The Great Vodka Showdown Nobody Saw Coming
When professional spirits slingers participated in a blind vodka taste test back in 2018, they agreed that Costco’s budget spirit was well worth the hype, with some even noting they preferred it over premium brands. That’s a bold statement considering we’re talking about a warehouse known more for bulk toilet paper than top-shelf liquor.
I’ll be honest, when you walk past those oversized bottles of Kirkland vodka at Costco, you probably don’t think much of them. They sit there, unassuming, next to the rotisserie chickens and giant jars of pickles. Yet there’s something brewing in the vodka world that most people completely overlook.
According to several blind taste tests, it seems that Kirkland vodka may even be better than the overpriced, overhyped Grey Goose. Let’s dive in and see what all the fuss is about.
Why Everyone Thinks It’s Actually Grey Goose in Disguise
For years, Costco fanatics have spread the rumor that the Kirkland Signature French vodka is actually Grey Goose vodka incognito, which would be the deal of the century, as a bottle of the name brand goes for over forty-five dollars while Costco’s is less than half the price. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to believe that?
This rumor was finally put to rest when Grey Goose clarified that it does not manufacture vodka under the Kirkland Signature brand. The company has spent years fighting these whispers because, let’s be real, having people think your premium product is secretly being sold at Costco for twenty bucks isn’t exactly great for the brand image.
Kirkland’s French vodka is sourced from the same waters as Grey Goose, the Gensac Springs in France’s Cognac region. That similarity in water source is probably what sparked the whole rumor mill in the first place.
The Real Makers Behind Kirkland’s French Vodka
Kirkland Signature French vodka is bottled by Gayant Distillery in Douai, France, but California-based distilled spirits wholesale distributor LeVecke Corporation is the company that gets the bottles from France to Costco’s front door. So there you have it. Mystery solved, though perhaps a bit less exciting than the Grey Goose conspiracy.
The American version tells a different story altogether. The Kirkland premium domestic vodka is produced and bottled by Fairmont, Ltd. in Mira Loma, California, and Fairmont Ltd vodka is just a name used by the LeVecke Corporation, who makes Costco vodka and also distributes other brands of spirits.
Both vodkas come from legitimate distilleries with serious production capabilities. They’re not just slapping labels on random spirits. The French version particularly benefits from its European heritage and water source, which brings us to the next crucial point about what actually makes vodka taste different.
The Science Behind What Makes One Vodka Better Than Another
One main distinction between Kirkland Signature’s French Vodka and Grey Goose lies in the distillation process, as Kirkland Signature’s French Vodka is distilled five times whereas Grey Goose is distilled once to preserve its natural winter wheat flavors, and that extra distillation delivers the smoothness vodka connoisseurs crave. Here’s the thing: more distillations generally mean fewer impurities.
Distillation’s primary goal is to refine vodka by removing impurities such as methanol and fusel oils. These nasty substances are what give cheaper vodkas that harsh burn and unpleasant aftertaste. These off-putting substances, which include methanol, congeners, and fusel oils, give alcohol the abrasive tastes and smells that are typically found in cheap, lower-quality liquors.
It’s hard to say for sure, but the extra distillations might be exactly why Kirkland’s French vodka performs so well in blind tests. Meanwhile, Kirkland’s American vodka is distilled six times, something that smooths it out and extracts flavor.
What Professional Tasters Actually Found
Throughout the blind taste-test process, one spirit kept coming up as a favorite, and when they finally learned which vodka was which, the winner was the Kirkland American, and no one was surprised. Talk about an upset. The taste was described as smooth and bright with a fresh linen aroma, and while other vodkas in the taste test were watery, the consistency of Costco’s Kirkland Signature French vodka was comparable to white wine.
In a blind taste test performed by The Kitchn, the American vodka brand came in dead last out of six vodkas sampled with a flavor that was described as tasteless, thin, and downright boring, however topping the list was Kirkland’s French vodka, perhaps one of Costco’s all-time best buys. So there’s definitely a difference between the two Kirkland varieties.
Fans of the Kirkland brand rave about notes of lemon, vanilla, black pepper, and crushed seashells, and customers also report scents of lemon, vanilla, and black pepper. Crushed seashells though? That’s oddly specific and kind of fascinating.
How Grey Goose Actually Performed in These Tests
At just roughly twenty dollars per nearly two liters, Kirkland’s French vodka is also only about a third of the price of non-identical twin Grey Goose, which scored fifth, second-to-last, in The Kitchn’s rankings. Ouch. That’s gotta sting for a brand that built its entire identity around being premium.
Grey Goose never wins awards in blind taste tests, yet its marketing is great, so it’s heralded. This really drives home an important point about vodka as a category. A study conducted on NPR’s Planet Money podcast revealed negligible differences in taste between various brands of vodka, leading to speculation as to how much branding contributes to the concept of super-premium vodkas.
Spirits-tasting expert Fred Minnick told Business Insider that vodka is purely marketing, and he also advised not shelling out too much money for the odorless liquor. When you buy vodka, you’re basically paying for someone’s marketing budget and fancy bottle design rather than dramatically superior liquid.
Real Customer Experiences That Tell the Story
A taste test was conducted with a Grey Goose on the rocks drinker using three cups, two Kirkland and one Goose, and she picked the two Kirkland first and didn’t care for number three at all, which was the Goose, and she now drinks Kirkland and saves a lot of money. That’s the kind of conversion story that makes vodka enthusiasts sit up and pay attention.
One customer who has had a lot of Grey Goose, which they love, rates Kirkland right there with it. These aren’t just budget-conscious shoppers trying to justify their choices. These are people who genuinely can’t tell the difference or actually prefer the Costco version.
One reviewer bought the Kirkland domestic vodka and was surprised at the smoothness, especially given the fact that they paid less than fourteen dollars for a giant bottle, and noticed none of the strong taste or smell you’d usually get with a cheap bottle of vodka.
The Price Difference Is Absolutely Wild
One area where Grey Goose can’t beat Kirkland Signature’s French Vodka is its price, as the Costco vodka costs roughly twenty dollars for its nearly two-liter bottle, which is just a fraction of the price of a Grey Goose bottle costing roughly forty-five dollars for the same size. That’s a savings of over fifty percent for something that blind testers consistently rank as equal or better.
At one Costco in Atlanta, the American vodka is sold for roughly thirteen dollars and the French one for roughly twenty dollars. Meanwhile, a bottle this big for roughly thirteen dollars seems almost too good to be true.
Let’s be real here: if you’re mixing vodka with cranberry juice or making Moscow Mules, does it really matter if you’re using a bottle that costs forty-five dollars versus one that costs twenty? The mixers are going to dominate the flavor profile anyway.
Why the French Version Beats the American
The French Vodka hit both marks of having a smoother finish and some semblance of actual flavor, and the American Vodka trailed behind. Even within Costco’s own lineup, there’s a clear winner if you’re drinking vodka neat or on the rocks. Hands down the Costco Kirkland Signature French Vodka beats the Costco Kirkland Signature American Vodka in a taste test, at least when you try them alone, though things are more competitive when you use them in cocktails and mixed drinks.
The Kitchn’s tasters found the Kirkland French vodka to have a silky and less watery mouthfeel than the other vodkas, with a taste that was described as sweet and bright. That mouthfeel difference is significant. Nobody wants watery vodka, no matter how cheap it is.
The American version gave a slightly sweet finish paired with minimal burn, though after another taste the burn grew a bit at the end, felt on the tongue and in the nose as well. So if you’re going to stock up at Costco, the French version is worth the extra few dollars.
