Founder: Julian Van Winkle Jr.
Year Founded: 1974
Distillery Location: Frankfort, Kentucky
Master Distiller / Blender: Julian P. Van Winkle, III
Year Founded: 1974
Distillery Location: Frankfort, Kentucky
Master Distiller / Blender: Julian P. Van Winkle, III
How you should drink it
- Straight
- On the rocks
- With a bit of water
- With club soda
- With ginger ale
- In cocktails (Tropical Sunset)
Fast Facts
- While most bourbon is made from a mash of corn, rye and barley, the Van Winkle recipe calls for a sweeter mix of corn, wheat and barley.
- Pappy Van Winkle isn’t just a catchy name; he was the family’s pioneering patriarch. The bourbon icon started out as a liquor salesman in the late 1800s and later ran his own distillery.
Types of Old Rip Van Winkle Available
- Old Rip Van Winkle 10-Year-Old Handmade Bourbon (107 proof)
- Old Rip Van Winkle 10-Year-Old Handmade Bourbon (90 proof)
- Van Winkle Special Reserve 12-Year-Old Bourbon
- Van Winkle Family Reserve 13-Year-Old Rye Whiskey
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 15 Years Old
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Years Old
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 23 Years Old
The note above about their being no visitor center is only partially true. While the Van Winkle brand is still technically an independent label, its distilled, aged, bottled and distributed by Frankfort based Sazerac/Buffalo Trace. At the (beautiful) Buffalo Trace distillery grounds in Frankfort you’ll find serveral displays about Pappy Van Winkle and they’ll teach you all about it. So, if you’re looking for the Mecca of this brown gold, head to Frankfort and you’ll learn all about.
If a guest in my home drank my Pappy van Winkle with club soda or (god help me) Ginger Ale, rest assured that my Van Winkle cabinet would be closed to them. Forever. And I’m certainly not putting the PVW 20 in any Julep I make… Ever. Why not just grind up Kobe beef and make a sausage out of it?
I am with Mr. Markle. I love my Van Winkle…neat….very hard to get here in N.VA..First tried it in Las Vegas many years ago. The smoothest bourbon I have ever had..