Costco Is Selling A Bottle Of Macallan For $27,000 And It's Actually A Steal

Costco is home to the $1.50 hot dog combo and $5 rotisserie chicken. It's where you go to get bulk almond flour, peanut butter pretzels by the gallon, sweatpants, and a flavored whiskey sampler on clearance for $14.97. But, as spotted by someone a couple of years ago and just now shared on the r/Costco subreddit, it's also where you can casually pick up a bottle of $26,999.99 scotch.

The scotch in question is the Macallan 1948, Fine and Rare Collection scotch whisky. The 1948 vintage has been released over multiple years; it's unclear when the Costco Macallan was bottled, but based on the display box and price point, it could be the 2002 lot. According to Macallan's website, the total outturn in 2002 was only 124 bottle equivalents. And at least one of those bottles was being sold at Costco. Sotheby's estimates the value of a 2002 bottling between $26,000 and $35,000. A bottle of the 2002 release, aged 54 years, went for £37,350 ($51,918) at an auction in 2021. Another bottle of the same lot went for £28,500 ($35,040).

Based on Sotheby's valuation range, the Costco bottle is either a $1,000 upcharge or an $8,000 discount, and it's potentially nearly half the cost of buying one via auction, even before the buyer's fees. And as one Reddit commenter pointed out, buying this bottle with an Executive Membership will yield a $1,080 cash-back reward.

This is not the only time Costco has sold a wildly expensive bottle of alcohol. Two years ago, a bottle of 54-year-old Singleton scotch single malt whisky was available at a Costco in Honolulu for $36,999.99, as per the r/Costco subreddit. Another commenter claimed to have seen the same bottle of Singleton at Total Wine for $42,000; Forbes listed the recommended retail at $40,100. Another Costco displayed a bottle of Benromach 50-year single malt for $9,999.99 — a steal, compared to the Macallan and Singleton (and $2,800 cheaper than Total Wine).

Does anyone actually buy these bottles? According to one commenter who is or was a Costco employee, they did in fact sell one of these bottles of Singleton. It was a retirement present. And when buying one, you can't just walk up to the orange shelf and put it in your cart beside the value pack of wool socks, even though it looks like you can just pick up the box from the shelf. The Singleton and Benromach were actually displayed on the floor behind plexiglass, whereas the Macallan box was placed (empty) above a crate of wine and the bottle was kept under lock and key. If you're in the market for one, you just have to ask at the register.