While entering a lottery just for the chance to BUY a bottle of bourbon may seem odd, these bourbons are both rare and highly sought-after. They sell at auction and other secondary markets for much more than their Ohio retail price, although the Ohio Division of Liquor Control says the bottles sold through its lottery “are for personal use, not for resale.”
The Ohio Liquor state agency is conducting the online lottery “to give as many Ohioans as possible a chance to purchase a bottle from the Pappy Van Winkle family collection and/or the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection that only becomes available in small amounts,” agency officials said in a release.
Here is the list of bottles in the lottery:
- Old Rip Van Winkle 10, $69.99
- Old Rip Van Winkle 12, $79.99
- Pappy Van Winkle 15, $119.99
- Pappy Van Winkle 20, $198.98
- Pappy Van Winkle 23, $299.99
- Eagle Rare 17, $99.99
- George T. Stagg, $99.99
- Sazerac Rye 18, $99.99
- Thomas H. Handy, $99.99
- William Larue Weller, $99.99
Bourbon fans can enter both lotteries with one submission and have a chance to win a product from both collections. When you enter, you can choose to enter one lottery or both. There is a limit of one entry per person.
To be clear here, winners of the lottery are not winning a free bottle of bourbon. They are winning the right to purchase one bottle of a specific bourbon that has been designated on their winning entry. They will have to pay the regular — but not-jacked-up — retail price.
Winners will be notified in early January 2021 using the email address entered with their submission. Winners must purchase their bottle by Jan. 25, 2021 or risk forfeiting the ability to purchase.
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