So you inherited a bourbon collection. Can you sell it? Here are your legal options.

Janet Patton
·2 min read
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Have you inherited a collection of rare bourbon or other spirits?

Wondering what to do with that old bottle or bottles?

Under Kentucky’s Vintage Distilled Spirits law you have three options: Sell it, give it away or drink it.

A private citizen, either directly or as an executor of an estate, can legally sell vintage distilled spirits to a bar, restaurant or liquor store.

Several retailers in Kentucky specialize in vintage spirits. You can contact them directly to ask about valuing your collection. It helps to have cataloged what you have.

Tips for selling old bourbon bottles

Brad Bonds of Revival Vintage Spirits & Bottle Shop in Covington, which is one of the biggest retailers of vintage spirits of all kinds in Kentucky, said that almost everything they sell comes from “folks that have heard about us — word of mouth. Because what we do is so unique and we have built a solid reputation, so we have become a go-to for buying, selling, and giving valuations.”

Brad Bonds, of Revival Spirits in Covington, Ky., holds a vintage bottle of bourbon Tuesday, May 9, 2023. Revival is among the largest liquor stores in the state buying and selling under the Kentucky Vintage Distilled Spirits law. They buy bourbons and other spirits unavailable elsewhere then sell by the drink, or by the bottle. Customers can taste a 40-year-old bourbon for $5.
Vintage bottles of liquor are offered for sale at Revival Spirits in Covington, Ky., Tuesday, May 9, 2023. Brad Bonds at Revival says it’s best not to rush to sell vintage bottles.
Vintage bottles of liquor are offered for sale at Revival Spirits in Covington, Ky., Tuesday, May 9, 2023. Brad Bonds at Revival says it’s best not to rush to sell vintage bottles.

So what he tells potential sellers may surprise you: Don’t rush to sell.

“My best advice to anyone that calls to sell to us — if they personally are remotely into bourbon and collecting — is to just keep it. It will continue to go up,” Bonds said. “If they don’t care about it or they need cash we are always happy to make an offer. “

He said that older bottles, particularly those with a tax strip are especially coveted.

Vintage bottles of liquor, like some of these with a tax strip at Revival Spirits in Covington, are often sought after.
Vintage bottles of liquor, like some of these with a tax strip at Revival Spirits in Covington, are often sought after.

“We are looking at the bottles as baseball cards and we believe the old baseball cards will be worth the money in the future and the new ones will be over-collected and not worth as much as the old,” he said. “At the end of the day I would look at an old bottle of whiskey as a gold bar and if it came from your family to pass that heirloom down to your children. “

Or you could always just drink it.

Don’t be afraid to share vintage spirits with friends and family, he said. “That’s what’s so cool about this stuff — it’s an asset that can be consumed or collected. We believe there’s nothing sweeter than tasting history.”

Craig Rupprecht, general manager of the Neat Bourbon Bar and Bottle Shop in Louisville, which is known for its vintage pours and bottles, said that some auctions also have reached out about selling collections but that a lot of bottles still change hands privately.

“I still don’t feel like the Vintage Distilled Spirits law has fully caught on with regards to something like that. Most people are still turning to Facebook (private bourbon groups) or the secondary market,” Rupprecht said.

But that can be risky.

“This is the only legal avenue for unlicensed individuals to sell bourbon,” he said.