🥃Review #30: Kirkland Bourbon Casked Rum XO

Kirkland Bourbon Cask Rum Extra Aged next to a lamp and glencairn on a table

XO stands for "Extra Old" but how does this bottle of Bourbon Casked Rum from Costco's Kirkland Signature line measure up?

📚Background: Finished in used Cognac barrels, this bottle is a product of Guatemala, imported for Costco by MISA IMPORTS out of Dallas Texas. MISA, named after the founder's children Michael and Sarah, started primarily as a sourcing partner for fine wines, but has since expanded operations into sourcing spirits. MISA's rum brand partners include 1731, Autentico Nativo, and Navy Island. We would have to guess the maker if not for the back label which clearly identifies one Olivier Dumont, Master Blender. Mr. Dumont works for Les Bienheureux, a French company growing at an alarming rate that has both a foothold in French Whisky and Costa Rican Rum. Les Bienheureux is the company behind "El Pasador De Oro" (roughly translated as "Gold Pin") which has two widely available iterations. The XO version retails for $46.99 and the Gran Reserva upgrade for $52.99, both distributed by Spirits Direct to Total Wine and other big boxes. The XO won a Gold at the San Francisco Spirits contest in 2020 while the Gran Reserva took home Double Gold, a pretty good showing to say the least. Our Kirkland rum shares the same bottle as the El Pasadors above and likely much of the same spirit lineage. Though the XO branding implies extreme age, it is an unregulated term when applied to rum and does not have any official quality control or approval. For a Congnac, XO would mean that it has been aged for at least six years (though there has been talk of increasing this requirement to 10 years). I trust Costco, so I'll hold that the age statement is at least six years.

🛒Sourced: Costco - Atlanta, GA $25.99

🧪Proof: 80 Proof, 40% Alcohol by Volume

🎨Color: R3.5 - Darker than some whiskies I've had recently, I can buy a 6-year age on this. The wood wouldn't be virgin, so I wouldn't expect it to be quite as dark as a similarly aged bourbon.

🥔Mash Bill: Molasses distilled via column still by a number of producers in Guatemala. The Rum is then sent to Charente, France where it undergoes the finishing/aging process and MR Olivier Dumont works his magic to blend out any issues. We do love a good barrel aged rum!

👃Nose: Vanilla, brown sugar, and a bit of earthiness that in theme I would call tobacco. Strong at first but settles down after the first sniff.

😜Palate: Very smooth, honey and hibiscus with a strong vanilla finish. Like having cake and then smoking a mild cigar at a baby shower. It may verge on being a touch over the line with me for sweetness, but I can go back to the tobacco leaf undertone for solace. I wonder if they add some sugar back after distillation? That does occasionally happen with other producers.

💦Finish: Short and Sweet blast of brown sugar, a bit of the earthiness remains

🏆 Overall: 6/10 - Very Good, A Cut Above - This drinks as well as its El Pasador cousins and for about half the cost. It's not a crazy bottle by any means but the only real flaw is the shortness of the finish. Flavors are simple but deliver on the typical rum promises.

Rum & Coke Test: Easy to drink, I was afraid it would get lost in a rum coke, but the woody vanilla actually went in perfect. I used a 1:3 ratio of rum to coke and didn't feel bad about it at this price point.

💵Would buy again? Yes

⚖️Rating Scale:

🍺 Definitive Light Beer Tier List: Meta-Analysis & Ranking

Trends come and go: Craft Beer, Hard Seltzer, Canned Cocktails, and more. In the world of beverage, the currents are constantly shifting, but one drink has an irrevocable grip on America: Light Beer. Good old beer flavored beer may take a hit from new competition, but brands like Miller Lite and Michelob Ultra constantly sit at the top of sales volume lists, even with the fall of Bud Light and rise of Modelo's Flagship. But which light beer is best? Let's find out. Methodology - Light Beer Ranking Taste preferences vary significantly between consumers, but across a large sample we should be able to get a somewhat representative picture of the populations preferences. For this ranking, we will combine data sourced from multiple beer rating sites with an internal Castle & Cairn house ranking to create an overall beer quality score. The starting population of beer brands will be those that are explicitly branded as "flagship light" or beers with less than 100 calor...

🎮 Call of Duty Warzone - The Drinking Game

Fairly self explanatory per the graphic below. What could be more fun than tossing back a few cold ones with your closest buds while rampaging through one of your favorite video games? Call of Duty Warzone might not have as much nostalgia as it did in the Verdansk days, but it still has some charm. The best part: you'll already be at home when you're done so there's no need to worry about a designated driver! Obligatory plug to know your limits, be legal, and drink responsibly, we don't respawn IRL (yes I know that's a cringe statement - that's the joke). Call of Duty Warzone Drinking Game Prep To play the game, you'll need the following in addition to an internet connection, gaming device, and Call of Duty: A Party Sipper of your Choice - I recommend something relatively low ABV. We balanced the rules for a player of moderate ability and a sipper of 4-8% alcohol. Light beer is my go-to here since it has enough lovely hydrating water to soak up any shots. ...

🍺🍷🥃 Beer, Wine, and Spirits Rebate Website Master List

If there is anything I love more than a good drink, it's saving money buying that good drink! The rules for providing discounts on alcohol differ substantially between states with some allowing outright discounts or coupons and others entirely disallowing any sort of purchase incentive. Thankfully though, in my native Georgia as well as most states, a simple reimbursement approach is permissible. Last Updated & Validated 2/4/2026 . Alcohol Rebate Site Master List The following sites are relatively stable for each manufacturer. New offers usually come out every few months. None of these are affiliate links and I provide no assurance as to the process. I have saved so much money using rebates and hope you have similar success. Best practices and general process advice will be presented at the bottom. New sites will be added as I uncover them. Beer Rebates Boston Beer Company Brands - Angry Orchard, Dogfish head, Hard Mountain Dew, Samuel Adams, Sun Crusher, Truly, and Twis...

🥃 Review #34: ASW Fiddler Toasted Wheat Cask Strength Bourbon

Founded by University of Georgia graduates Jim Chasteen and Charlie Thompson, American Spirit Whiskey Distillery ("ASW") is a craft producer out of Atlanta, GA with the plant registry DSP-GA-20014. As Southern Pot-Still Pioneers, they are one of the few producers to distill in the ancient Scottish Tradition of small, grain-in batches (where grain solids are left in for the remainder of the distillation process) though they also partner with Midwest Grain Products to source distillate for further aging, finishing and blending before bottling as is the case here. This bottle is from the June 2023 batch which is a blend of two principal spirits. ASW's master distiller, Justin Maglitz, is accomplished old-time string music fiddler and he often experiments with various factors between batches. As such, the "Fiddler" brand name fits perfectly. No two batches are truly the same, but all of the ones I've had so far have been to my liking. This bottle shares the same...

🥃Review #9: Maker's Mark Cask Strength

Maker's Mark has been a go-to brand of mine since before I knew what bourbon was. The sweet wheated mainstay of that namesake was the first 1.75L bottle of whiskey I ever bought and so it will always hold a special place on my palate. Maker's does a lot of things right, including their Marker's Mark ambassador program which let's brand fans have their name put on a barrel and to get bottles filled specifically from that barrel. Mine will be mature sometime later this year and I'm excited to go visit it. I'd always heard great things about the cask strength as well, so let's get into it... 🛒 Sourced: $39.99 at Tower Liquors Buckhead - GA 🧪 Proof: 110, 55% 📚 Background : Ranging from 108 to 114 proof, Maker's Mark Cask Strength is uncut by the addition of water. Most Maker's batches are barreled at 110 proof with higher angel's share batches notching up a wee bit. They do screen filter the bourbon to remove wood pieces and char, but from th...

Castle and Cairn

Search This Blog