Bourbon Bonanza is set to take place in Louisville on Saturday, August 29, and this year looks like it’s going to be another great event. This whiskey charity started over a decade ago in 2015 when some whiskey-obsessed friends partnered with lauded chef Sean Brock to throw a party to raise money for charity by pouring some vintage Stitzel-Weller whiskey. Over the years, Bourbon Bonanza has raised well over a million dollars for various non-profit organizations, and it shows no signs of slowing down. We spoke to organizers Quintin Wise and Mike Jasinski and Drew Kulsveen of Willett, the event’s exclusive whiskey partner, to find out more about the history of Bourbon Bonanza and what to expect this year.

It's like $250,000 of whiskey that we poured. The VIP section was all 1940s bottled–in-bond whiskeys, an awesome selection.

The Unicorn Review: Tell me about the origins of Bourbon Bonanza.

Jasinski: The first event was April 29th, 2015 at Jack Rose Dining Saloon in DC. At the time, I was a pretty serious dusty hunter and chef Sean Brock really wanted a bottle for an epic 40th birthday party. He was in search of a 1982 Old Weller Original, and I happened to have one. I'm kind of weird about selling bottles, so I told him, “Hey, I'll give it to you if you do something for my charity,” thinking he was gonna shout out the charity's name on Facebook. At the time, the charity that I was operating was called Jeeps for Joy.

Brock said, “Let's do a whiskey event.” So I dug through my stash and found a bunch of bottles of Stitzel-Weller whiskey. At the first event, the only thing we poured for general admission was original Stitzel-Weller. Thinking about it today, it's kind of crazy because now it's like $250,000 of whiskey that we poured. The VIP section was all 1940s bottled–in-bond whiskeys, an awesome selection.

Everybody had so much fun at the first event, we followed it up with Whiskey Pig in Bardstown. It became an annual event until 2019 when momentum kind of slowed down. And then in 2021, Quentin [Wise] was like, “Do you want to bring this back?” That takes us to 2022 in Seattle, which was kind of the reinvigoration of the event. Since 2022, we've donated probably five times the amount of money we did from 2015 to 2018. It just keeps accelerating.

Kulsveen: It was just kind of remarkable that we were able to pull this fun event off. You know, it was small, 200 people-is—have great food, great whiskey, great conversations, and then also benefit local charities. That was the silver lining.

What was the interest in dusty and vintage whiskey like back when you started over a decade ago?

Jasinski: It was easy to do something like this at Jack Rose in the beginning because there's a built-in fan base. DC and Seattle are probably the greatest whiskey towns in the United States, as far as educated consumers. Anytime we do an event in DC or Seattle, we know it's going to sell out. We know it's going to be awesome. We know there's going to be a bunch of people there who absolutely love the older bottles and what we do.

Do you raise money for different charities each year?

Wise: Every city that we do an event in, part of the money stays in that city and part of the money goes back to Nelson County [Kentucky] charities. We always want to remember the roots and help out the backyard of Willett, the place where bourbon is made. But we also want to help the local community that is supporting the event.

We have to keep one upping ourselves. I don't think that resting on our laurels is something that we want to do.

How much money have you raised over the years?

Jasinski: We’ve raised $1.7 million so far, and that money went directly to charity. I could not even tell you how much money the events actually brought in because they pay for themselves with tickets, and then the auctions is where we get our money to donate. This year is the first year that we've done multiple events in a year under the Bourbon Bonanza umbrella. The four events that we did are satellite events.

How did you develop your relationship with Unicorn?

Wise: The relationship with Unicorn was really serendipitous. In 2024, we were doing the main event in Chicago. Emerson Shotwell, who works with us as kind of a VP relations guy, had met with them the week prior and planted the seed with Phil and Cody. Then Mike Miller from Delilah's sealed the deal, and we brought him on to be the sponsor of the VIP area of the Chicago event in 2024. Then last year we decided, in real Unicorn style, to make it bigger and better. I think that Bourbon Bonanza and Unicorn both have the same mentality. We have to keep one upping ourselves. I don't think that resting on our laurels is something that we want to do.

You open a bottle and it’s meant to be shared with friends. It creates a sense of community right off the bat.

Is there something different or special about the whiskey community, such as it is, that helps to bring people together to donate money or bid on bottles for a good cause?

Wise: I think it’s the idea of sharing a bottle of whiskey. You open a bottle and it’s meant to be shared with friends. It creates a sense of community right off the bat. What we’ve experienced is that 99 percent of people in whiskey are really great people. When you have similar interests, whether it be high-end whiskey or high-end cigars or food, you typically gravitate to those people.

Kulsveen: We have people traveling from Japan and from Europe just to come to this event. This is unheard of. Yes, people come into town for different bourbon events throughout the year, but to come to this one specific event because it's such an amazing community of people that get together, these are the best of the best in terms of food and beverage. And it's changing every year, it's adapting, it's getting better.

Where are the bottles actually coming from? Are they donations?

Jasinski: Most of the auction bottles are donation bottles. The bottles that we pour are a mix of what's been sent to us from Willett, which is our major partner, and then also from the bars that participate. They all donate eight to 10 bottles each to pour off at the event. And it's the same with Unicorn, which donates a whole bunch of bottles that they're pouring off in the VIP section. 

What are some highlights from over the years?

Jasinski: The first one that kind of broke the Bonanza wide open is when Bill Murray showed up in 2016 and put on the “Bill Murray show.” He was a guest of Sean Brock. After that, it just blew up. People see that and go crazy.

My personal highlight was being able to donate $260,000 last year to a charity in Bardstown called Bethany Haven. They were able to build a day center for homeless people in Nelson County. Most homeless shelters generally aren't open during the day. So this is a game-changer for how they're handling the homeless in Nelson County. It’s gonna be named Even’s Place after Even Kulsveen. We made the donation about two or three weeks after Even passed. We wanted to give a tribute to the Kulsveen family for how generous they've been with us over the last 11 years.

Kulsveen: Everywhere has its own set of issues and challenges, but it's good to be part of this community, and the ability to give back is pretty amazing. The first couple of years we donated to Guthrie Opportunity Center. It’s an amazing not-for-profit that helps people with physical and mental disabilities get into the workforce, which is extremely challenging. They were able to build a greenhouse, grow produce, these are things that are really impactful.

To see the growth of the charity event over the years, to be able to make an impact where we can build a day center for people that are really struggling in life… You see your father's name on it, it hits you differently, you know?

How many events a year are you doing? 

Wise: This has always been a once a year event. Last year we raised $510,000. Mike and I had a goal that we would love to raise a million dollars in a year. And we knew the only way that that was ever going to happen was to have more events. So this year, we did four regional events: one in DC, one in Chicago, one in Seattle, and one in Bardstown, with the main event here in Louisville. This is the first year that we've done five events in a year.

My favorite bottle of bourbon that we have ever bottled was for this event. My favorite bottle of rye that we have ever bottled was for this event.

Are there any bottles that you’d like to highlight at this weekend’s event?

Wise: We have an Old Rip 23 decanter that someone donated, that's probably the most spectacular single bottle that we're auctioning off this year. We also have Pappy 15, Michter’s 20. The big auction item is Willett is donating a barrel-picking experience that includes the bottles. Also, this year we are also auctioning off  an experience where you and five guests get to go to the Masters. And after you spend a day there, you have a private dinner and whiskey tasting with Drew Kulsveen, and you get to drink his favorite whiskey which is the 2015 Whiskey Pig.

Kulsveen: My favorite bottle of bourbon that we have ever bottled was for this event. My favorite bottle of rye that we have ever bottled was for this event. And it's not because of this event, it's because I just love the whiskey. It's really cool to see people share these things and get to experience them and just embrace the time together that we get to spend.  Everybody brings a different set of things to the table. We bring the whiskey, other people bring experience and community together, and it's really, really cool.