SB and Luxco raise £4,500 through Bourbon barrel auction

Luxco and The Spirits Business have raised £4,500 (US$5,550) to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine following the auction of a Rebel Bourbon barrel.

Ari Brusel, of Saybrex International, was the winning bidder, who bought the cask for £5,000 (US$6,160).

After bottling and shipping fees, £4,500 has been donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Brusel commented: “Saybrex, a family-business in the alcoholic beverages industry, is most grateful to have taken part in this gesture of goodwill – companies from within our industry are working together to say ‘we care.’ It happened before when there was a major explosion in the port of Beirut, Lebanon.

“It is ongoing in Ukraine, and undoubtedly we will need to stand together in the future, working as a team, for if one of us drowns, we all drown. Is that not the major lesson from the pandemic? Time and again we look around and we see people and companies standing with us, springing to action to show we care.”

The auction sale came about after Ukrainian supermarket chain Silpo was unable to sell a hand-picked barrel of Rebel Bourbon because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, the retailer and Luxco mutually agreed to end the partnership with no money changing hands.

Following this, the Rebel Bourbon barrel pick was donated to The Spirits Business for auction, with the publication selecting Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal to receive the proceeds.

The Rebel Bourbon barrel contained whiskey sitting at 56.5% ABV. The brand’s barrel picks usually sell for at least £8,000 (US$9,550).

Greg Mefford, international sales director at Luxco, commented: “This barrel of Rebel Distillers Collection was hand-picked in January of 2022 for the Retail chain Silpo in the Ukrainian market. As we started to plan the bottling of this bourbon in February 2022, the war in Ukraine broke out and changed the path of this cask.

“We are appreciative of The Spirits Business’ team and their efforts to make this auction possible, with funds helping those affected by the war. We are also especially grateful to the Saybrex organisation for being the winning bidder and helping us to help others. Thank you to all those who helped make this possible.”