‘The holy grail’: In this state lottery, a chance to buy rare whiskey
Pennsylvania is offering its residents the chance to purchase highly coveted collector bottles of whiskey in a lottery this week.
Residents and liquor licensees in the state can enter the lottery to purchase a bottle from the highly-sought after Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, which drops annually and features whiskey that has been aged for at least 15 years.
Pennsylvania is one of 17 states that have direct control over the distribution of alcoholic beverages via a state liquor control board, according to the National Alcohol Beverage Association.
In 2015, Pennsylvania implemented a lottery system to make rare releases more accessible to the state’s bourbon enthusiasts, according to Shawn Kelly, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Before 2015, the state would simply list the bottles for sale on its site, which would reliably crash once swarmed by prospective buyers.
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“The allocations that we would get would not be big enough for, you know, the state the size of Pennsylvania," Kelly said. "We're talking a couple 100 bottles for a state with a population of 13 million.”
The lottery system, Kelly said, also gives consumers the opportunity to purchase the bottles at an affordable price.
“For some people, this is the holy grail,” Kelly told Paste BN. “They may look their entire lives to try to find these bottles that are very difficult to find on store shelves in other states. In the secondary market…they may pay three, four or five times what we charge in Pennsylvania.”
Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2022
Each 750 milliliter bottle from the 2022 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection in Pennsylvania’s lottery will retail for $109.99, the board said, and participants will be limited to purchasing a single bottle.
Bottles in lottery:
- 18-year-old Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey (14 for consumers, four for licensees)
- 17-year-old Eagle Rare Straight Bourbon (16 for consumers, five for licensees)
- William Larue Weller Straight Bourbon Barrel Proof (72 for consumers, 24 for licensees)
- George T. Stagg Straight Bourbon Barrel Proof (111 for consumers, 36 for licensees)
- Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey Barrel Proof (149 for consumers,49 for licensees)
Additionally, the board said it is holding two separate lotteries for a rare bourbon worth more than $1,000 and another worth $150.
- 20-year-old Michter's Straight Bourbon Limited Release (eight for consumers, two for licensees): $1,149.99
- Blanton Straight From The Barrel Bourbon (243 for consumers, 81 for licensees): $149.99
Entrants have until 5 p.m. ET Friday to enter into the lottery on its website, the board said .