The Brand Behind Costco's Premium Cognac

If you're looking for a place to refill your liquor cabinet, Costco's hard to beat with its near-unbeatable combo of quality and value. And now, Costco shoppers have yet another reason to raise a glass. Excited Costco shoppers on Reddit have found a brand-new premium spirit on the shelves: Kirkland Signature VS Cognac, priced at an impressive $47 for a generous 1.75-liter bottle.

As with every Kirkland Signature-branded liquor, Costco has partnered with a distillery to re-bottle their product. Per the back label, the liquor is distilled by Peyrat Cognac. Founded in 1920 by Henri Peyrat, this fourth-generation family business has earned high praise from spirits enthusiasts for their exceptional cognacs. Their traditional VS handle typically sells for about $34 (pre-tax) for a standard 750-milliliter bottle, making Costco's larger (and cheaper) offering an absolute steal.

The new Kirkland cognac is already winning over early tasters with its flavor, with most praising its smoothness. It's going to be an awesome bottling to buy if you're planning to mix up a classic Sidecar for yourself this weekend. And by the look of it, if you like to sip your cognac neat, it's not a bad dram for the job, too!

If you're a fan of Costco's spirits selection, you might already be familiar with their popular Kirkland Signature XO Cognac, which is also believed to be produced by Peyrat. While the new VS Cognac offers excellent value, its older sibling, the XO, brings something different to the table. Made from cognacs aged 12 to 21 years, the XO version delivers deeper, more complex flavors than its younger counterpart. As expected, the longer aging process is reflected in the price: a 750-milliliter bottle runs around $60.

For the uninitiated, VS (Very Special) and XO (Extra Old) are two of the nine grades that cognacs come in. Both start life as freshly distilled brandy called eau de vie (yes, cognac is brandy), but their paths diverge in the aging process. VS, or "Very Special," must age at least two years in French oak barrels, while XO, meaning "Extra Old," requires a minimum of ten years of aging. This extended time in the barrel creates smoother, more sophisticated flavors in the final product.

The Kirkland VS cognac is huge news for cognac lovers watching their wallets. In the past, if you needed a VS-grade bottle, you'd have to turn to well-known brands like Hennessy VS While it has its own merits, at anywhere from $73 to $124 a 1.75-liter bottle, it's not cheap. Kirkland's offer of a comparably great dram at nearly half the price is the exact kind of value proposition that makes Costco-goers hold onto their cards!