Pappy Van Winkle – Everything You Need to Know About The Most Anticipated Bourbon Release of 2021
The annual Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery release announcement is the most anticipated for bourbon lovers worldwide. Certainly, 2021 has had many rocky moments, however, bourbon remains a solid choice (whether neat or on the rocks.)
The Pappy Van Winkle lineup is one of the most coveted, and one that gets extremely marked up due to demand and limited production. The scarcity has also been a cause of a recent increase in bourbon interest. Although Buffalo Trace never reveals the exact amount of bottles that get released each year, there are a few things we do know:
- The number of bottles of 10, 12, and 15 year old bourbon is close to past years
- 20 and 23 year old barrels didn’t produce as many bottles this fall
- There are more 13 year rye that will be available for finding this year
SEE ALSO: Bourbon Release Calendar
Pappy Van Winkle 2021 Pricing
In comparison to last year, pricing hasn’t changed. Here is the full pricing list:
- Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon 10 Year Old 107 Proof: $69.99
- Old Rip Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12 Year Old: $79.99
- Old Rip Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13 Year Old: $119.99
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 15 Year Old: $119.99
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 20 Year Old: $199.99
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 23 Year Old: $299.99
SEE ALSO: Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old Decanter Bourbon For Sale at Auction, Fetches Insane Price
All six of the Pappy Van Winkle bottles will be hitting shelves and restaurants next month. The best way to get your hands on a bottle is keeping up with various local liquor stores, lottery releases, and track down tasting events. In general, it is nearly impossible to walk into a store and find any of the bottles sitting behind the counter.
“Unfortunately, even though we suggest what we believe to be a very low and fair MSRP, we cannot control the price retailers charge, and some retailers mark it up even though we and the distributors that those retailers buy from ask them not to. “We are committed to releasing quality whiskey at a reasonable cost and we hope retailers will honor what we suggest as a fair retail price.”
– Julian Van Winkle, president of the Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery
SEE ALSO: Old Rip Van Winkle Fly Reel Limited Edition Release Coming Soon via Abel Fly Reels
Does the Van Winkle Family Decide Pricing?
The official releases will start in November and depend on the market you are in. It is important to know that the Van Winkle family actually does not actual use this as a scheme to make a ridiculous amount of money on their bottles. The family does not take in any of the additional money from overpriced bottles. Importantly, the family can suggest a price, but they don’t set retail pricing.
How it usually works, is a distiller will charge a distributor a price per case. Distillers can suggest pricing for a distributor or retail price (MSRP.) Undoubtedly, it’s illegal for the distiller to dictate a price. Additionally, only licensed resellers are legally allowed to sell liquor. Selling Pappy Van Winkle, or any other liquor is illegal and punishable by fines or jail depending on each state law.
More About the Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery
The Van Winkle family has been in the business of distilling for four generations since the late 1800’s. Julian P. “Pappy Van Winkle Senior” was a salesman for the W.L Weller & Sons wholesale house in Louisville, Kentucky. Pappy and his friend Alex Farnsley bought the wholesale house and partnered with A. Ph. Stitzel resulting in the formation of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery.
At the age of 61, Pappy officially opened the doors to the distillery in 1935. Infamous brands coming out of the distillery during that time were W.L. Weller, Cabin Still, Old Fitzgerald, and Rebel Yell. Pappy’s son, Julian Jr. took over operations due to his passing at the age of 91. Unfortunately, stockholders forced him to sell the distillery in 1972 due to declining interest in bourbon.
All bourbon rights were sold to Norton Simon Inc., followed by United Distillers selling off all original labels in 1999. After selling the distillery, Julian Jr. was able to resurface a pre-prohibition label (the only one the family had the rights to) known as Old Rip Van Winkle. Using old whiskey stocks, he was then able to pass on the brand to Julian lll, who took over in 1981. In doing so, Julian lll has made it his mission to sell quality bourbon ever since. His son, Preston joined the company in 2001 and in 2002, the Van Winkle family entered a partnership with Buffalo Trace Distillery to ensure their high quality and valued production the family believes in.
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