Blue Run’s Bears bottle: a high-rye bourbon in team colors

A butterfly in Bears colors

The butterfly is unmistakably Blue Run, but this one trades a single color for navy, white and orange stripes. A Bears neck band and gold seal complete the football connection. Underneath the team design, the front label identifies the whiskey as Kentucky straight high-rye bourbon, bottled at 111 proof.

A Coors Spirits Co. press release dated 15 October 2025, published by BevNET, explains the commemorative design: Blue Run partnered with the Chicago Bears to mark 40 years since the team’s 1985 championship season. The announcement describes a custom butterfly medallion and label treatment, and confirms the 111-proof strength.

The 1985 anniversary tag

The round orange neck tag reads “1985 Bears” and “40th Anniversary Celebration.” Its championship shield makes the commemorative theme explicit. The date refers to the team’s season; it is not an age statement for the bourbon.

Blue Run Chicago Bears bourbon: bottle details

High rye, still bourbon

The rear label gives a particularly useful piece of information: the complete grain recipe. Corn accounts for 65%, rye for 30% and malted barley for 5%. “High rye” describes the recipe of this bourbon; the bottle itself is labeled bourbon whiskey.

Our bourbon guide is the relevant style guide. The American rye whiskey guide is linked for category comparison, rather than as this bottle’s classification. At 55.5% ABV, it also offers a useful reference for our proof and strength guide; the photographed label does not call it cask strength.

Georgetown and Bardstown on the same bottle

The rear reads “From Georgetown, Kentucky,” followed by a separate hand-bottling credit for Blue Run Spirits in Bardstown. Blue Run’s official brand story identifies Georgetown as its birthplace. These place references should not be expanded into an unsupported claim about the specific distillery that produced this bottle.

The handwritten “2026” near the base is retained in the illustration. Its meaning was not supplied, so we do not treat it as an official bottling year, vintage or age. The 1985 reference on the commemorative packaging concerns the Bears season, not the whiskey’s distillation year.

Producer notes, without a tasting score

The commemorative release announcement describes praline and orange peel aromas, brown sugar and stone fruit on the palate, and tea, peach and clove toward the finish. Those are the producer’s notes. We have not assigned a tasting score or presented them as our own experience of this bottle.

Sources and images

The supplied front, rear and anniversary-tag photographs establish strength, volume, recipe and label wording. Blue Run’s official site and the dated Coors Spirits Co. release were checked on 8 November 2026 for brand and edition context. The release’s historical retail information is not evidence of today’s price or availability; no shelf tag or receipt accompanied these photos.

Originals remain private. All three public views are disclosed AI-retouched illustrations with hands and background objects removed, reflections cleaned and the liquid surface adjusted. They are illustrative rather than documentary reproductions. The matching share card uses the front illustration and the bottle facts above.

Sources checked on 8 November 2026. Three contributor photographs supplied on 8 November 2026. Bottle facts come from the originals, retained privately; public views are AI-retouched illustrations. No observed price or tasting notes were supplied. The handwritten 2026 remains unexplained and is not a verified production date.