Louisville Orchestra Conductor Crafts His Own Woodford Reserve Offering

Louisville Orchestra Conductor Teddy Abrams has teamed with Woodford Reserve on on a special bottling and concert set to go on during Bourbon Heritage Month.

The event, a fundraiser for the Orchestra, includes dinner and hand-crafted specialty cocktails. A rather unique concert will follow, with each participant getting a special tasting of Woodford Reserve that will be paired with music compositions chosen by Abrams. The music will highlight the different flavor notes found in Woodford Reserve – fruit and floral, sweet, wood, grain, and spice.

Abrams and Woodford Reserve Assistant Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall will lead the group during the tasting, showing people how to use their senses to pull out flavor notes in the bourbon while picking up notes from different instruments.

The bottling Abrams picked out, named “Maestro’s Pick,” will also be given to attendees. It was crafted by combining two single barrels of Woodford Reserve chosen last spring by Abrams during a visit to the distillery in Versailles, Kentucky.

“The notes in the bourbon will be paired perfectly with the notes in the orchestral pieces, creating a sensation for the palate and ears,” said Abrams, named “Conductor of the Year for 2022” by Musical America, in a prepared statement. “This will be a concert like no other in Louisville Orchestra history – a true spectacle.”

The bottles are hand-numbered and signed by Abrams and McCall. Tickets for the gala event, to be held Friday, September 30 at Old Forester’s Paristown Hall in Louisville, are $1,000 for individuals and $1,500 for couples.