Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby 146

Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby 146 Edition — the 2020 annual commemorative bottle honoring the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby, featuring original artwork by Louisville artist Richard Sullivan: a watercolor capturing thoroughbreds rushing toward the finish line with the iconic Twin Spires of Churchill Downs rising in the background.

The 2020 Kentucky Derby was unlike any other in the race's history. Run on September 5, 2020 — moved from its traditional first Saturday in May due to the pandemic — and held without spectators for the first time in 146 runnings, the race carried a weight of strangeness and history simultaneously. The bottle's artwork, commissioned before those circumstances were known, captures the Derby as it has always been imagined: the Twin Spires, the stretch drive, the field at full speed.

Richard Sullivan is a Louisville artist whose equine watercolors are among the most celebrated in Kentucky. The Derby 146 and Derby 147 bottles both feature his work, making them a natural pair for collectors who follow the annual series.

Tasting Notes

• Nose: Dried fruit, vanilla, caramel, and gentle spice
• Palate: Rich caramel, baking spice, chocolate, and oak with rounded fruit complexity from triple copper pot still distillation
• Finish: Medium-long with warm spice and caramel

Specs

• Distillery: Woodford Reserve Distillery, Versailles, Kentucky
• Style: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Mash Bill: 72% corn, 18% rye, 10% malted barley
• ABV: 45.2% (90.4 Proof)
• Race: 146th Kentucky Derby, 2020 (run September 5, 2020)
• Artist: Richard Sullivan (Louisville artist)
• Medium: Watercolor — Twin Spires and finish line
• Size: 1 Liter

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Why was the 2020 Derby run in September? The COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the 146th Kentucky Derby from its traditional first Saturday in May to September 5, 2020. It ran without spectators — the only time in the race's history that Churchill Downs was empty on Derby Day.
• Who is Richard Sullivan? A Louisville artist known for equine watercolors. He painted both the Derby 146 and Derby 147 bottles.
• Is this a collector's piece? Yes — the 2020 bottle represents one of the most historically unusual Derby runnings. Together with the 2021 bottle, both painted by Sullivan, they form a natural pair representing the pandemic years of the race.