1909 Overholt rye sells for $14,000 — two times

A 110-year-old bottle of Overton rye sold at auction for $14,000 in Louisville, Ky., and a surprise second bottle — from the same donor — sold to another bidder for the same price.

The two quarts of Pennsylvania rye once were part of the secret cellar stash of late local billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife He inherited it through his family, including Andrew Mellon, who was a coowner of the distillery that made it before he became U.S. Treasury secretary.

Louisville collector Marc Abrams purchased six cases of this really old Overholt when Christie’s auctioned Scaife’s estate in 2015. Mr. Abrams donated the first bottle to the Speed Art Museum, the official art museum of Kentucky. The museum made the bottle one of the showpieces of its second annual Art of Bourbon fundraiser on Thursday night.

The Overholt was one of the lots on which people could bid online, but the person who won it did so during the on-site auction. At the last moment, Mr. Abrams donated a second bottle, which also sold at the auction.

“So, $28K for 2 bottles!” event spokeswoman Cheri White said in an email, noting “it caused quite a stir last night.”

She said the event raised a total of $260,000.

The Overholt distillery started operations at West Overton, Westmoreland County, but staffers at what’s now West Overton Village & Museums believe this Overholt rye probably was made at the Overholt distillery in Broad Ford, Fayette County. It was famous for the Old Overholt brand, which continues to be made today, albeit in Kentucky.

Closer to home, Fort Ligonier is auctioning a donated bottle of 1911 Overton rye at its Cannon Ball fundraiser Friday night. When told of what the bottles sold for in Kentucky, the historic site’s executive director, Henry Scully, reacted: “WOW!!”