| schema:text
| - Snopes readers asked our newsroom to look into a longstanding internet rumor that claims Kirkland-brand vodka sold at Costco stores is actually Grey Goose.
Our newsroom found evidence of this claim dating back to at least 2013 on Reddit, with similar versions having also circulated on X, TikTok and the online forum Quora in the years following.
Grey Goose has publicly stated that this "viral claim is completely false." A statement on the company website reads:
You may have heard a rumor that the Kirkland Signature™ brand vodka sold at Costco is actually GREY GOOSE® Vodka, just in different packaging. We can definitively put this myth to rest. This viral claim is completely false, and GREY GOOSE® Vodka does not produce nor privately label Kirkland vodka.
While both vodkas may use water from France's Cognac region, the origin of the wheat in the Kirkland brand is undisclosed. GREY GOOSE® Vodka is only made from two ingredients: water from our own well in Gensac-la-Pallue and the finest French wheat. Every part of the production process is done in France.
Furthermore, the Kirkland brand states that their product is distilled five times. GREY GOOSE® Vodka is distilled only once to preserve the naturally tasteful qualities of our signature winter wheat.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regulates alcohol in the U.S. According to the agency's certification registration, Kirkland Signature Vodka 80-89 proof was registered to the Levecke Corp. in Mira Loma, California, in 2012. The registration also lists California as the product's place of origin,
Four registrations are affiliated with Grey Goose, each of which lists France as an origin code. However, the plant registry is listed to Bacardi U.S.A. in Coral Gables, Florida (visible here, here, here and here).
Vice reported in 2016 that the now-defunct alcohol research group Under the Label found that Costco Kirkland Signature Vodka and Grey Goose shared a water source known as Gensac Springs in the Cognac region of France. But the group added that "while these spirits share a water source they are in no way the same spirit and the production and ingredients of the distillate are different."
In a 2020 interview with USA Today, Grey Goose's global head of education, Joe McCanta, said, "Grey Goose Vodka does not produce nor privately label Kirkland vodka." McCanta added: "From harvest to milling to distillation to bottling, every step is done in France. Only Grey Goose uses single origin Picardy wheat and water from our natural limestone well in Gensac-la-Pallue to craft a gluten free spirit of exceptional character."
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)