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- Background:
Pappy Van Winkle was the patriarch of
the famous bourbon family, The Van Winkle Family. He began in 1893
at the age of 18 as a salesman for the Liquor wholesaler, W.L. Weller
& Sons. In 1908 he and another Weller salesman bought the firm. Later
they acquired the old A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery
in Louisville, which dated from 1872 and was widely known for the
excellence of its sour-mash whiskey. The Stitzel-Weller plant was
opened on Derby Day 1935, just outside Louisville in Shively, Kentucky.
The next in the Van Winkle
generation, Julian P. Van Winkle, Jr., became president of the
Stitzel-Weller Distillery in 1947. He headed the firm until the sale of
the distillery in 1972. During that time, he produced such popular
brands as Old Fitzgerald, W.L.Weller, Old Rip Van Winkle, Cabin Still, and
Rebel Yell. Pappy Van Winkle sold today is aged a little longer than
most other bourbons. Their adage is that an extra few years of aging in
the barrels smoothes out the taste and flavor of the whiskey as it passes
in and out of the charred wood of the white oak barrels each season.
Van Winkle bourbon is made with wheat as the third grain, instead of less
expensive rye grain employed by most other distillers. This use of wheat
in the mash recipe gives this bourbon whiskey a smoother and sweeter
flavor which marries well with the extra aging time they give their
barrels in the warehouse. They find that our bourbons made with wheat age
more gracefully than other bourbons made with rye.
- Bourbon type:
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky
- Bourbon
sub-type: Premium Extra Aged
- Proof: 90.4 proof
- Age: 20
years
- Bottled and
distilled by: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (The
Sazerac Company, New Orleans, LA)
- Tasting notes: Fruity
nose. Big bodied.
Palate buttery with a hint of creamy
vanilla. Finish is long.
- Taster:
wbj, 8/20/06
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