1/3 of This Massive Gin Bottle is Free

I was fishing a few weeks back and as we docked our boat for a lovely shore lunch, my friend Cam opened his cooler to reveal a familiar bottle of gin, but in a format so large, it’s girth took up almost all the space in the Yeti. I immediately recognized it: the white whale that is the Hendrick’s 1.75.

“Where did you drag that back from?” I asked. I expected him to tell me he had been at a Costco south of the border where the big boy Hendrick’s is a staple for $60 or so. I often snag one because A) people who drink Hendrick’s want to drink Hendrick’s, not whatever local craft gin I’m peddling, B) Hendrick’s is pricey in B.C., and C) the big bottle’s proportions seem exactly the scale of the 750, giving it a comically large impression when it’s in your hand. The bottle is made for Instagram.

“It’s brand new at BCLDB,” he said, which was shocking enough, but when I hopped on the site a few days later, there it was. And here’s the kicker: it’s only $100. If you factor in exchange rate and tax, that’s a few bucks less than at American Costco, which is pretty much the cheapest place on the planet to buy booze. But it’s also the same price as two bottles of Hendrick’s here, even though you get 33% more.

So while I don’t make a habit of saying you need to by a massive bottle of gin, in this case, you sorta do.