Most guys who love basketball and a good pour remember Cliff Hagan as the slick-shooting, hook-shot master who helped the St. Louis Hawks beat Bill Russell’s Celtics for the 1958 NBA title. What a lot of folks don’t realize is that long after the final buzzer, the man they called “Li’l Abner” never really left Owensboro, Kentucky. He came home, poured his heart into kids, and now, at ninety-plus years young, the local Boys & Girls Club that carries his name is raising a glass to him, literally.
Starting December 1st, only one hundred bottles of something called Top Cat Bourbon will hit the shelf, and every single dollar goes straight to the Mike Horn Unit of the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club. This isn’t some celebrity cash-grab with a famous name slapped on the label. This is Owensboro honoring one of its own the best way Kentucky knows how, with a damn fine Kentucky straight bourbon.
The juice itself comes from Casey Jones Distillery down in Hopkinsville. They took a four-year-old straight bourbon, bottled it at a solid 100 proof, and handed the keys to the Club, and said, “Go make something special.” The folks at the Club didn’t mess around. The front label proudly reads “Top Cat Bourbon” (Hagan’s old University of Kentucky nickname), and the back tells his story: Owensboro High School star, 1951 and 1952 NCAA champion with the Wildcats, two-time All-American, six-time NBA All-Star, Hall of Fame inductee in 1978, and the only man in history to win an NCAA ring and an NBA ring while wearing the same number 6.
Kalie Winkler, the director of resource development and marketing for the Club, can barely contain her excitement when she talks about it. “We’re kicking off the series with the legendary ‘Top Cat Bourbon,’ named in honor of our hometown basketball icon and our organization’s namesake, Mr. Cliff Hagan,” she said. “This exquisite bourbon is as legendary as the man himself.”
She’s not exaggerating about the “series” part either. This Top Cat release is only bottle number one in what the Club is calling the Owensboro Greats Collection. For the next ten years, every December they plan to drop a new limited-edition bourbon celebrating another local hero, whether it’s a coach, a businessman, a war hero, or somebody who just made the town prouder. One hundred bottles, one new legend each year. Simple as that.
If you want one of these first hundred, you’d better be standing outside Barrel Heads Liquor Market & Tasting Bar on Frederica Street when the doors open at 10 a.m. sharp on December 1st. They’re $120 apiece, cash or card, and Dallas Caldwell (the owner) is enforcing a hard five-bottle limit so more folks get a shot. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever. No second batch, no reprints.
Winkler made sure to call out the partners who made it happen. “We really want to thank all of our friends at Casey Jones Distillery for helping us bring this dream to life,” she said. “They were an incredible business to work with, and we look forward to the future of our Owensboro Greats Collection with them.” She saved an extra thank-you for Caldwell and the Barrel Heads crew too: “We can’t begin to explain how much their generosity means to us to help us bring our Top Cat Bourbon home to sell here in Owensboro.”
Walk into the Mike Horn Unit any afternoon and you’ll see why every penny matters. Kids shooting hoops in the same gym where Cliff himself once ruled the court, teenagers getting homework help, little ones eating a hot meal they might not get otherwise. The money from these bottles pays for all of it, lights, balls, mentors, and the chance for the next kid from Owensboro to dream bigger than the city limits around him.
So yeah, you’re buying a bottle of well-aged Kentucky bourbon at barrel strength. But you’re also buying a piece of history signed by a man who beat Russell and Chamberlain in their prime, who came home and spent the rest of his life making sure the kids here had the same shot he did.
Only a hundred bottles. One morning. One town.
If you’re anywhere close to Owensboro on December 1st, set the alarm a little early. A pour this smooth, with a story this good, doesn’t come around twice.
