4 Limited-Edition, Artist-Designed Liquor Bottles You Should Buy Now

We love it when a liquor brand taps an artist to design a beautiful, limited-edition bottle because it makes our bar cart look that much cooler.

This winter, there was no shortage of awesome collaborations, but these four stood out the most. Try to snag one for yourself before they’re all gone.

Buchanan’s DeLuxe Blended Scotch Whisky x J Balvin Limited Edition

This custom design of Buchanan’s award-winning, 12-year-old blend was created by global Latin music artist J Balvin, who has partnered with the brand for its Es Nuestro Momento campaign since 2016. The exclusive release marks the brand’s first-ever product collaboration and represents its commitment to celebrating the greatness of the Latin community. J Balvin has pursued his dreams and pushed boundaries in music, making significant contributions to mass culture while staying true to his roots. Through the J Balvin limited edition design, the brand toasts the impact of Latin culture on art, music, fashion and beyond, and all those leaving their mark on the world.

During the multi-year partnership, the brand and J Balvin have worked to bring the Es Nuestro Momento spirit to life. Together, they have celebrated rising music talent, giving producers and creators a chance to feature J Balvin on a track. Buchanan’s Blended Scotch Whisky has also sponsored Balvin’s last two U.S. tours, encouraging fans of legal drinking age to “leave their mark” at the brand’s Casa Buchanan’s tour experience. Most recently, they have spotlighted artistic talent with a national pack design contest. The Buchanan’s DeLuxe Blended Scotch Whisky x J Balvin Limited Edition Design will be available wherever fine spirits are sold with a suggested retail price of $31.

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Hennessy V.S Collector’s Edition by Vhils

Hennessy collaborated with artist Alexandre Farto—aka “Vhils”—to release a work of art in its own right. The V.S Collector’s Edition by Vhils was unveiled for the first time on December 5th at a private event in Miami during the city’s renowned Art Basel festival. The limited release includes 100 individual pieces that are hand-signed and designed using Vhils’ famed “making the invisible visible” technique for which he has become a global phenomenon. For Hennessy, Vhils’ approach to his art is a fitting metaphor for the art of Cognac-making: both rely on the unpredictable, immutable force of time and elements. For each, the creative process is a poetic quest to make the invisible visible.

The Hennessy Very Special Collector’s Edition is a multi-dimensional case made of several layers of colored resin that have been chiseled, spliced and peeled away, layer by layer, to reveal the bottle within. Each layer of acrylic is printed with a design that pays tribute to Hennessy’s rich heritage, inspired by vintage advertisements and posters found by the Lisbon-based artist within Hennessy’s archives. The order and arrangement of layers in each Collector’s Edition is unique, revealing different images that vary based on the angle of observation. The original artwork is the most intricate and personal piece in Vhils’ multi-faceted collaboration with Hennessy. The Hennessy Very Special Collector’s Edition by Vhils is available for purchase at Clos19.

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Woodford Reserve 2019 Kentucky Derby Bottle

Woodford Reserve just releases its 2019 Kentucky Derby bottle, which will be available in stores starting March 2019. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Derby bottle and a special year-long exhibit at the Frazier History Museum—the start of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in downtown Louisville—to celebrate that milestone. This year’s limited-edition Derby bottle features the colorful artwork of Keith Anderson and showcases thoroughbreds racing across the front. This is the second year that Anderson has been chosen to have his work featured on the collectible annual release.

All 20 Woodford Reserve Derby bottles, the original artworks used to design the labels and other artifacts—including specialty glasses and Woodford Reserve’s $1,000 Mint Julep cups, which are sold on Derby Day for charity—will be on display in Woodford Reserve & the Kentucky Derby: Two Decades of Artistry, Bourbon and Horse Racing, a temporary exhibit at the Frazier Museum. The exhibit, which opens March 20 and runs for one year, will be housed within The Spirit of Kentucky, a large permanent exhibition about the history, craft and culture of Kentucky bourbon that the Frazier opened last August. The 2019 Kentucky Derby bottle hits shelves nationwide and globally with a suggested retail price of $43.99. It can also be purchased starting today at ReserveBar in approved states.

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Crystal Head Vodka John Alexander Artist Series Bottle

Crystal Head Vodka’s bottle is already one of the coolest on the market, but their first limited-edition version is truly collection-worthy. John Alexander is the creator of the signature Crystal Head bottle, a design that is an exact rendering of a human skull. He is a renowned American artist whose work can be found in museums across the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Known as a painter of environmentally-conscious landscapes and satirical figurative work, this limited-edition bottle finish is derived from Alexander’s expressive 1988 oil painting ‘Dancing on the Water Liles of Life,’ which is currently on display in the Dallas Museum of Art. The decoration process of these limited-edition bottles takes place in a small artisanal workshop in Milan. Each of the 25,000 bottles have been hand-decorated by one of three highly-skilled craftsmen, and then numbered to further emphasize its scarcity.

Crystal Head Vodka is additive-free and crafted using the highest quality sweet corn, then blended with pristine water from St. John’s, Newfoundland. It’s four times distilled before being filtered seven times, three of which are filtered through 10,000 Herkimer diamonds. The John Alexander Artist Series No.1 bottle is available in a 750 mL format with a suggested retail price of $149.95.