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Bourbon fanatics camp out to buy rare piece of history

Would you stand in line for an $1800 bottle of bourbon?

LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) -- A rare bourbon, barreled for 45 years, and bottled in Bardstown, Kentucky is now in the hands of a select few who camped out overnight in Louisville.

The bottles didn't come cheap. Each came at a price of $1,800 plus tax. The bourbon is a product of the old Glenmore Distilleries from the early 1970s before it was acquired by the Guinness company.

"It's older than most people in the line. Most of us told our bosses we were sick today," one woman said, staying out of sight from the cameras.

So, they came to the Frazier History Museum to get some 'medicine.'

"He's a bourbon fanatic. I'm more into wine, but I'm a good wife. That's why I'm here," a woman from Atlanta said.

The doors opened at 9 a.m. Thursday for the museum's first packaged liquor sale.

"It's just a unique bottle that doesn't come out very often," one man in line said.

Engraved on the bottle: Final Reserve, James Thompson & Brother Bourbon.

"It's a piece of history. Like artwork," another man from California said.

For Sean Kelly, of Louisville, this high-priced purchase was his first and likely his last.

"I have a wife and I want to keep her," Kelly said. "How about you? Would you spend this kind of money on a bourbon?"

The bourbon's owner, James "Buddy" Thompson met each buyer in person before signing every bottle.

"Some of them, they just like to collect old bourbon, and that's fine. But they're doing it for a great cause," Thompson said.

Fewer than 160 bottles were available at today's event. They sold out within 2 hours of the sale, with 90 percent of profits benefiting veterans groups. The last 10 percent will stay at the Frazier History Museum.

The first two bottles were presented to the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.

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