PENDLETON — Just before this year’s Round-Up, the Pendleton Liquor Store saw a sharp increase in profits when a customer purchased 150 bottles of Pendleton Director’s Reserve 20-year-old Blended Canadian Whisky on behalf of an unnamed local rancher. The rare, mellow whisky was made by Hood River Distillers in celebration of the 95th Pendleton Round-Up in 2005. Only 7,500 collector’s edition bottles were made in four sizes: colt, bronco, pony and stallion.

The Director’s Reserve bottles sold for $75 apiece. For the unknown rancher, the check for all 150 bottles came to $11,000.

“We don’t know who it is,” says Olga Haley, spokeswoman for Hood River Distillers, “but we suspect they like to entertain.”

The next edition of Pendleton Director’s Reserve will mark the 100th anniversary of the Pendleton Round-Up in 2010.