The Eyebrow-Raising Way Costco And Sam's Club Used To Sell Jack Daniel's

When one imagines large-format libations, one tends to think of punch bowls on New Year's Eve, batch cocktails by the beach, or kegs in the backyard. Vats of whiskey are less likely to come to mind for the average imbiber, but there was a time when some of the nation's favorite warehouse stores sold Jack Daniel's by the barrel to anyone of legal age with a membership card. Ye olde Reddit posts evidence an era when you could roll out of both Costco and Sam's Club with a whole cask of the intoxicating Tennessee export for around $8,000-$10,000 ... kinda.

Bulk booze buyers would not exactly have been hauling these behemoths home and tapping the barrels like amateur distillers. Although the most committed Tennessee whiskey fans would have certainly appreciated that their purchase included one of Jack Daniel's famed white oak barrels, their hooch was packaged in the company's more user-friendly signature square bottles — and a lot of them. Zoom in on one Reddit photo and those barrels amounted to 40 cases of Jack Daniel's a piece, which further breaks down to about 240 bottles, according to today's proportions.

A photo depicting a $9,660 Jack Daniel's barrel posted to Reddit in 2013 attracted plenty of folks who also spied the big liquor displays, or even made the investment themselves. Some asserted that the upfront cost shook out to decent savings when divided between groups of pals. Others found the math a little dubious; a separate image posted to Imgur that same year shows another Sam's Club barrel listed for $7,680, showing value varied by location. That's to say nothing of the coin you needed to flip to determine who got to keep the barrel.

A search for Jack Daniel's barrels at Costco and Sam's Club locations in major metropolitan areas indicates they're no longer available; social media mentions seem to have dwindled as well. However, barrels are still available straight from Jack Daniel's. The company's "personal collection program" lets consumers choose their favorite barrel of booze on-site or from afar. You can even personalize the bottles that will ultimately be filled. Not every option comes with the actual barrel, however, and the company's pricing is far less transparent than your friendly neighborhood warehouse store. Interested whiskey devotees need to inquire directly for a quote. Should you make the splurge, consider a soda upgrade for all the Jack and Cokes you'll be sipping.