by Jbrian29605 » Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:36 pm
If this is anything like their wine, then they really did have something to do with it. For wine, they meet with different vintners and discuss what traits they are looking for and have a team of knowledgeable tasters select by committee from the offerings. From there, they will award the contract to the best offering (best in this case meaning taste, price point, and ability to deliver).
It makes sense that only the bigger capacity distillers would participate to be able to bring economy of scale and deliver a good price point. From there though, it is all about quality. They take the Kirkland branding seriously. For Costco, it is not simply a generic sub brand. However, they are self aware enough to know that their brand isn't as high brow as others, so they fully endorse you buying their spirits and decanting them to avoid the cheapskate stigma (however, when your guests say that they enjoy the beverage, Costco would like for you to reveal the source).
So it makes sense that this is decidedly a Beam product, but doesn't seem to be exactly like any other on their line card. Maybe take JBB or BH and tweak it a bit and voila you have Kirkland.