Getting a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle is no easy task. That task becomes exponentially harder when you take into consideration the age statement of the bottle that you want to get. Yes, a ten-year-old Old Rip Van Winkle is way easier to get (and far cheaper) than a 15-year-old.
So when a chance comes along to snag a bottle of 20-Year-Old Pappy Van Winkle, you’d better pay attention. It might be your only chance at getting one all year.
Today, that opportunity arrives with a nice bonus of doing good. Former University of Oregon star and NFL quarterback Joey Harrington just launched his second annual charity raffle, the Bourbon Barrel Benefit. For a $100 entry fee, you’ll be in a raffle to win five bottles from the Buffalo Trace Distillery — one Pappy 20-Year and four Weller Full Proof Wheated Bourbons that Harrington (and I!) picked to benefit his charity.
That’s an incredible selection of Buffalo Trace whiskey for a mere $100 raffle ticket (you can buy as many tickets as you want!). The Pappy alone is worth thousands and similar barrel pick single barrel Weller Full Proofs go for $500 easily. The point is, this is rare stuff that everyone in the whiskey-drinking world wants.
Before I get into what’s in these bottles, let me break down what your $100 will actually go towards:
Very long story short, your $100 raffle ticket will be helping kids afford to go to college. And you might get an amazing bottle of Kentucky bourbon in return. Let’s dive into those bourbons right now!
ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $2,999
This is the Pappy that made “Pappy” what it is today. The wheated bourbon rests for 20 long years in Buffalo Trace warehouses without any meddling. The barrels that actually make it to the 20-year mark are batched and that juice is then proofed down before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Moist and spicy Christmas cake brims with walnuts and pecans, dried fruit and candied fruits, and dark molasses sweetness next to woody cinnamon bark, clove berries, star anise, and a hint of salted black licorice as soft woody maple syrup hint at a sourdough pancake griddled with brown butter on the nose.
Palate: The palate adds a sweet sense of vanilla creaminess with soft apple pie filling before heavily roasted chocolate-covered espresso beans pop in with a touch of bitter orange.
Finish: The end combines all of that toward an old tobacco pipe that’s burnt a century’s worth of rich tobacco flavored with all of the above.
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent bottle and hyped for a reason. There are few whiskeys out there at this age that taste this good. Pour it neat, over a rock, or make the best cocktail of your life with it. Whatever path you choose, you won’t be disappointed.
ABV: 57%
Average Price: $499
This bottle is a single barrel pick of Weller Full Proof that Harrington and I picked back in April of 2023. That whiskey goes into the bottle at “full proof” which is not “barrel proof.” The “full proof” this refers to is the proof of the hot juice when it goes into the barrel for aging. That whiskey will come out of the barrel somewhere around 57% but not right at it. So there may be a little proofing water involved. Hence, it is always 114 proof and not 114.7 one year and 113.1 the next year or 115.9 the year after that.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Ripe and sour cherries lead the way with a thick vanilla underbelly, a hint of salted caramel, and woody cinnamon next to whole nutmeg bulbs on the nose with this slight echo of almost singed cherry bark.
Palate: The palate leans into the sharpness of the cinnamon and the lushness of the vanilla as a foundation as layers of buttery caramel cake frosting with a hint of sassafras and licorice next to dry cedar bark braids with a thin line of sweet grass and a whisper of sourdough fritters.
Finish: The end leans into creamy brandy butter cut with dark-chocolate-covered dried sour cherries sprinkled with salt and rolled in fresh tobacco leaves and stacked next to orange-laced marzipan in an old and slightly sweet cedar box.
Bottom Line:
Since this is a barrel-pick single-barrel product, there are only a few bottles out there. Winning four of them will be a huge boon for any whiskey collector’s vault.
Moreover, this single-barrel Weller is shockingly close to this year’s William Larue Weller Buffalo Trace Antique Collection release. The profiles are damn near twins. All of that is to say that this is great-tasting whiskey.
Buy your raffle tickets to win these bottles here!
The raffle ends November 12, 2023, at 11:59 pm PST. The winner will be drawn the next day and notified.
