Does FBI Director Kash Patel give bottles of bourbon as gifts to staff and civilians?

Claim:

FBI Director Kash Patel provides personalized bottles of bourbon as gifts to staff and civilians.

Rating:

True (About this rating?)

Context:

FBI officials confirmed in emails to Snopes that the bottles exist and that Patel uses them in formal gift exchanges. A senior FBI official said Patel reimburses the federal agency for any bottles he provides as personal gifts. The same senior official added that the bottles predated Patel's time as FBI director, but did not provide further details about their origins or when the custom engravings for Patel were added.

A rumor circulating online in May 2026 claimed FBI Director Kash Patel kept a "stash" of personalized bourbon bottles that he gave away to FBI staff and civilians.

An X post (archived) that included a photograph of Patel drinking a bottle of beer in the U.S. men's hockey team locker room at the 2026 Winter Olympics and an image of a supposed bottle of bourbon bearing his name and an FBI seal read, "Patel gifts custom engraved bottles of bourbon to FBI employees and friends."

Facebook pages also shared the claim, including the page of satirist and comedian Andy Borowitz, whose post read "I'm not making this up" before recounting the rumor. In addition, Snopes readers emailed and searched the website seeking to confirm whether the story was legitimate. 

The claim stemmed from a May 6, 2026, report in The Atlantic by Sarah Fitzpatrick, which included photographs of a personalized bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon bearing Patel's name.

Three weeks before, Fitzpatrick reported that Patel had "alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences." In response, Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine and Fitzpatrick after the article's publication.

While Fitzpatrick did not name her sources, FBI officials confirmed in emailed statements to Snopes that the bourbon bottles exist and that Patel uses them in "formal gift exchanges." A senior FBI official also told Snopes that Patel reimburses the federal agency for any bottles he provides as personal gifts. For this reason, we've rated the claim true.

The senior FBI official also said the bottles predated Patel's time as FBI director but did not provide further details about their origins or when the custom engravings for Patel were added.

Meanwhile, Chris Poynter, a spokesman for Woodford Reserve's parent company told Snopes via text message that "anyone over [the age of] 21 can buy our products at retail stores."

"Consumers who purchase Woodford Reserve occasionally have images and messages engraved on the bottle," Poynter added. "These engravings occur after the point of purchase."

Fitzpatrick declined to comment in response to our questions about her reporting process.

The Atlantic report

In the May 6 story, Fitzpatrick reported that following her previous report on Patel's alleged heavy drinking, people close to the FBI director and people who met him during events contacted her saying he often traveled with personalized bourbon bottles he offered as gifts, including on a plane belonging to the Department of Justice.

Fitzpatrick also said that one such bottle had appeared on an online auction site.

The report included a photograph of one of Patel's alleged bourbon bottles, engraved with his name, his title ("FBI Director") and a seal bearing his name, as well as the words "Director" "Federal Bureau of Investigation" and "Department of Justice." The other side of the bottle bore the brand "Woodford Reserve," Patel's apparent signature and "#9." The bottle's signature matches one found on a book attributed to Patel in an eBay listing (archived), though we could not independently confirm the signature's authenticity. 

Fitzpatrick quoted eight unnamed sources in her report. In addition, she said an FBI spokesperson had told her the personalized gifted bottles were "not unusual" as "commemorative gifts." 

What FBI told Snopes

FBI spokesman Ben Williamson confirmed to Snopes via email that Patel provides the bottles in question as gifts. He said:

The Atlantic's premise is false and misleading. The bottles in question are part of a common practice in the FBI that started well over a decade ago, long before Director Patel arrived. Senior Bureau officials have long exchanged commemorative items in formal gift settings consistent with ethics rules. Director Patel has followed all applicable ethical guidelines and pays for any personal gift himself.

By labeling The Atlantic's "premise" as "false and misleading," Williamson appeared to contest the suggestion that this was an abnormal practice within the FBI. Neither he nor anyone else with the FBI provided further information.

In addition, a senior FBI official who declined to be named told Snopes in an email that "the bottles were created by the FBI long ago and already existed, with FBI branding, when Director Patel arrived at the Bureau." In a follow-up email, we asked who had originally ordered these bottles as well as when and where they had been customized to add Patel's name and seal, but the spokesperson declined to elaborate.

Further, the bottles were for "formal gift exchanges," according to the senior official. "If Director Patel ever provided one as a personal gift, he reimbursed the Bureau," the official added.

The official added that Patel had "never consumed the alcohol" and that he and the FBI had always followed the ethical guidelines. It was unclear which guidelines the official was referring to and we replied asking for a document outlining them. 

Fitzpatrick said in her report that her sources told her this was not a usual practice, contrary to the FBI officials' assertions.

We will update this story should we learn more.

For further reading, Snopes reviewed Patel's history of alcohol-related arrests following Fitzpatrick's April 17 report.

Do you have more information on this topic? Send Snopes a message, or reach out to this reporter on Signal at rascouetsnopes.41 or via email at anna@snopes.com.

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