![](data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns="//www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" height="2400px" width="3600px"></svg>)
A s bourbon continues to grow its presence and intrigue around the globe, the brands bearing the name 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Van Winkle have become synonymous with scarcity, prestige, longevity and, to those who already know a little about the brand, weathering the storm. Throughout their history, the Van Winkle family has seen its legacy go from salesman to wholesaler to producer to distillery owner to bottler and beyond. In the current era, all six Van Winkle whiskeys are distilled at 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. The Van Winkle name has moved so many times, and been on so many d💯ifferent labels, that even aficionados can have trouble𝔉 keeping the timeline straight.
Let’s cut through that ilk.
The name Rip Van Winkle originates from anಞ 1819 short story by American author Washington Irving, who also wrote “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” In the story, Rip Van Winkle is a man of Dutch descent living in New York’s Catskill Mountains. One evening while out hunting with his dog, he hears a voice calling out and finds dwarves carrying strong liquor. After helping them carry the flagons up the mountain, they imbibe and Van Winkle falls into a 20-year-sleep. When he wakes, he finds himself sporting a long, gray beard; his musket has deteriorated and Wolf is nowhere to be seen.
After Irving’s story, Old Rip Van Winkle soon appeared as a brand of whiskey sold during America’s rectifier era, in which whiskeys were blended with neutral spirits, fruit juice, caramel coloring and other liquids. A depiction of this character adorns the front label of the 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:10-year variety of Van Winkle, whose full name is Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon. The other whiskeys in the Van Winkle line currently under production are 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year, 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Van ܫWinkle Family Reserve Rye 13💖 Year and then the three Pappy bourbons: 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Pappy Van Winkle’s Family🅰 Re🐽serve 15 Year, 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Pappy Van Winkle🦹’s Family Rese𒁏rve 20 Year and 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserv💝e 23 Yไear.
The Van Winkle family history is labyrinthin🧜e, touching on nearly every major name of Kentucky whiskey. They joined the liquor industry when Julian Prentice “Pappy” Van Winkle, Sr. began working as a salesman in 1893 for W. L. Weller & Sons, a liquor wholesaler. The Wellers, another famous last name that in many ways runs parallel to the Van Winkle history, would later sell their company to Van Winkle and his partner, Alex Farnsley, in 1908. The oldest son of W. L. Weller stayed on as President of the company.
After prohibition ended, Van Winkle and his partners merged with Arthur Stitzel of A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery to form 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Stitzel-Weller. That distillery was located in Louisville’s Butchertown neighborhood, but they would sell it shortly after their merger and build Stitzel-Weller Distillery in the Shively neighborhood in Louisville’s southwest. Famou🥀sly, Stitzel-Wel꧒ler celebrated its opening day on Kentucky Derby Day in 1935. (Since 1931, The Kentucky Derby is held on the first Saturday in May.)
Pappy Van Winkle would lead the distillery until he retired in 1964, passing the reigns to his son, Julian “Big Van” Van Winkle, Jr., who was forced to sell the Stitzel-Weller Distillery in 1972 by his partners to Somerset Importers, a subsidiary company owned by billionaire industrialist Norton Simon. As part of the deal, Big Van retained the rights to buy stock from the distillery and also sold all the labels produced at Stitzel-Weller save one, 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Old Rip Van Winkle, a decision that would prove fortuitous.
In 1977 Julian Van Winkle III joined his father in the family business and acquired the Old Hoffman Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, beginning to age and bottle t♊he Old Rip Van Winkle brand. Even with bourbon in a market downturn, Julian III was determined to continue the family legacy. He followed the family mantra coined by Julian, Sr.: “We make fine bou🤪rbon at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon.” The granddaughter of Julian, Sr., Sally Van Winkle Campbell, would go on to author a book entitled, “But Always Fine Bourbon,” detailing much of the family history.
“We make fine bourbon at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon.”
After the purchase of Stitzel-Weller by Norton Simon, it was renamed Old Fitzgerald Distillery after its flagship brand. In 1984, Distillers Co. acquired the distillery and a year later began selling off their brands, including 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Old Fitzgerald, 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Rebel Yell, their various Weller labels and 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Cabin Still. Under these owners, the name of the operator would change names to United Distillers and, today, Diageo. They would focus heavily on the Australian and Japan markets until they shuttered Stitzel-Weller for good in 1992. Today, 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Buffalo Trace distills Weller, Heaven Hill distills Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still, and MGP distills Rebel Yell, which has since dropped “Yell” from its n🐽ame. Stitzel-Weller’s lo♕cation now serves as a visitor center for Bulleit Frontier Whiskey.
In the mid-1990s, a now-iconic image of Pappy himself, chomping a cigar, first appeared on a whiskey label. Some think that this era’s whiskey is from Stitzel-Weller stocks that the family purchased under the terms of their contract𒆙, but in fact many of the very first releases come from a defunct distillery called Old Boone tucked into the southwest corner of Louisville. Exceptionally adept at blending, Julian III purchased these stocks from Jimmy Russell at Wild Turkey and used multiple distilleries to create his brands. In 2002 the current era of Pappy Van Winkle began when the family entered a partnership with Buffalo Tr🥂ace to produce the Van Winkle brands, the first of which were released 10 years later in 2013.
While Van Winkle’s current six releases are the most well-known, there have been many Van Winkle labels over the years. Most came during the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, when the family produced private labels at a high clip. Some of their clients at the time included Macy’s and Hilton Hotels, and the whiskeys made for 🎃them are considered some of the rarest and most highly sought-after bourbons ever made. It is said the Hilton private releases are so rare and few in number that even the Hilton family cannot find it.
Other super-limited releases are considered to be among the best whiskey ever made: Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Fami꧃ly Reserve Bourbon 1st Releas꧅e, often referred to as Green Glass or Gold Wax, Pappy V༒an Winkle 23 Year Family Reserve Bourbon ‘Kentucky Barrel Society’ Private Barrel Selection, Pappy Van Winkle’s 20 Year Old Famꦜily Reserve RN𝓰M Restaurant Single Barrel, Old R😼ip Van Winkle 15 Year Bourbon ‘Sam’s Wines & Sp♔irits’ Private Barrel Selection, Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Family Reserve Bourbon ‘Husk’ Private Barr🅘el Selection, Lottas Home Papa’s Private Family Reserve 13 Ye💛ar Old and Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Bourbon ‘Delilah’s 10th 𒅌Anniversary’ Private Barrel Selection. These whiskeys are extraordinarily𒉰 rare, even at auction, where a 🥂single bottle can easily fetch over $19,000.
According to the Van Winkle family, their annual releases carry an MSRP of $300 or less – but you will never find it for🅠 that price on the shelf. Finding a Van Winkle bourbon for $300 is as rare as seeing a unicorn in person. Collectors’ best option is to seek them out on the secondary market, where Van Winkl𓂃e bourbons have developed a deserved reputation as one of the world’s most collectible whiskeys.
In the last year, Sotheby’s has auctioned several varieties of Pappy for over $20,000 for a single bottle. These include: 16🍸8开奖官方开奖网站查询:Van Winkle Special Reserve 19 Year O꧅ld Corti Bros, made for a gourmet grocery store in Sacramento, which auctioned for $22,500. 16✨8开奖官方开奖网站查询:Old Rip 🐟Van Winkle 18 Year Old Blue Smoke, distilled for a BBQ restaurant in downtown Manhattan, auctioned for $27,500. And Van Wink꧑le Special Reserve 20 Year Old Cork N Bottle, for a northern Kentucky liquor store, sold for $20,000. In addition, Sotheby’s as also auctioned the more recent limited releases 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Old Rip Van Wink🅷le 23 Year Old Decanter and 168开奖官方开奖网站查询:Old R🅰ip Van Winkle 25 Year Old Decanter for $27,500 and $37,500, respectively.
The Van Winkle family’s whiskey business is led by Julian III and his son Preston Van Winkle, and by identical triplets Carrie, Louise and Chenault, the great granddaughters of Pappy, Sr., whom run a bourbon lifestyle company called Pappy & Co and have a brick and mortar location in Louisville’s Nu✱Lu neighborhood just east of downtown.
As a global leader in bringing Van Winkle to auction💫, Sotheby’s trusted team is on hand to support you on your collecting journey. Having sold many of the most expensive Van Winkle examples to come to market, Sotheby’s is ideally placed to advise on collecting Van Winkle bourbon.
Trust♋ our worldwide network of leading whi🔥skey specialists from a globally renowned auction house with a 280-year history.
