The Speed Art Museum unveiled the lineup for its live online and in-person Art of Bourbon auction on September 18 featuring some of the rarest and sought-after whiskeys in the world up for bid.

The live auction will be held 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. EST. Museum doors open at 6 p.m. EST. The online auction is free to bid but registration is required at artofbourbon.org.

In-person event tickets, which are $350, include a cocktail hour, bourbon tastings and a seated dinner with a bourbon-inspired menu. Seating is limited and guests are required to purchase tickets in advance.

Auction highlights include:

• Evan Williams 23-Year, distilled in 1966 – the very first year the distillery released that 23-Year-Old. Estimate: $7,000
• Van Winkle Family Reserve, 20-Year, 2006, signed by Louisville’s own Julian Van Winkle III. Estimate: $5,000
• A.H. Hirsh, 16-Year, distilled in 1974 – widely considered THE legendary bourbon. Estimate: $3,000
• Berghoff Bottled in Bond, 8-Year, 100 proof – distilled and bottled by Stitzel-Weller Distillery, this is a private label bottle bottled specifically for Berghoff’s restaurant in Chicago. Estimate: $6,000
• “The Chair’s Sipper” – a rarity comprised of 4 bottles of 100-proof Old Forester bottled in recognition of the July 2025 retirement of Campbell Brown, Brown-Forman’s esteemed former Chairman of the Board. Brown personally signed all four bottles as a goodwill gesture in support of the museum. To sweeten the pot, Brown tossed in a 2024 107-proof Old Forester Birthday Bourbon to the lot. Estimate: Priceless due to the personal nature of this lot. IYKYK
• Vintage Legends – multiple bottles of rare “dusties,” including a bottle of Old Crow Traveler Fifth, an Old Fitzgerald decanter from the 1960s, Echo Spring, and a bottle of John Cambert’s 5-Year-Old. Like one-offs; when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Among the 28 lots, the auction includes exclusive experiences that allow winning bidders to get an entire custom barrel straight from the source. This year’s auction offers four lots where bidders can receive their very own prestigious barrels:

• Dareringer from Rabbit Hole Distillery, this super-premium Straight Bourbon Whiskey is carefully crafted by taking fine wheated bourbon aged in alligator char barrels and resting it in handmade Pedro Ximenez Sherry Casks from Spain’s renown Casknolia Cooperage.

• Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey, single barrel, inspired by the whiskey pioneered by an old family recipe over 150 years ago.

• Bardstown Bourbon Origin Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon Single Barrel Selection – One of the very first 100 barrels produced in the Origin Series single barrel release.  The Origin Series represents the first whiskeys that were entirely distilled, aged and bottled at this distillery and was voted the highest rated bourbon in the world by the International Wine & Spirits Competition.

• The much-anticipated Green River Whiskey Single Barrel Pick selection experience, one of the hot new bourbons in the industry.

For the first time, guests will find tasting tables set up, offering samples and conversations with distillers and owners from some of the most respected names in the industry. From legacy giants like Heaven Hill, Brown-Forman and Maker’s Mark to rising stars such as 15 Stars and Augusta Distilling, the lineup is a bourbon lover’s dream. With Angel’s Envy, Mary Dowling/Rabbit Hole, Buzzard’s Roost, Old Commonwealth, and Diageo brands also pouring, the event promises to offer next-level experiences both on and off the auction block.

Now in its eighth year, the annual bourbon auction draws serious bourbon aficionados and collectors from around the globe, as well as those who view it as a passionate spectator sport. It has raised more than $2 million for the Speed with all proceeds supporting the museum’s education programs and exhibitions.

The event’s spirited emcee is led by Wall Street Journal-bestselling author and renowned bourbon critic Fred Minnick. Marc Abrams, a well-known bourbon expert based in Louisville, serves as this year’s chair.

“Since 2018, I’ve worked closely with the Speed to auction the rarest whiskey bottles and experiences ever, raising millions of dollars for this institution,” Minnick said in a news release.

Minnick, widely considered the world’s leading bourbon authority, knows these bids make a difference. 

“These rare whiskeys can make a huge impact on one of our country’s best art museums,” he said. “We have the vintage and rare, and the new and unique. These sort of in-the-know bourbons don’t come up very often.” 

Prominent collectors show their support by either attending or donating bottles from their stash to this event. 

“It’s not every day you can get your hands on these. You’re buying a piece of history in a bottle,” Abrams said. “And over the years, our auction followers have come to expect these iconic bourbons at this auction. After all, the Speed Art Museum is in bourbon country.”

Bill Menish will serve as the evening’s auctioneer. To review auction catalogue, purchase event tickets, or register for the online auction: artofbourbon.org.