Life-saving gift to Jim Beam distiller leads to rare Kentucky bourbon sweepstakes

Janet Patton
·4 min read
2

In the spring of 2021, bourbon maker Fred Noe received the gift of a new kidney, donated by a co-worker at Jim Beam and transplanted by doctors at the University of Kentucky HealthCare.

Now Noe is giving back, in the way he knows best: With Kentucky bourbon.

Noe selected a single barrel of bourbon that was bottled for the first Booker’s Single Barrel Bourbon selection, dubbed “Second Chance Batch.” But you can’t buy it in stores. It’s only available through one charity, Medicinal Whiskey Charity.

How Booker’s transplant bourbon came about

Noe, 65, said in an interview with the Herald-Leader on Tuesday that the morning after surgery, his doctor, Dr. Malay Shah at UK, told him about the charity, which helps those in need. His doctor and others buy barrels of bourbon to resell through their charity and donate the profits.

“He said would you be interested in helping us out?” Noe said he talked with his kidney donor and they agreed. But Noe wasn’t sure it would be possible with Booker’s.

Want a chance to win a rare bourbon and help transplant patients? Beam master distiller Fred Noe, who received a kidney transplant in 2021, created a single-barrel Booker’s to raise money for health care.
Want a chance to win a rare bourbon and help transplant patients? Beam master distiller Fred Noe, who received a kidney transplant in 2021, created a single-barrel Booker’s to raise money for health care.

“There’s never been a commercial single-barrel Booker’s. Dad was never a fan of single barrel releases, he liked blending for consistent flavor,” Noe said. But he spoke to Beam leadership. “They said absolutely.”

So the doctors came to the Clermont distillery, where they pulled some special barrels and picked one. Now all the bottles are going to raise money for medical assistance.

Bottles have been auctioned on the Medicinal Whiskey Charity, where a recent bourbon auction raised more than $15,000 for Kentucky Children’s Hospital and the UK Transplant Center, with the special Booker’s selling for $6,275.

How to enter the UK Transplant Center sweepstakes

Now three bottles from that barrel are part of a special sweepstakes to raise money for the UK HealthCare Transplant Center Patient Assistance Fund, which provides support for lodging, travel and dental care for patients seeking transplants.

The sweepstakes opens Dec. 1 and ends Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. ET, with the drawing at 6 p.m. Dec. 15. You can buy tickets online at go.rallyup.com/uktransplantsweeps/Campaign/Details. The more tickets you buy, the less they cost: 10 tickets cost $10, 30 tickets are $25, 75 tickets are $50 and 200 tickets are $100. You can also make a separate donation or enter without a purchase.

Three winners get one bottle each, signed by Beam master distiller Noe, the great-grandson of bourbon pioneer Jim Beam and the face of brands like Knob Creek, Basil Hayden’s and Booker’s Bourbons.

Fred Noe’s transplant journey

Jim Beam master distiller Fred Noe received a kidney from co-worker DeeAnn Hogan in April 2021. Both have recovered completely from their surgeries. Noe has returned to work but turned over most travel and other duties to his son, Freddie.
Jim Beam master distiller Fred Noe received a kidney from co-worker DeeAnn Hogan in April 2021. Both have recovered completely from their surgeries. Noe has returned to work but turned over most travel and other duties to his son, Freddie.

On the label and in an insert, Noe tells how he followed in the footsteps of his father, Booker Noe, in work and in health. “He had kidney problems that I expected to also develop with age.”

In December 2021, Noe went public, announcing that he’d had a kidney transplant earlier that year.

One of his co-workers, DeeAnn Hogan, plant coordinator at the company’s distilleries in Clermont and Boston found out Noe needed a kidney. She checked to see if they were compatible, started the screening process and she was a match.

“So on April 23rd, 2021, DeeAnn and I drove to the Transplant Center at UK Chandler Hospital together. My wife and her husband couldn’t come in, so it was just me and her. My second chance. Our surgeries went off without a hitch,” Noe said in the note.

Noe said since then he’s had “a new lease on life. And with it, I wanted to do something for the first time to celebrate those who made this journey possible.”

Jim Beam master distiller Fred Noe and DeeAnn Hogan have remained in touch after she donated a kidney to him. They text each other daily and remind each other to walk and take care.
Jim Beam master distiller Fred Noe and DeeAnn Hogan have remained in touch after she donated a kidney to him. They text each other daily and remind each other to walk and take care.

This bourbon is “from one barrel in the sweet spot of dad’s favorite rickhouse, handpicked by me and my friends at the Medicinal Whiskey Charity, for my friends at UK HealthCare,” Noe said. “The taste is full of big, bold discoveries. It stands apart from everything else and should be celebrated.

“Just like DeeAnn and my friends at the University.”

Encouraging organ donation

Noe said on Tuesday that he has been sharing his story to encourage more people to consider organ donation.

“It’s no secret, tell the story, get the word out. If it helps even one person it’s worth it,” Noe said. “It’s always great to give back when you’ve been given a gift like that.”

He said that he and his donor agreed to help the Medicinal Whiskey Charity, which raises money for underfunded health charities throughout the South, because they want to make a difference.

“I get tore up every time I talk about it, that somebody would give you that kind of a gift. I’m tickled to death to help them out,” he said. “We’re hoping to raise some pretty good money.”