Ohio holiday bourbon lottery expanded

Ohio will expand its holiday bourbon lottery this year to give more of the Buckeye state’s bourbon enthusiasts the opportunity to purchase some of the most sought-after spirits on the market, including the Pappy Van Winkle 23-year that to some aficionados is the Holy Grail of bourbon.

Ohio Division of Liquor Control Superintendent Jim Canepa announced that the 2018 Ohio Bottle Lottery begins at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 10 and runs through 11:59 p.m. Dec. 21. That 12-day stretch is the entry period.

Similar to last year, paper entries will be available at all 475 state liquor-agency stores, but new this year, Ohioans can enter online without fussing with a paper ticket by going to www. com.ohio.gov/liqr/BottleLottery after the lottery begins. All entries, whether paper or online, will have an equal chance of winning.

And that’s not all that’s new this year. The 2018 lottery includes not only all of the Pappy Van Winkle collection that was sold last year (a few more bottles of it, actually), but also five other relatively rare bottles that are part of the Buffalo Trace Distillery Antique Collection, Canepa said.

Those Ohioans whose names are drawn will be notified during the first full week of January, then will have a week, between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, to buy their special bottles at their designated state liquor agency store. Here are the products that are included in the Lottery: Pappy Van Winkle

Old Rip Van Winkle 10, $54.96 Old Rip Van Winkle 12, $64.22 Pappy Van Winkle 15, $91.98 Pappy Van Winkle 20, $156.80

Pappy Van Winkle 23, $249.38

Buffalo Trace Antique Collection

Eagle Rare 17, $99.99 George T. Stagg, $99.99 Sazerac Rye 18, $99.99 Thomas H. Handy, $99.99 William Larue Weller, $99.99