Costco offers refunds for bad tasting vodka

Membership-only multinational retail giant Costco has announced that it will be refunding customers for certain batches of Kirkland Signature American Vodka that did not meet its “quality expectations”.

Over the last couple of weeks, a number of internet users declared that the Kirkland Signature American Vodka they had bought tasted off, with various Reddit threads set up to determine what was the cause.

After hearing about this, Costco responded. A Reddit user shared a screen grab of an email the retailer sent last week (15 August) that listed several lot codes of the spirit that failed the taste test.

“Our records indicate that you, or one of your add-on members, have purchased item #639271, Kirkland Signature American Vodka, between 12 June 2023 and 10 August 2023,” the product information notice explained.

“It has come to our attention that the taste profile of units marked with certain lot codes may not have met the expected profile normally consistent with this product,” it continued. “While not a food safety issue, this does not meet our quality expectations.”

The email then listed the 27 affected lot codes, and offered full refunds to those who had purchased a vodka from one of those lots.

What the product information notice from Costco did not clarify is what the bad taste was, or why it had occurred.

One Reddit user who claimed to be a Costco employee shared their theory: “I work at the regional office. Apparently it has hints of rum due to a container not being completely cleaned before it was used for vodka during transport. It has no health risks or implications, but it gave the vodka notes of rum.”

A 1.75 litre bottle of Kirkland Signature American Vodka retails at Costco for US$13.49, according to Costco blogger Cost Contessa.

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