Costco Shoppers Spotted This Rare Kentucky Bourbon For $8k — 'The Unicorns Of Unicorns'

Part of the fun of shopping at Costco is making random discoveries. But imagine the surprise when you stumble across something that's not only new, but also extremely rare. An Instagram user named @garnetandgoldbourbon documented a one-of-a-kind in-person find from the Buffalo Trace Distillery, a well-known bourbon distillery in Kentucky, at their local Costco location. But the thing is: This wasn't any ordinary bottle.

This particular bottle of The Last Drop came from the 37th batch of the whiskey (which, it should go without saying, is different from bourbon, rye, or scotch), and it's 27 years old. The bottle posted to social media is only one out of 508 in existence, and per the distillery's website, the taste is as unique as the bottle itself: "Layers of complexity reveal themselves in the tasting, with notes of vanilla, oak tannins, rich caramel, and leather all harmoniously interwoven in a spirit that pushes the boundaries of bourbon beyond all expectations." 

Despite Costco's reputation for low prices, you can't buy this one in bulk. The bottle posted by @garnetandgoldbourbon would set you back a mere $7,999.99. As the excited Instagram user wrote, "Perhaps [it's] the unicorns of unicorns."

While The Last Drop might be a somewhat extreme case, Costco's also known to pull some sneaky surprises. It once sold bottles of a rare Kentucky bourbon for a steal — a 2024 King of Kentucky Single Barrel Bourbon for $259.99. That might sound relatively expensive for a bottle of anything until you realize that online prices for this stuff usually cost between $2,000 to $2,500 at the time we wrote about it.

But on occasion, Costco also makes things like The Last Drop look like pocket change by comparison. Four years ago, a Reddit user posted a photo of a 54-year-old Singleton scotch whiskey, which came in at an eye-watering $36,999.99. That's enough to buy a brand new vehicle. Not every Costco is going to carry things of this nature; my nearest location has locked displays with bottles that cost a few thousand dollars, but eagle-eyed enthusiasts who recognize a rarity in the wild likely get excited over these scenarios. However, there's no word on whether or not you can return these bottles with Costco's generous return policy.