The Elusive Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Bourbon

By pruitt

As far as I am concerned, Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve (20 year old) is the holy grail of bourbon. There are more expensive bourbons out there, even some that have been aged longer, but none are more elusive. Blake, Shay (a friend of the journal), and I went to Kentucky last year to tour the Bourbon Trail with a goal of obtaining a bottle of the fabled bourbon. Previously we had been unable to find it online or in stores, and had been told supplies were very limited at the distillery. When we arrived at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, it was a rainy day but we were excited to see the tour of this award winning and innovative distillery. We called ahead and made reservations for the hardhat tour, which I highly recommend. On the hardhat tour, you will get to see every step of the distillation and aging process firsthand. From the time the grain arrives at the distillery on the truck, to single barrel bourbon being hand bottled, you get a glimpse at every facet of the bourbon production process.

After a great tour, we enjoyed a delightful tasting of the Buffalo Trace brand bourbon as well as their new Eagle Rare single barrel bourbon and the Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream Liqueur. The Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace bourbon can be found at most any package store, however, the bourbon cream liqueur can only be bought on sight at the distillery. After the wonderful tasting, we were cut loose on the gift shop which had most of the brands that are owned and produced by the Buffalo Trace distillery proudly displayed. The only thing that we could not find on any of the gift shop shelves was a bottle of the acclaimed Pappy Van Winkle bourbon. When we asked a clerk she said we should check with the bartender in the back. So, in what can only be described as a less than confident manner, we anxiously walked back to the bar tender and asked for the Pappy. With no assurance in his voice, he said he would check in the back and then disappeared behind the rear entrance to the bar area for several minutes. To our delight, he returned saying they had four bottles left, all signed by the current proprietor of the Pappy Van Winkle name, Julian P. Van Winkle, IV. Of course we responded with a “We’ll take ‘em, all of ‘em”. At that moment, Blake, Shay and I each bought a bottle for ourselves and picked up the 4th for a fellow bourbon connoisseur that we knew would truly appreciate it. You could have heard a pin drop in that gift shop as the 20 or so tourists who were waiting on the next tour admired our exit. It was as if we had just cashed in a jackpot in a Mississippi casino and had the world right at our fingertips! Mission accomplished, the trip was a resounding success, highlighted by the fact that we bought the last four bottles of Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve bourbon in existence at the distillery.

We have each been saving our bottles for suitable occasions, each wondering who would be the first to open the stock. I recently bought my first house here in Raleigh and celebrated the occasion with some friends from work. We grilled some steaks and had some beers to christen the new place in style with good food, good company, and good banter. As the party thinned out and only a few of my closest friends remained (Blake, Geoff – another friend of the bourbon journal), the vibe was just right and I decided to uncork the Pappy. I have to say, this bourbon was absolutely worth the wait! Unbelievable complexity unravels on your tongue, a delicate taste that has been developed over 20 years in a barrel reveals immensely intimate flavors of Rich oak with honey and citrus notes chasing each other around in the glass. Add an ice cube and the taste continues to evolve and open up, lightening the taste profile so that you can pick up floral hints, flavors of fig, and as Blake swears, sweet tea! It just keeps giving and giving as it passionately unfolds and develops on your palette. Evolving from the first sip to the last, a truly delightful bourbon. I can see why it is as elusive as it is, and in the words of Farris Buller, “If you have the means, I highly recommend you pick one up”.

Early Times Turns 150!

By Blake

There is no doubt that Kentucky takes the cake when it comes to American whiskey heritage. Moderate weather along with the abundance of grain and limestone filtered water make Kentucky the perfect place to distill and age whiskey. Fortunately for us, the traditions surrounding the production and enjoyment of whiskey in America have been preserved throughout the trials and tribulations of time.

One of the most recognizable brands within the mix of American whiskeys is undoubtedly Early Times. Since 1860, Early Times Kentucky Whiskey has been carefully distilled, aged and enjoyed by generations of great men and women. Despite civil war, modern industrialization, and even prohibition, the makers of Early Times Kentucky Whiskey have maintained continuous production for 150 years! It hardly seems possible, but sure enough, the Brown-Forman distilling company found a loophole during prohibition that allowed them to continue producing Early Times under a “medicinal license”. This has set the brand apart from others as it has helped to preserve the heritage, tradition, and history that goes into making every bottle.

To commemorate Early Times’ uninterrupted time-line, the Brown-Forman Distilling Company decided to release a special 150th anniversary bottling of the whiskey to the public. More than just a classic label and some antique style packaging, this commemorative bottling was produced and aged just as it was as a prohibition era medicinal product. Aged a few years longer and Bottled at 100 proof (as opposed to the standard 80 proof that Early Times is bottled at today) this whiskey has taken on its true and original form, just like it was back in the good old days.

We got our hands on a bottle to taste, partly for the purpose of writing this article and partly for the shear experience of tasting real history! I will go ahead and tell you, this whiskey is not like your typical sipping bourbon, based on today’s standards. No sir, this stuff is hard brown liquor that had one purpose: to get a man drunk as hell before the doctor started operating on him! As you can guess, it goes down pretty smooth but it lets you know what it is on the way! This whiskey reminds you of what real whiskey was like in the good old days, and also helps you to appreciate the great strides that whiskey making has made over the last 150 years. I highly recommend grabbing a bottle if you can find it in the package store, if for nothing more than just experiencing what real whiskey is supposed to taste like. After you have a sip or two of this classic whiskey, then you can graduate to your more refined sipping bourbon to polish off the sitting.