Evan Williams Bourbon Experience Releases Annual, Limited Edition Kentucky Derby Festival Single Barrel Bourbon Bottle
The 2016 Vintage, 121 proof Bourbon is dipped in silver wax and features the 52nd Edition Gold Pegasus Pin on the bottle’s neck
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (February 23, 2024) – As an official sponsor of the Kentucky Derby Festival for the eighth consecutive year, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience today released a special edition bottle of Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon with a commemorative 52nd Edition Gold Pegasus Pin sealed in wax on the neck.
Dipped in a silver wax, the bottle features a special face label with the coordinating Kentucky Derby Festival logo and includes an official 2024 Pegasus Pin in an envelope attached to each bottle. Evan Williams Bourbon Experience Artisanal Distiller, Jodie Filiatreau, and Kentucky Derby Festival President and CEO, Matt Gibson, unveiled the official 2024 pin and limited-edition bottle at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience by personally hand-dipping two of the limited-edition bottles.
Beginning February 23, the Bourbon will be available for purchase at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience for $84.99 and at select area retailers while supplies last. The limited edition 2016 vintage is bottled at 121 proof, commemorating both the 69th Kentucky Derby Festival plus the 52nd year of the Pegasus Pin. Each bottle of Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon contains the exact day it was put in an oak barrel to age, the barrel number, and the date it was bottled.
“The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience is honored to host the annual bottle dipping of this limited Single Barrel release with the Kentucky Derby Festival,” said Jodie Filiatreau, Evan Williams Bourbon Experience Artisanal Distiller. “We’re grateful for the Festival’s partnership especially as the Derby city celebrates the 150th running of this iconic race and the amazing events leading up to it.”
The Bourbon is matured in Heaven Hill’s rickhouses under the careful supervision of Master Distiller Conor O’ Driscoll, who monitors the progress of each year’s vintage to ensure it maintains its intended flavor profile and superb quality. Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage has won five “Whiskey of the Year” awards and is one of the most critically acclaimed specialty Bourbons produced by Heaven Hill Distillery, the world’s second largest holder of aging Bourbon.
“Our partnership with Evan Williams celebrates two things Kentucky is known for – bourbon and the Derby Festival season,” said Matt Gibson, Kentucky Derby Festival President & CEO. “This year’s Pegasus Pin honoring the 150th Kentucky Derby paired with the special-edition bottle will be a unique collector’s piece to commemorate a historic time in our city.”
Bringing the community together since 1956, the Kentucky Derby Festival has grown to become a whirlwind of more than 70 special events leading up to the big race in May. The Kentucky Derby Festival runs this year from March 28 – May 3.
ABOUT THE EVAN WILLIAMS BOURBON EXPERIENCE:
The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience® (www.EvanWilliamsBourbonExperience.com) celebrates the legacy of Evan Williams, Kentucky’s first commercial distiller, through an immersive visitor’s center experience which brings to life the history and tradition of Kentucky’s native spirit. An official stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, the facility offers guests a historical glimpse back in time to see Evan Williams’ original distillery through high-definition video recreations of the Louisville wharf and Main Street in the late 18th Century, plus recreations of Whiskey Row building facades along Main Street from the 1890’s through the present. Meanwhile, visitors learn the essential differences between distilling during Evan Williams’ era and Heaven Hill’s modern Bernheim Distillery operations.
ABOUT THE KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL: Since 1956, the Derby Festival has worked to bring the community together in celebration. The Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 400 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus Pin sponsorships and event participation. This involvement has made the Festival the largest single attended event in Kentucky and one of the leading community celebrations in the world.
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