Why TikTok Doesn't Think Costco's Irish Whiskey Holds Up

Costco is frequently praised for its store brand, Kirkland, which is skilled at emulating name brands for a fraction of the price. Many Kirkland signature products are better than other brand name products, such as granola, tuna, batteries, and olive oil which are lauded as being outstanding choices for the budget shopper. Some Kirkland booze has also been commended for being superior, but some are saying its whiskey actually leaves much to be desired.

Jeremy DeWitt is a distiller for 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Co. and he wrote, via Whiskey Culture, that many factors go into a good whiskey and it's important to ask a few major questions to determine the quality. "Where is the distillery? Is the climate hot or cold? How much does the temperature fluctuate where the barrels will be stored? What is the water source? The answers to these questions all play a role in the final result," according to DeWitt. Unfortunately, finding out who actually makes Kirkland's whiskey can be difficult, which makes determining the quality a sketchy proposition.

The trouble with Costco's Irish Whiskey is that it doesn't seem to have the right answer to all of DeWitt's questions, and the results are underwhelming in the world of TikTok.

In a series dubbed "Can It Kirkland" a very fashionable TikTok creator did a blind taste test between Kirkland's Irish Whiskey and Jameson. The aim was to determine whether or not people could tell the difference between Costco's store brand and one of the most famous names in Irish whiskey.

In the video, which features five different taste testers sporting an impressive variety of facial hair, three correctly, and quickly, identified which whiskey was Kirkland and which was Jameson. This experiment suggests that among groups of people shooting TikTok videos, slightly more than half can tell the difference between the two.

While the video garnered 3,670 thus far, most of the comments were crooning over the "Can it Kirkland" series itself, rather than the whiskey. Although some offer up suggestions for future shows like "do champagne!!! the Kirkland champagne is actually so good!"

It's worthy of noting that though the Kirkland Irish Whiskey didn't fool all the taste-testers, it's also approximately $10 cheaper than Jameson. Jameson generally starts at $37.99 for a 1.75mL bottle (via Liquor Laboratory), with the same size bottle of Kirkland Irish Whiskey generally landing at $27.99 (via Liquor). It's also useful to know that there is a difference between the cheapest and most expensive Kirkland Irish Whiskey, so spending a little more could provide better results while still saving you money.