Woodford Reserve has unveiled this year’s tribute to “the greatest two minutes in sports” with their 2019 Kentucky Derby bottle.
For the second year in a row, the Derby bottle will be graced with the artwork of Brown-Forman employee Keith Anderson. Anderson, who works in the Bourbon Street Cafe at the company’s headquarters, used to joke to higher-ups that one day it would be his art on their bottles.
Last year, they decided to take a look at a few of his paintings, and were immediately sold on Anderson’s vividly colorful racing scenes. This year’s bottle follows the same theme.
“My vision for this year’s Derby bottle came to me on Derby Day in 2018, when I was at Churchill Downs watching the horses race past me,” Anderson said. “Their sheer power, their colors and the jockeys are seared into my mind — and now featured on the bottle.”
The 2019 Kentucky Derby bottle marks the 20th anniversary for Woodford’s annual release, to be celebrated with a temporary exhibit at The Frazier History Museum.
The exhibit, titled Woodford Reserve & The Kentucky Derby: Two Decades Of Artistry, Bourbon, and Horse Racing, will showcase all twenty bottles from the Derby series, as well as specialty glasses and luxury $1,000 julep cups. It will open March 20th and run for one year inside the Frazier’s permanent Spirit of Kentucky exhibit.
This year’s bottles will hit shelves across the country next month – but certain states will be able to order starting today at ReserveBar.com. Although the bottle label is unique, the whiskey inside will be the flagship 90.4 proof Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey you know and love. It will cost around $44 on the shelf or $54 at ReserveBar.
