Pappy’s Back: What You Need to Know About the New Van Winkle Bourbons

By Sam Slaughter Published October 26, 2017

van winkle bourbon — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s not Christmas yet, but it sort of feels like it if you’re a bourbon fan (so, pretty much everyone out there) because Buffalo Trace Distillery (which owns Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery) recently announced the new batch of Van Winkle bourbon releases.

We know. We’re excited too. Like, really excited.

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This year, there will be five releases: Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon 10 Year Old 107 proof, Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12 Year Old, and Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 15 Year Old, 20 Year Old, and 23 Year Old.

Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 20 year bourbon — Image courtesy of Buffalo Trace Distillery Image courtesy of Buffalo Trace Distillery

Astute Pappy fans will notice that one whiskey is not being released this year. The 13 Year Old Van Winkle Reserve Rye will not hit shelves due to a one-year gap in barrel inventory.

“Rather than compromise on quality or remove the age statement, we decided it would be best to hold off this year and bottle them next year as the 13 Year Old Rye Whiskey fans have come to expect,” senior marketing director Kris Comstock said in a statement.

One of the biggest issues when it comes to any of the Pappy releases is price. If you’ve spent any time in a bourbon group on social media, this is as obvious as saying the sun rises in the morning. The secondary market markup on Pappy bottles is oftentimes astronomical as collectors and other curious bourbon drinkers scramble to find a bottle of the juice.

Before markup, these are the suggested prices, according to Buffalo Trace:

$60: Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon 10 Year Old 107 proof
$70: Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12 Year Old
$100: Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 15 Year Old
$170: Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 20 Year Old
$270: Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 23 Year Old

That being said, we probably won’t see these prices on the shelf because retailers mark the bottles up to whatever they feel like — especially with products like Pappy. If you don’t find a bottle in stores, but manage to find a bottle on the secondary market, Buffalo Trace (and common sense) have advised that you be careful as there are plenty of counterfeit bottles on the market.

The Van Winkle Bourbons line will be released in November across the U.S.

Feature image courtesy of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…

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