituted.