Staff report
One of Northern Kentucky’s favorite sons, major league baseball player and U.S. Senator, Jim Bunning has been honored by Kentucky Senator Bourbon with its seventh small batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey: The Jim Bunning release.
The limited edition vintage bourbon will hit the shelves later this month and is the brainchild of Kentucky Senator Bourbon’s Damon Thayer, himself a former legislator, and Andre Rigard who launched their bourbon business last year, aiming to return vintage bourbon “to its glory days.”
Jim Bunning (1931-2017) is the only Major League Baseball player elected to both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the United States Senate. He grew up in Southgate — and distinguished himself both in baseball and in the U.S. Senate.
The Jim Bunning Release is aged eight and a half years and bottled at 107 proof. The mash bill consists of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. Approximately 4,000 bottles will be available at a suggested retail price of $119.99, the same price as last year’s award-winning John Edwards release. It marks the seventh small-batch bourbon in the company’s portfolio.
The bourbon is distilled and aged in Kentucky and bottled at Bardstown Bourbon Company. Distribution is handled by Kentucky Eagle Wine & Spirits.
Bunning served two terms in the U.S. Senate from 1999 to 2012. On August 2, 2007, he introduced Senate Resolution 294, which designated September as National Bourbon Heritage Month and established the phrase “America’s Native Spirit” as bourbon’s official designation.
“Jim Bunning gave bourbon its official recognition as America’s Native Spirit, and we’re proud to honor that contribution,” said co-founder Andre Regard, a direct descendant of bourbon pioneer Basil Hayden. “This vertical series allows collectors to experience how this bourbon develops with an additional year of aging.”
“Bunning’s Senate Resolution 294 was a landmark moment for the bourbon industry,” said co-founder Damon Thayer, a 2025 inductee into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame for his legislative advocacy work. “This release, and the continuation of our vertical series, reflects our commitment to both quality and Kentucky’s bourbon heritage.”
The Jim Bunning Release will be available at select Kentucky retailers, bars, and restaurants, as well as online at www.BourbonOutfitter.com and www.KySenatorBourbon.com. A limited quantity will be featured at Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, D.C. and the Premier Drams Bottle Shop.
The Jim Bunning Release honors a true Kentucky original who never shied away from a challenge — whether on the pitcher’s mound, say the founders, in the halls of Congress, or standing up for Bourbon itself.
Kentucky Senator Bourbon includes this special biography of Bunning on its website:
Jim Bunning was born in 1931 and grew up in Southgate, His father ran a ladder-manufacturing business and his mother kept the household grounded in Catholic faith and sturdy values.
Competition came naturally.He lettered in three sports in high school, earned an economics degree from Xavier University and in 1952 married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Catherine Theis. They would stay married for more than 60 years and raise nine children together.
Bunning signed with the Detroit Tigers in 1950, but honored his parents’ wishes and finished college first. When he finally arrived in the majors, he made it count. By 1957, he led the American League in wins. A year later, he threw a no-hitter. Over 17 seasons, he earned nine All-Star selections and built a reputation as one of the most durable competitors in the game.
But his defining moment came on Father’s Day, 1964.
Bunning was a Philadelphia Phillie by then, with something to prove and seven kids waiting back home. On June 21, at Shea Stadium, he took the mound against the Mets. Twenty-seven batters came to the plate. Twenty-seven sat back down. A perfect game. The first in the National League in 84 years.
In the ninth inning, catcher Gus Triandos walked out to calm him. Bunning asked if Triandos could tell him a joke. Triandos just laughed and walked back behind the plate. Bunning struck out the final two batters to seal history.
“It couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time,” he said.
When he retired in 1971, Bunning had 224 wins and 2,855 strikeouts. The Phillies retired his number 14. Cooperstown followed in 1996.
To this day, he remains the only Major League player ever elected to both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the United States Senate.
After baseball, Bunning brought his competitive fire into politics — city council, state senate, U.S. House, then two terms in the U.S. Senate from 1999 to 2011. Bold, plainspoken, and fiercely independent, he never backed down on budgets, principle, or the Commonwealth.
It was during those Senate years that Bunning made his most lasting mark on Bourbon. On August 2, 2007, he introduced Senate Resolution 294, officially designating September as National Bourbon Heritage Month. Bunning’s resolution gave Bourbon an enduring title: “America’s Native Spirit.” That phrase now lives on distillery walls, in tasting rooms, and in the hearts of Bourbon lovers everywhere.
Jim Bunning passed away in 2017 at 85. He left behind a legacy that, like a fine Bourbon, only deepened with time.
His name-sake bourbon honors him well, says its creators: “old, uncompromising, and distinctly Kentucky. Raise a glass to Jim Bunning — number 14 on the mound and number 1 in our hearts. Hall of Famer. Senator. And a true champion of America’s Native Spirit.”