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Woodford Reserve’s Latest Kentucky Derby Bottle Hits Store Shelves

Woodford Reserve, the presenting sponsor of the Kentucky Derby, has teamed up with former baseball player Richard Sullivan for the release of its 2021 commemorative Kentucky Derby Bottle.

Featuring Sullivan’s artwork, the bottle contains watercolor of thoroughbreds as they thunder down the stretch. It was designed as a complement to last year’s Derby bottle artwork, which Sullivan also created.

“The Kentucky Derby is resplendent with color, pageantry, and pure athleticism — and I wanted to capture that in my artwork,” Sullivan said in a prepared statement, adding he enjoys the parallels between sports and creativity, connecting two seemingly divided worlds that, in reality, require the same sense of dedication, practice, and expertise.

Woodford 2021 Kentucky Derby bottle
Woodford 2021 Kentucky Derby bottle (image via Brown-Forman)

Sullivan played baseball at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and in 2008, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 11th round as a junior and played six years of minor league baseball. He returned to SCAD in 2014 to finish his degree and focus exclusively on his artwork.

“There is a depth of beauty in Richard’s watercolors — and his back-to-back Derby bottles are a winning exacta,” Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris noted.

The one-liter bottles of Woodford Reserve Bourbon with the 2021 Derby art, an annual collector’s item said to be anticipated by bourbon and racing fans since 1999, are on sale everywhere with a retail price of $49.99.

Official tasting notes for the limited edition Derby bourbon:

  • Nose: Heavy with rich dried fruit, hints of mint and oranges covered with a dusting of cocoa. Faint vanilla and tobacco spice.
  • Taste: Rich, chewy, rounded and smooth, with complex citrus, cinnamon and cocoa. Toffee, caramel, chocolate and spice notes abound.
  • Finish: Silky smooth, almost creamy at first with a long, warm satisfying tail.
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