Its Fall Rush out there for Bourbon collectors as special releases are dropping left and right. Catching one may be tricky, but the chase is part of the fun, right?…Today, Buffalo Trace Distillery (BTD) announced the upcoming release of all six Van Winkle expressions.
And it’s a big milestone year as this marks the 20th Anniversary of Buffalo Trace Distillery producing, aging, and bottling the Van Winkle expressions of the Van Winkle family. More on that soon…
GOOD NEWS: They’ve reported there will be more bottles available in nearly all expressions as a result of strategic foreshadowing, meaning they put more stock away 10 plus years ago and per the distillery, the yields from the barrels were higher versus prior years.
The Van Winkle Bourbons are made with the same “wheated” Bourbon mashbill as the Weller line, meaning after corn, the second leading grain is wheat (as opposed to rye). The distillery notes it is the softness of the wheat in a flavor sense that allows both the Van Winkle and Weller expressions to age so beautifully.
And per the BTD sensory experts, this year’s release of the Family Reserve 15-Year-Old is particularly delicious, describing it as, “An unbelievably opulent and flawless bourbon that takes wood and distillate to its absolute pinnacle.” We like the sound of that.
The annual Van Winkle collection release consists of six whiskeys. Suggested retail prices and tasting notes for the 2022 release are as follows:
$69.99 – Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon 10-Year-Old 107 proof
Tasting Notes by BTD:
- Color: Tawny in color.
- Nose: Very sweet, with notes of honey, dulce de leche, caramel corn, rooibos tea and lightly toasted nuts. Hints of the wheat and corn are present which enhances the complexity.
- Taste: Medium-bodied palate with dried fruit and nuts. Each sip finishes with a very long bold wave of floral honey, caramel, and toasted barrel flavors which counter the weight of the alcohol.
- Finish: An elegant balance between oak, grain, and maturation.
$79.99 –Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12-Year-Old (90.4 proof)
Tasting Notes by BTD:
- Color: Brilliant amber.
- Nose: Rich and decadent with butterscotch, toffee, vanilla and hints of nectarine and satsuma adding to the complexity. There is still a wisp of bready wheat present which is perfectly balanced with the spicy and rich oak notes.
- Taste: Butterscotch and toffee are prominent in the taste but there are also hints of spiced praline which contribute to the long, round finish that is sweet without being cloying.
- Finish: An outrageously well-crafted bourbon that pays homage to its source ingredients but shows that oak, the right distillate, and patience can create unparalleled depth and balance.
$119.99 – Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13-Year-Old (95.6 proof)
Tasting Notes by BTD:
- Color: Rich copper color.
- Nose: An incredibly enticing and complex aroma with notes of toasted pumpernickel, plum, fig, and sweet-tobacco aromas
- Taste: Smooth with medium-to full-bodied palate bursting with bold and delicious flavors of toffee, caraway, and dried cherry, and a hint of leather and mint.
- Finish: A symphony of flavors sits endlessly on the palate, causing the unsuspecting drinker to wish there was an endless supply in their glass.
$119.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 15-Year-Old (107 proof)
Tasting Notes by BTD:
- Color: Striking, brilliant, copper color.
- Nose: The aroma is seductive with intense sweet brown notes like maple, caramelized sugar, toffee, and toasted almond.
- Taste: Waves of caramel and toffee meld into familiar memories of fresh-baked holiday spice cookies made with molasses. The mouthfeel is rich, supple, full-bodied and briefly veers toward decadent before the wood influences lend a balancing dryness.
- Finish: Long, flavorful, and complex. An unbelievably opulent and flawless bourbon that takes wood and distillate to its absolute pinnacle.
$199.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 20-Year-Old (90.4 proof)
Tasting Notes by BTD:
- Color: Dark amber in appearance with ruby highlights.
- Nose: This full-bodied bourbon has a sophisticated forefront of leather with complementary notes of smoke, warm tobacco, treacle, espresso, and charred oak.
- Taste: The aromas and flavors are endlessly complex and each new sip reveals something new to discover.
- Finish: Suave and confident with layers of bold, integrated nuances.
$299.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 23-Year-Old (95.6 proof)
Tasting Notes by BTD:
- Color: Rich mahogany color.
- Nose: Reminiscent of a crisp fall day, with aromas of ripe red apples, cherries and tobacco.
- Taste: Wood is the star here with supporting notes of caramel, apple, apricot, leather, walnuts, and vanilla Crème Brulé.
- Finish: Long-lasting and rich, opening with bold flavors of oak and caramel that tease the palate before fading slowly and elegantly until the next sip.
As noted earlier, this year marks a special milestone as it is the 20th anniversary of the partnership between the Van Winkle family and Buffalo Trace Distillery. In 2002, the Van Winkles entered into an agreement with Buffalo Trace to produce, age, and bottle all its whiskeys, entrusting its wheated mashbill exclusively to the distilling team at Buffalo Trace to continue the family legacy started more than 125 years prior.
Given that Buffalo Trace Distillery was already producing the wheated recipe for the W.L. Weller bourbons, it made sense to the Van Winkle family to enter into a formal agreement to produce their bourbons as well. The W.L. Weller Bourbons were formally produced by the Van Winkle family until 1972, when the Weller brand was sold, and eventually acquired by Buffalo Trace Distillery.
“Harlen Wheatley and his predecessors had been distilling the W.L. Weller wheated recipe for many years before our 2002 joint venture. We trusted their expertise in distilling and aging, and it paid off, as many of Buffalo Trace’s brands are just as sought after as our own,” said Julian Van Winkle III, president, Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery. “My son Preston and I still take care of the marketing and management of our brands, but we leave the rest of it to the team at Buffalo Trace. The twenty-year partnership has flown by, and I feel confident we’re leaving it in good hands for the future Van Winkle generations.”
The Van Winkle family and Buffalo Trace team would like to remind fans that even though the suggested retail pricing remains at what is considered a fair price, there is no control they can take over the price retailers charge. “Although we would prefer for retailers to charge our suggested retail pricing, unfortunately we cannot legally force them to do so. The best chance to find our products at a fair price is through lotteries offered by many retailers, where fans have a chance to buy our bourbon at MSRP. Many of these lotteries benefit charities, so it’s a win-win for everyone,” added Van Winkle.
Per the brand, enthusiasts are encouraged to avoid online resellers such as private Facebook groups, Craigslist and other online marketplaces. Unfortunately, Buffalo Trace Distillery has seen an increase in consumers buying Van Winkle bourbons from private sellers, only to find out later the product inside is counterfeit.
“It’s quite common in other countries for consumers to buy alcohol from those outside the system (not a licensed retailer) and for them to drink it and get sick, and in some cases, it’s fatal,” said Mark Brown, president and chief executive officer, Buffalo Trace Distillery. “Fortunately, we haven’t seen a lot of deaths in the United States from those scenarios – yet – and we certainly hope we do not. But we caution people to only buy from a licensed retailer; do not buy from a private seller, even if it’s someone you know, as you don’t know where they got the whiskey. The counterfeiters have gotten very sophisticated with their technology, so it pays to be safe.”
Consumers who believe they have been duped should not drink anything that is questionable and can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or contact their State Attorneys General office.
History Overview of Van Winkle Bourbon
The Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery has a four-generation history. The Van Winkle family’s involvement in the bourbon industry began in the late 1800s with Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle, Sr. He was a traveling salesman for the W.L. Weller and Sons wholesale house in Louisville. Pappy and a friend and fellow Weller salesman Alex Farnsley eventually bought the wholesale house and also partnered with Mr. A. Ph. Stitzel on the purchase of Mr. Stitzel’s distillery. The three of them merged the two companies and became the Stitzel-Weller Distillery after Prohibition.
In May of 1935 at the age of 61, Pappy opened the newly completed Stitzel-Weller Distillery in South Louisville. Its prominent brands were W.L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, Rebel Yell, and Cabin Still. Pappy had a heavy influence on the operations there until his death at the age of 91. His son, Julian, Jr. took over operations until he was forced by stockholders to sell the distillery in 1972. The rights to all of their brands were sold to Norton Simon, Inc. Later, United Distillers, who eventually ended up with the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, sold off all of the original labels around 1999.
After selling the distillery, Julian Jr. resurrected a pre-Prohibition label, the only one to which the Van Winkles kept the rights, called Old Rip Van Winkle. He used whiskey stocks from the old distillery to supply his brand. Julian Jr.’s son, Julian, III took over in 1981 when Julian, Jr. passed away. Julian III has continued with the Van Winkle tradition of producing high-quality wheated bourbon. His son, Preston, joined the company in 2001 and the Van Winkles look to continue that tradition for generations to come.
In 2002 the Van Winkles entered into a joint venture with Buffalo Trace Distillery in Franklin County, Frankfort, Ky, joining the Van Winkle and Weller Bourbons again in one production house. It was a natural tie since the wheated mash bill used in the Weller Bourbons was already being produced at Buffalo Trace. All of the Van Winkle’s whiskey production now takes place at Buffalo Trace Distillery under the same strict guidelines the family has always followed. For more information on the Van Winkle family of bourbon please visit www.oldripvanwinkle.com.
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