Kash Patel's Alleged Drink of Choice Revealed: Woodford Reserve Bourbon Whiskey, Price, and Where to Buy

FBI Director Kash Patel, 46, has been seen bringing personalized bottles of Woodford Reserve bourbon to official engagements and distributing them to bureau staff and civilians, according to The Atlantic on Wednesday, citing eight current and former FBI and Department of Justice employees.

Each 750ml bottle of the Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey carries a custom engraving reading 'Kash Patel FBI Director' alongside the FBI shield, his preferred stylisation 'Ka$h', and the number 9, described by the publication as a likely reference to his position among bureau directors. Some are also signed.

Brown-Forman, the parent company behind the brand, quickly moved to distance itself. Elizabeth Conway, a company spokesperson, told Kentucky Lantern that such engravings typically happen after the point of purchase through local retailers. Conway added that the company has 'no records indicating this engraving occurred at the Woodford Reserve Distillery.'

Patel and his team have reportedly used a Department of Justice aircraft to transport the branded whiskey.

During a February trip to Milan for the Winter Olympics, he was filmed sharing drinks with the gold medal-winning US men's hockey team, and one personalised bottle was later found in an Italian locker room. That behaviour reportedly did not sit well with President Donald Trump, who does not drink.

A separate incident reportedly unfolded in March at the FBI's Quantico training facility, where Patel had brought at least one case for a seminar involving Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes. When a bottle went missing, he allegedly threatened staff with polygraph tests and prosecution.

In a statement to The Atlantic, the bureau framed the practice as longstanding, calling branded gifts 'part of a tradition in the FBI that started well over a decade ago.' It added that Patel 'has followed all applicable ethical guidelines and pays for any personal gift himself.'

Inside Woodford Reserve: Price, Flavour, and Where to Buy

Woodford Reserve is produced at a distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, where bourbon has been made since 1812. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000, the site is home to the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby and one of the more recognised names in American whiskey.

Its flagship expression is built on a mash bill of 72 per cent corn, 18 per cent rye, and 10 per cent malted barley, triple-distilled in copper pot stills and bottled at 90.4 proof (45.2 per cent ABV).

According to its official website, the bourbon contains more than 200 detectable flavour notes spanning dried fruit, cocoa, vanilla, caramel, and cinnamon. It holds 14 gold medals, including a Double Gold at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Wine Enthusiast has scored it 93 points.

A standard 750ml bottle typically costs between £27 and £38 ($36 to $43). UK shoppers can find it at Majestic Wine for £26 ($34), Amazon UK for roughly £27 ($36), and Tesco for £37.50 ($50). Across the US, it is stocked at chains such as Total Wine and Binny's, and can be ordered through the distillery's own online shop.

Drinking Allegations and Why Patel's Bourbon Gifts Matter

Wednesday's story lands against the backdrop of an earlier April investigation by The Atlantic, in which two dozen anonymous sources alleged that Patel had alarmed colleagues with heavy drinking and stretches of being unreachable. On one occasion, his security detail was reportedly unable to rouse him behind locked doors.

Patel denied those claims and filed a £189 million ($250 million) defamation suit against The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick. The FBI has since opened a leak investigation into the journalist, a move widely described as unusual given no classified material was involved.

Congressional Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have seized on the bottles as political ammunition. Inside the bureau, the response has been quieter but no less sharp. George Hill, a former supervisory intelligence analyst, told The Atlantic that handing out branded liquor at the country's premier law enforcement agency left him 'frightened for the country.'

For Woodford Reserve, a brand built on two centuries of Kentucky craftsmanship and Derby Day tradition, the association with Washington's latest political flashpoint was entirely uninvited.