The Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery is home to the highest rated whiskeys in the world. In a blind taste test of whiskey labels from around the world, The Beverage Tasting Institute in Chicago gave our 20-year old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve a 99 out of 100 rating... the highest mark ever awarded. Our 15-year old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve and our Van Winkle's Special Reserve 12-year old have each received a 98 rating, higher than any other bourbon whiskeys.

The 12 Year Old Special Reserve was recognized with the "Trophy for Worldwide Whisky" and a Best-In-Class Gold Medallion in the International Wine and Spirit Competition for 2008.

Each barrel of Van Winkle bourbon is made with a whisper of wheat, rather than the less expensive rye grain employed by most other distillers. This use of wheat in the mash recipe gives our bourbon whiskey a smoother and sweeter flavor which marries well with the extra aging time we give our barrels in the warehouse. We find that our bourbons made with wheat age more gracefully than other bourbons made with rye.

23 Year Old

The Van Winkle family is pleased to announce the release of a very limited Old Rip Van Winkle Family Selection 23 year-old bourbon whiskey decanter.

October 2, 2009: All of our inventory of Pappy 23 Year Old for the spring has been shipped and is sold out. We did another bottling in September which is shipping now. Please check local stores, restaurants and bars or contact your distributor to get some of this wonderful vintage bourbon.

Joint Venture

In June, 2002 we entered into a joint venture with the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Buffalo Trace now produces the whiskey for the Old Rip Van Winkle brands. They also bottle our whiskeys. Buffalo Trace also produces the W.L.Weller bourbons. That label was originally produced by Pappy Van Winkle. Van Winkle brands will continue to follow our original wheated recipe for our bourbons.

The Old Rip Van Winkle name carries on a four-generation tradition of producing the finest whiskies in the world. The man who knows his whiskies knows Old Rip Van Winkle... the Connoisseur's brand.