Exhibit 5.1

		Hogan Lovells US LLP Columbia Square 555 Thirteenth Street, NW Washington, DC 20004 T +1 202 637 5600 F +1 202 637 5910 www.hoganlovells.com

March 26, 2018

Board of Directors

Brown-Forman Corporation

850 Dixie Highway

Louisville, Kentucky 40210

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are acting as special counsel to Brown-Forman Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the Underwriting Agreement, dated March 22, 2018 (the “Underwriting Agreement”), among the Company and Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., as representatives (the “Representatives”) of the several underwriters named in Schedule A thereto, relating to the proposed issuance pursuant to an Indenture dated as of April 2, 2007 (the “Base Indenture”) between the Company and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee (the “Trustee”), as supplemented by the First Supplemental Indenture dated as of December 13, 2010 and the Second Supplemental Indenture dated as of June 24, 2015 (collectively with the Base Indenture, the “Indenture”) of $300,000,000 aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 3.500% Notes due 2025 and $300,000,000 aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 4.000% Notes due 2038 (collectively, the “Notes”) pursuant to the Company’s automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (333-205183) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 24, 2015 (the “Registration Statement”).

This opinion letter is furnished to you at your request to enable you to fulfill the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K, 17 C.F.R. § 229.601(b)(5), in connection with the Registration Statement.

For purposes of this opinion letter, we have examined copies of such agreements, instruments and documents as we have deemed an appropriate basis on which to render the opinions hereinafter expressed. In our examination of the aforesaid documents, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all natural persons, the accuracy and completeness of all documents submitted to us, the authenticity of all original documents, and the conformity to authentic original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies (including pdfs). As to all matters of fact, we have relied on the representations and statements of fact made in the documents so reviewed, and we have not independently established the facts so relied on. This opinion letter is given, and all statements herein are made, in the context of the foregoing.

For the purposes of this opinion letter, we have assumed that (i) the Trustee under the Indenture, has all requisite power and authority under all applicable laws, regulations and governing documents to execute, deliver and perform its obligations under the Indenture and has complied with all legal requirements pertaining to its status as such status relates to the Trustee’s right to enforce the Indenture against the Company, (ii) each party to the Indenture (other than the Company) has duly authorized, executed and delivered the Indenture, (iii) each party to the Indenture (other than the Company) is validly existing and in good standing in all necessary jurisdictions, (iv) the Indenture constitutes a valid and binding obligation, enforceable against the Trustee in accordance with its terms, (v) there has been no material mutual mistake of fact or misunderstanding or fraud, duress or

Hogan Lovells US LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in the District of Columbia. “Hogan Lovells” is an international legal practice that includes Hogan Lovells US LLP and Hogan Lovells International LLP, with offices in: Alicante Amsterdam Baltimore Beijing Birmingham Boston Brussels Colorado Springs Denver Dubai Dusseldorf Frankfurt Hamburg Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Houston Johannesburg London Los Angeles Luxembourg Madrid Mexico City Miami Milan Minneapolis Monterrey Moscow Munich New York Northern Virginia Paris Perth Philadelphia Rio de Janeiro Rome San Francisco São Paulo Shanghai Silicon Valley Singapore Sydney Tokyo Warsaw Washington DC Associated offices: Budapest Jakarta Shanghai FTZ Zagreb. Business Service Centers: Johannesburg Louisville. For more information see www.hoganlovells.com

Board of Directors

Brown-Forman Corporation

March 26, 2018

Page 2

undue influence in connection with the negotiation, execution and delivery of the Indenture, and the conduct of all parties to the Indenture has complied with any requirements of good faith, fair dealing and conscionability, and (vii) there are and have been no agreements or understandings among the parties, written or oral, and there is and has been no usage of trade or course of prior dealing among the parties that would, in either case, define, supplement or qualify the terms of the Indenture. We also have assumed the validity and constitutionality of each relevant statute, rule, regulation and agency action covered by this opinion letter.

This opinion letter is based as to matters of law solely on the applicable provisions of the laws of the State of New York (but not including any laws, statutes, ordinances, administrative decisions, rules or regulations of any political subdivision below the state level), as currently in effect. We express no opinion herein as to any other laws, statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations (and in particular, we express no opinion as to any effect that such other laws, statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations may have on the opinion expressed herein).

Based upon, subject to and limited by the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the Notes have been duly authorized on behalf of the Company and that, following (i) receipt by the Company of the consideration for the Notes specified in the Underwriting Agreement and (ii) the due execution, authentication, issuance and delivery of the Notes pursuant to the terms of the Indenture, the Notes will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company.

This opinion letter has been prepared for use in connection with the filing by the Company of a Current Report on Form 8-K on the date hereof, which Form 8-K will be incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement and speaks as of the date hereof. We assume no obligation to advise you of any changes in the foregoing subsequent to the delivery of this letter.

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion letter as Exhibit 5.1 to the above-described Form 8-K and to the reference to this firm under the caption “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus dated June 24, 2015 that forms part of the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are an “expert” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.