FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) 鈥 Looking for hard-to-find bottles of Kentucky bourbon to toast the holidays or add to a collection? Get your bids ready as the Bluegrass State launches its first online auction of confiscated alcohol.
Whiskeys up for sale include two bottles of Old Rip Van Winkle, a Blanton鈥檚 Single Barrel Gold in box with Japanese markings and a bottle of Four Roses Small Batch Barrel Strength 2011.
The sale is the result of a new Kentucky law, which allows alcohol confiscated from closed criminal investigations by the state's alcoholic beverage control agency to be auctioned.
Online bidding opens Wednesday and closes at midnight on Dec. 11. Proceeds will support programs promoting responsible alcohol use by adults and awareness programs for youths.
鈥淭his is a really good auction,鈥 Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers鈥 Association, said by phone Tuesday. 鈥淭here are some hard-to-find and rare bottles on there.鈥
No estimate has been given on how much the auction might raise.
鈥淲e look forward to seeing the response to this auction and have started planning additional auctions for 2025,鈥 said Allyson Taylor, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
The auction features 32 bottles of alcohol and includes a 鈥渟tock the bar鈥 bundle with bottles of wine, vodka, rum and whiskey, the agency said.
But the stars are the hard-to-find and rare bourbons up for sale.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not every day you go to a liquor store and find a bottle of Blanton鈥檚 Gold," Gregory said. 鈥淵ou never go to a liquor store and find a bottle of Four Roses 2011.鈥
The lineup includes bottles of E.H. Taylor bourbon, Blanton鈥檚 Single Barrel, Eagle Rare 10 yr., Weller Antique 107, Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Rye, Michter鈥檚, an Old Forester gift set and more.
A link to the online auction is available at . Auction items cannot be shipped, so winning bidders must pick up items in Frankfort, the state said.
The auctions will become a 鈥渃an't miss opportunity鈥 for bourbon connoisseurs, Gregory said.
Until this year's change in the law, Kentucky regulators were required to destroy confiscated alcohol once a case was closed, the agency said.
鈥淲e don't like to see good bourbon poured down the drain,鈥 Gregory said.
Kentucky distillers produce 95% of the global bourbon supply, the Kentucky distillers鈥 group says.
