Costco’s añejo tequila, with the Kirkland brand name displayed. We spotted this in the store and just had to try it.

Grover and I were shopping in our friendly neighborhood Costco, enjoying the free samples at the end of the aisles, when I spotted something that caused me to take a second and third look. (Then I whipped out my iPhone so I could take a picture of it.)

Costco Tequila. Their brand name, Kirkland, appears on many things in the store, and we’ve happily purchased Kirkland nuts, Kirkland batteries, and Kirkland bagels before. But Kirkland TEQUILA?

I pointed it out to Grover and his first response was, “Oh, we’re totally getting this.” Ack! He grabbed a bottle and put it in our cart – obviously he couldn’t wait to give it a try. (At $23.99 for an extra añejo, who could protest?)

When we got home we opened the bottle, and kept an objective frame of mind.

It contained a faint aroma of alcohol. We really did not perceive any flavors such as caramel or vanilla that are normal for an añejo aged this long.

Although it has legs, it has a watery taste in the front and middle with a kick of spice to the back that almost seems like an afterthought. Again, I could not perceive any flavors.

After a few sips, I switched to El Diamante del Cielo Añejo. The difference was huge. The Cielo gave me a rich mouth full of flavors and a smooth body with a hint of oak in the back.

Interestingly enough, Cielo is produced in the same distillery. The Kirkland bottle has a CRT NOM number of 1472, the same number that appears on the bottle of Cielo. The distillery is Fabrica de Tequilas Finos, S.A., located in the city of Tequila, Mexico. Other known tequila, like Stallion, Agave 99, Tonala, and Tenoch are also produced here.

The distillery website is located here: http://www.fabricadetequilasfinos.com.mx

They don’t list Kirkland tequila (or Cielo, for that matter) on the list of products on the website.

The fact that two very different tequilas can come from the same distillery shows that it’s the skill of the individual tequila master that really matters when it comes to quality.

As for that glass of Kirkland Añejo sitting in front of me, I gave the rest of it to Grover, which he gladly finished. He’ll drink just about anything – and in this case I think he was just enjoying the fact that it was a strange anomaly.

-Scarlet & Grover