Why Are Pappy Van Winkle Whiskeys So Unbelievably Popular?

Last year in Belgium, thieves struck. Whiskey worth 8,000 euros was stolen from a liquor store. Was it that many bottles, or were they that special? The latter. The thieves made off with Pappy Van Winkle. Why is this particular whiskey so sought after?

You may have seen a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle before. The label is black and white, with a side profile of an older gentleman on the front. He’s clearly savoring a cigar. The typeface signals one thing: this is very old.

And that’s not far off. While we’re not talking about a centuries-old distillery, we do have to go back to the early 20th century. In 1910, Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle Sr. bought a stake in the A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky. So yes, we’re dealing with an American spirit.

The A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery laid the groundwork for the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, founded on Derby Day in 1935. What stands out is that Pappy Van Winkle had a crystal-clear vision from the start.

While many bourbons in America at the time (think moonshine too) were rushed to market after only a few years, Van Winkle chose quality over speed, refusing to churn out products assembly-line style.

The brand’s foundation was essentially set then and there. Today, anyone who thinks of Pappy Van Winkle thinks of premium whiskey, true luxury, something that isn’t produced constantly.

Still, it took time for Pappy Van Winkle to reach its current level of fame. In fact, during the ’60s and ’70s the whiskey industry shifted, and bourbon fell out of favor. That began to change in the ’90s when Julian Van Winkle III, Pappy’s grandson, decided to revive the family tradition.

He discovered old stocks of whiskey from his father and decided to release them under the name Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve. The whiskey was initially priced low because bourbon wasn’t very popular, sold at the time as a cheap farmer’s drink.

A bottle of Pappy Van Winkle cost only a hundred dollars, but that changed fast. A full-blown craze erupted around the new releases. Suddenly, everyone wanted a bottle, and the brand became a media sensation.

Chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain put it bluntly about the American nectar: 'If God made bourbon, this would be it.' Word spread like wildfire: if you’re after a premium whiskey, you have to have a Van Winkle.

That shift pushed the bourbon out of reach for the everyday consumer, turning it into a luxury item for the wealthy. To be fair, the hype is warranted, at least in the sense that the quality is indisputable.

Experts have long held the whiskey in high regard. In 2019, Pappy Van Winkle 15 Years was named the best bourbon aged 11 to 15 years in the Whisky Bible. It also took home a World Whiskies Award for “best age-statement bourbon.”

Today, Pappy Van Winkle bourbon is still made according to the old, secret recipe, just in a different location than before. It’s produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery with the same craftsmanship as back in the day, albeit on a slightly different scale.

Buffalo Trace now sells 7,000 cases, 84,000 bottles, using the secret recipe behind what has become a cult classic. Each new release is eagerly anticipated. What will hit the market next?

Prices are sky-high. You can still get a bottle these days, but you’ll need at least a few thousand euros. In the late ’90s, there was a major theft, featured on Netflix in The Bourbon King (two episodes of the series Heist). Even then it was coveted for its flavor and price, but who could have predicted that more than 20 years later the frenzy would be even greater?