The $2,000 Mint Julep

The Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, today. Although the event is a horse race, it’s not just a horse race. The Derby has quite a few traditions that must be carried out, and one is the imbibing of mint juleps: mint leaves, crushed ice, sugar, and Bourbon. The Bourbon will be flowing fast today, and the price varies.  

Churchill Downs estimates it sells about 120,000 of them each year for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks for fillies and Saturday’s Derby. At the track, they go for $11 with a souvenir glass on Friday-Saturday (up from $10 earlier in the week).

For the ninth year, Woodford Reserve, official bourbon of the Derby, has mint juleps at steeper prices. It is offering 79 of them at $1,000 each and another ten at $2,000 each. The engraved cups this year have a gold-plated medallion of a horse and a garland of roses. Woodford says proceeds benefit the Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Center for former race horses and that more than $354,000 has been raised with the program.

Read more about mint juleps at USA Today. Learn more about Old Friends Farm in a previous post. -via a comment at Metafilter

(Image credit: Flickr user Richard Crowley)