Buy rare and selected Old Rip Van Winkle and Pappy Van Winkle Kentucky Bourbon and Rye Whiskey online

Whiskeys from Pappy Van Winkle or Old Rip Van Winkle are a legend and are among the most sought-after and expensive whiskeys in the world today. During his lifetime, Pappy Van Winkle was considered one of the most important men and legends of the whiskey industry in Kentucky and managed the famous Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, until his death in 1965. During his lifetime, the distillery produced brands such as Old Fitzgerald, W.L. Weller, Cabin Still and Rebel Yell. A small, rather insignificant brand in Stitzel-Weller s time was Old Rip Van Winkle, named after the short story of the same name by Washington Irving. Van Winkle s trademark was the mash, which he supplemented with wheat instead of the usual rye, giving the whiskey a distinctly different and special flavour profile. Stitzel-Weller became famous for its wheated bourbon recipe. Instead of the usual rye as the second main grain alongside corn, they used wheat. This resulted in a softer, smoother flavour profile.
After Pappy s death, his son Julian van Winkle Jr. managed the distillery until it was sold in 1972. However, Julian Jr. retained the rights to the Old Rip Van Winkle brand and began to revitalise it with old stocks of Stitzel-Weller whiskey. His son, Julian Van Winkle III, took over the business and preserved the brand through difficult times by sourcing high-quality whiskey from other distilleries when Stitzel-Weller stocks ran low.
The breakthrough for Van Winkle came in 1996 when a Van Winkle Whiskey was presented to the renowned Beverage Testing Institute. It received an unprecedented 99 out of 100 points in their evaluation and the demand for Van Winkle Whiskey increased dramatically. Old Rip Van Winkle and especially the older Pappy Van Winkle bottlings developed an enormous cult status over the years. The combination of the legendary history, the high quality (especially of the old Stitzel-Weller stocks) and very limited production led to an extremely high demand that far exceeded supply. Today, the whiskeys are extremely hard to find and fetch astronomical prices on the secondary market.
From the 1980s until 2002, Van Winkle worked as a typical whiskey blender, buying barrels from various distilleries, blending them according to a desired flavour profile and bottling them under his own name. In 2002, Julian Van Winkle III entered into a partnership with the Sazerac Company. Since then, the whiskey for the Old Rip Van Winkle and Pappy Van Winkle whiskeys has been distilled and matured at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, according to the original wheated recipe and under the supervision of the Van Winkle family.
After Pappy Van Winkle had been one of several premium whiskeys for years, a hype developed around 2010 that made Pappy Van Winkle the most expensive and sought-after bourbon whiskey. Van Winkle sells around 6,000 to 7,000 cases a year, compared to around 11 million cases sold by Jack Daniel s in 2012. The whiskey is delivered twice a year, with selected shops and retailers receiving around half a dozen bottles - these are then usually sold to regular customers who have signed up to a waiting list well in advance. Other shops are organising a lottery, with the Washington Post reporting on a Missouri wholesaler where 1,400 customers took part in the lottery in which a low double-digit number of bottles were distributed. Meanwhile, the mismatch between supply and demand from connoisseurs, connoisseurs and collectors who want something very special and rare has created a Veblen effect, with rising prices fuelling demand.
The flavour of Van Winkle whiskey is milder and more accessible than most other bourbons due to the wheat. The fact that Van Winkles manage to mature it for up to 20 years and longer without it becoming undrinkable means that it still has an intense flavour with a special character and is now undisputedly one of the world s best bourbon and rye whiskeys. As stocks of Stitzel-Weller whiskey were limited, the Van Winkles began to blend old selected whiskey from other distilleries and from Buffalo Trace with the Stitzel-Weller. Since 2013 (20-year-old whiskey) and 2016 (23-year-old whiskey) at the latest, Stitzel-Weller whiskey can no longer be drawn from the barrels, as Stitzel-Weller ceased production in 1992.
Old Rip Van Winkle is a premium bourbon known for its smooth, sweet and complex characteristics resulting from the use of wheat instead of rye in the mash. It is deeply rooted in American whiskey history and is produced today at Buffalo Trace. Its extreme rarity and associated cult status make it one of the most sought-after whiskeys in the world. In our whisky shop you will find a large selection of old and rare Old Rip Van Winkle and Pappy Van Winkle bourbon and rye whiskeys.