BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A Bowling Green man wants to be a millionaire. Michael Vincent is selling a rare and historic bottle of bourbon for $1 million on eBay.

What You Need To Know

  •  The bottle of bourbon is from 1901 and the  J.T. Doores Company Distillery

  •  The bottle was handmade in Bowling Green 

  • Michael Vincent wants to sell it for $1 million and donate a portion to charity

  • The auction is set to go until the end of September

However, this is not just any bottle of bourbon. According to Vincent, the owner of Frigg N’ Digg N’ Antiques, the bottle has survived for over 120 years.

“We decided to put it at a million dollars because of history and the history of bourbon itself,” Vincent said.

According to Vincent, the bourbon is a J.T. Doores Company Distillery, pint-sized flask bourbon bottle. Vincent says Doores usually made stone bottles, so glass ones are rare to find. 

“Back in the day, they made three gallon and one gallon stone jugs or ceramic jugs, which, in this case, this is glass,” Vincent said. “So, with it being found where it was, I’m surprised that it’s still in the condition that it is.”

The bottle was made in 1901. It has its original cork, glass top, and even some of its original content, and according to Vincent, it’s the only one that’s still known in existence. It was also supposedly made by hand.

“This part of the bottle was poured into two separate dyes up until this part, which a skilled craftsmen would then heat up some glass and apply the top by hand,” Vincent said.

What makes it even more significant is that the bottle lasted through the Prohibition Era, a time where alcohol was illegal to manufacture, transport and sell.

The bottle itself was distilled in Bowling Green, on 314 East Main Avenue. The former distillery is now a locally owned bakery, called Awaken Bakery.

The owners were shown the historical artifact that came from their shop’s location, and were pleasantly surprised that such an object derived from the location they work at, with co-owner Richard Post saying “You learn something new every day.”

Vincent intends on keeping 75% of the money for his entrepreneurship goals, and donating 25% to St. Jude’s Hospital.

“It’s more about being able to bless the community,” Vincent said.

No one has met the $1 million goal, but Vincent will take bids less than that. Bidding will continue until the end of September.

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