Rare Buffalo Trace Bottles Included In Pennsylvania's 2023 Bourbon Lottery

Beer, wine, and liquor laws vary enormously across the U.S. Not only do these vary from state to state, but also sometimes from county to county and even city to city. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is one of the places where the distribution of alcoholic beverages is controlled by the state, making it one of the nation's largest purchasers of liquor and wine.

With the boom in collectibility among spirits, particularly whiskeys, and even more particularly bourbon, Pennsylvania decides how to allocate its recent acquisition of its year's allotment of bourbons from Buffalo Trace. Rather than handle matters like the state of Oregon, which fired six officials for leveraging their position to purchase rare bourbons like Pappy Van Winkle, Pennsylvania has chosen to take a more democratic approach. On February 13, 2023, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) announced a Limited-Release Lottery, which will allow residents of the Commonwealth to enter for an opportunity to purchase one of 814 bottles of rare, high-value bourbon.

Only Pennsylvania residents and license-holders can enter the lotteries at the Fine Wine & Good Spirits website. There are three separate lotteries: First is the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2022 Release, featuring five separate drawings for five different whiskeys, each priced at $109.99. Those whiskeys are Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey 18 Year Old (18 bottles in total), Eagle Rare Straight Bourbon 17 Year Old (21 bottles), William Larue Weller Straight Bourbon Barrel Proof (96 bottles), George T Stagg Straight Bourbon Barrel Proof (147 bottles), and Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey Barrel Proof (198 bottles). Each winner may only purchase a single bottle from the Antique Collection.

There are two additional bourbon lotteries, One for Michter's Straight Bourbon Limited Release 20 Year Old, offered at $1149.99, with 10 bottles available, and the second for Blanton Straight From The Barrel Bourbon, priced at $149.99, with 324 bottles available. Registration for the lotteries ends at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, February 17, 2023. Winners will be selected the following week, and all winners and nonwinners will be notified of their results. For Pennsylvania residents, the lottery is a chance to snag a bottle of rare whiskey to round out a collection.