FILE – Outside view of Costco wholesale store.
Cris Cantón/Getty Images
With its affordable price tag, Costco’s Kirkland Signature vodka is widely considered a cult favorite. But lately, customers have been finding it tastes off.
Following hundreds of Redditors sharing their recent experiences of the Kirkland Signature American Vodka tasting “terrible,” “like a weird chemical” or having “a bathroom urinal puck vibe,” Costco reportedly sent a product information notice to customers who had purchased the product. To be clear, this is the brand’s cheaper American vodka, not its slightly higher-end Kirkland Signature French Vodka, which is often rumored to be Grey Goose in disguise (not true, according to Vice).
SFGATE called LeVecke Corporation, the producer of Kirkland Signature American Vodka, and was directed to an automated voicemail about the product.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“Please know that the Kirkland Signature American Vodka concern is an isolated event and is not a food safety issue,” said the voice message. “The product is vodka, the distillery has not changed and the product is safe for consumption. However, we have found that bottles with the lot code specified on the notification you may have received from Costco had a taste profile that was not consistent with the product Costco members have grown to know and trust.”
Customers who purchased a bottle of vodka with one of the affected lot codes can return it to Costco for a full refund. According to a screenshot on Reddit of Costco’s product information notice, only bottles purchased between between June 12 and Aug. 10 were affected, although this information was not included in the LeVecke voicemail.
SFGATE was unable to determine which Costco stores carried the vodka or what caused the vodka’s offputting taste, and an email to Costco was not returned before publishing. LeVecke Corporation also did not return SFGATE’s request for comment in time for publication.