How to get this year’s $5,000 Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby mint julep
Kentucky Derby fans, heads up: Here’s your one chance to get a real, made-from-scratch mint julep at Churchill Downs on the day of the big race.
And it’s doozy: The Woodford Reserve $5,000 Mint Julep Charity Cup.
The annual special cups are handcrafted and must be purchased in advance online at shop.woodfordreserve.com/woodford-reserve-1k-and-5k-mint-julep-cup.
The cups were unveiled April 8 at a press conference at Churchill Downs.
You pick up at Churchill Downs on either Kentucky Oaks Day (Friday, May 2) or Kentucky Derby Day (Saturday, May 3), where your drink will be made just for you at the $5,000 Mint Julep Cup Experience, possibly by Woodford Reserve master distiller Elizabeth McCall.
Aren’t there mint juleps all over the Downs?
All the other mint juleps you see at the track, in Kentucky Derby glasses? Those are a pre-mixed and bottled mint julep liqueur. Is it as good? Let’s just say this is more special and leave it at that.
This year, there are a total of 151 cups — 51 fine polished pewter available for $1,000 each, and 100 sterling silver with heavy 24 karat gold plate available for $5,000 each.
The cups honor the legendary fillies that conquered the Derby: Regret (1915), Genuine Risk (1980) and Winning Colors (1988.)
“As we anticipate the 151st Run for the Roses, we celebrate the exceptional fillies who have etched their names in Derby history,” McCall said in a news release. “Perhaps this year we will witness the crowning of another champion filly.”
Net proceeds from this year’s julep cups will benefit Our Mims Retirement Haven, a sanctuary outside Paris, Kentucky, for retired fillies and broodmares, named after the 1977 Eclipse Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, Our Mims.
“We are honored that the Woodford Reserve team selected us as the philanthropic partner of their mint julep charity cup program this year,” said Pete Mirabito, president of Our Mims, in the release. “Fillies and mares are the backbone of the industry. This partnership will allow us to further rescue, revitalize and care for these retired thoroughbred racehorses and broodmares.”
The cups are specially created each year. This year’s $5,000 cups, crafted by Louisville jeweler From The Vault and designed by Josh Merideth of Makers Agency, are embellished with lab-grown white and pink sapphires.
If you’d like to approximate the experience at home, put on your best Derby finery and then make this recipe:
The Filly Mint Julep
- 2 ounces of Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- one barspoon of simple syrup
- one sprig of Chocolate Mint
- one sprig of Peppermint
- one sprig of Spearmint
Mix the bourbon and simple syrup in the bottom of a julep cup, then fill with crushed ice and garnish with the three sprigs of mint. Enjoy.
