3 Cocktails Perfect For Costco's Kirkland Signature Single Barrel Kentucky Whiskey

Costco has 10 different Kirkland Signature whiskeys as part of its extensive in-house alcohol portfolio. As printed on their labels, both Costco's Kirkland Signature Bourbon and Kirkland Signature Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey are produced by Barton Master Distillers, the Bardstown, Kentucky, makers behind the acclaimed Barton 1792 whiskeys. According to whiskey fans on Reddit, the single barrel expression, priced around $30, is "an excellent value" for a 120-proof (60% ABV) bottle. While no bottle of single barrel whiskey tastes precisely the same, reviewers on Distiller.com often describe Kirkland Signature's as having notes of caramel, oak, and vanilla, with a spicy finish.

On his BourbonGuy.com, blogger Eric Burke calls Kirkland Signature's Single Barrel "a great everyday bourbon that also happens to be overproof," adding that it's "tasty enough to use in cocktails or cooking and inexpensive enough that I don't mind using it that way." With a high proof and prominent flavor notes, single barrel whiskeys are versatile. You can either imbibe them as a neat pour or in spirit-forward classic cocktails. If you decide to go the cocktail route, keep mixers balanced to avoid overly sweet drinks and heavy-handed juices that drown out the nuanced character of the whiskey. There are many unique ways to drink whiskey, but here are three libations perfectly suited for Kirkland Signature's single barrel bourbon: the boulevardier, the paper plane, and the revolver.

A bittersweet, dynamic cousin to the Negroni — and one of the best Campari cocktails ever — is the boulevardier. This nearly century-old drink traces back to Erskine Gwynne, an expatriate writer, socialite, and nephew of magnate Alfred Vanderbilt. Gwynne, who lived in Paris during the 1920s, founded and edited a literary magazine geared toward fellow expats called The boulevardier, broadly meaning "man-about-town." The cocktail of the same name first appeared in print in the epilogue of the 1927 bar guide "Barflies and Cocktails," penned by Harry MacElhone, owner of Parisian watering hole Harry's New York Bar. Today, food celeb Alton Brown is one of the boulevardier's fans.

A bold single barrel bourbon, such as Kirkland Signature's, cuts sharply through the full-bodied, bitter, dominant taste of Campari and sweet vermouth. A standard 80-proof bourbon often gets drowned out by that strong, bittersweet blend. In contrast, this single barrel bourbon — which is at a high 120-proof — has the structural backbone needed to combat the intense flavor profile and maintain a whiskey-forward presence. A consensus among cocktail enthusiasts on Reddit is that overproof or high-rye single barrel whiskeys perform exceptionally well because the extra baking spice notes and heat beautifully balance the cocktail's sugar and citrus undertones.

The paper plane cocktail is a contemporary classic that demands a higher-proof bourbon or rye (50% ABV or higher) so the whiskey doesn't get overshadowed by the bright citrus and Amaro Nonino. Acclaimed bartender Sam Ross created the cocktail in 2008 for the opening of The Violet Hour, an artisanal cocktail lounge in Chicago. Though the bar closed in 2025, the paper plane remains a fresh take on the Prohibition-era last word cocktail. Just like its predecessor, the paper plane calls for only four ingredients — bourbon, Amaro Nonino, Aperol, and lemon juice — in equal measures (traditionally ¾-ounce each). The recipe's equal-parts structure makes it easy to memorize and replicate, no matter where someone tends bar.

The cocktail requires a base spirit that won't get bullied by these two distinctive, flavorful liqueurs. Therefore, the Kirkland Signature Single Barrel makes for an ideal pick, able to withstand dilution from the melting ice and the acidity of the fresh lemon. Higher-proof bourbons like this also serve as flavor amplifiers, and the higher ABV acts as a magnifying glass for the complex botanicals in Amaro Nonino and rhubarb-orange notes in Aperol.

The revolver cocktail is a rich, bourbon-forward riff on a Manhattan, swapping sweet vermouth for coffee liqueur and Angostura for orange bitters. San Francisco bartender Jon Santer came up with the drink in 2004. The revolver relies on a heavy 4-to-1 ratio of bourbon to coffee liqueur. A single barrel bourbon, such as Kirkland Signature's, acts as the best base for this cocktail by transforming a sweet, simple mixture into a more complex, premium slow-sipper. The higher-proof bourbon also provides the foundation needed to stand up to decadent coffee liqueur. Making a revolver with a standard bourbon can cause it to be lost or muted by the liqueur's heavy, syrupy sweetness.

Santer specifically built his original revolver recipe around a high-rye bourbon grain bill to give the drink a sharp, spicy edge. Kirkland Signature's single barrel bourbon doesn't disclose its mash bill, but is presumed to use but its source's (Barton 1792) high-rye recipe, which features approximately 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% malted barley (averaging around 15% to 20% rye). The robust rye spice cuts through the dense sugars of coffee liqueurs like Kahlúa and Tia Maria, and the coffee liqueur accentuates the oak-matured character of the bourbon.