Pappy Van Winkle Shatters Auction Record

You won't find all whiskies on the store shelves. In fact, some bottles are nearly untraceable both online and offline, no matter how hard you search. Among these rare bottles is the American whisky Pappy van Winkle from 1992. This whisky was supposed to fetch an auction price between 3,000 and 4,000 dollars, but it managed to rake in a record amount.

At an auction, you never know what's going to happen. Sometimes it doesn't fetch nearly as much as you're hoping, other times the bidders go wild and the price skyrockets. It's like roulette, where you can never predict where the ball will land.

During the auction of Lot 106 of the Whisky & Whisky Seasonal Spirits and the Yamazaki 55 at Sotheby’s in New York this happened when two collectors faced off to secure a bottle of Pappy van Winkle 23 Year Old Family Reserve. The bottle of Kentucky Straight Bourbon in question was offered in pristine condition, complete with the original velvet packaging. In the end, the bottle went for a record-breaking 52,500 dollars to the highest bidder.

This was not the only bottle that swapped hands for a hefty amount. In total, 14 individual bottles of Pappy van Winkle were sold, bringing in an overall amount exceeding 396,250 dollars. The auction also set a record for two other bottles, namely a Pappy van Winkle 15 Year and a 20 Year, both of which are hard to find.

It's no surprise that these bottles are coveted by collectors. This Kentucky Straight Bourbon was distilled by the Stitzel-Weller distillery, which opened in 1935 and, after releasing many beloved rye whiskeys and bourbons, closed its doors in 1992. The whiskey production was eventually moved to Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, making any liquor produced there even harder to acquire. Apart from this, there's another factor that makes this whiskey incredibly appealing.

The original brand was based on the Rip van Winkle brand, dating back to the pre-Prohibition era. This brand disappeared but was reintroduced as Pappy van Winkle once alcohol became legal again in America. This gave the van Winkle brand a rich history that still echoes today. The Buffalo Trace bottles bearing the Old Rip van Winkle label continue to sell for a considerable amount. A bottle of Old Rip van Winkle 10 Years from 2017 can easily cost 1500 euros.