In Virginia, an employee of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority downloaded confidential information about which state-run liquor shops would be receiving Pappy Van Winkle and other rare bourbons. They tried to sell their bottles on Craigslist, but undercover officers posing as buyers nailed them for selling liquor without a license.
Two men in Pennsylvania each bought a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle after winning the liquor lottery in different years. Utah and Pennsylvania are among other states that also use lotteries for coveted liquor. The odds of winning Pappy 23-year-old were 1 in 4,150. The commission says that of last year’s allocation of Pappy 23-year-old, 25 bottles went to bars, restaurants and/or liquor stores, three were reserved as safety stock to replace any damaged product and five went to “chance to purchase,” a lottery started in 2018. But finding Pappy 23-year-old on a store shelf would be almost as hard as finding a mythical Sasquatch in Oregon’s forests.
In Oregon, the price of a bottle of Pappy 23-year-old bourbon is set by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission at $329.95. Revenues for makers of super-premium American whiskey grew 141% over the past five years. Supplier sales for American whiskey - which includes bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye - rose 10.5% last year, reaching $5.1 billion, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. In a Los Angeles bar that Walding visited last week, one shot of Pappy 23-year cost $200. “Like, to be able to get Pappy Van Winkle or Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, unless you’re basically best friends with a store manager, I don’t even think it’s possible to get those, ” he said. He believes he’s years away from success. He hasn’t been able to find any despite making connections with liquor store managers. “The average person cannot get good bottles,” said Cody Walding, a bourbon aficionado from Houston who has been on the hunt for Buffalo Trace Distillery’s five-bottle Antique Collection. In 2022, Oregon received just 33 bottles. A limited number of Pappy Van Winkle 23-year, produced by Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery of Frankfort, Kentucky, goes to each state. The cases underscore how demand has reached a fever pitch. That brand is so popular that it found itself at the center of criminal investigations in at least three other states, from Virginia to Pennsylvania to Kentucky. In Oregon, a criminal investigation is under way after an internal probe concluded several state liquor officials used their clout to obtain scarce bourbons, including the holy grail for bourbon fanatics: Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old, which can sell for tens of thousands of dollars on resale markets. Scarcity has changed what some fans are willing to do to obtain the most sought-after bourbon. Distillers have upped production to try to meet increased demand, but before the whiskey reaches stores and bars, it must age for years and even decades. But a surge in interest in high-end bourbon has made finding that elusive bottle even more difficult. Premium spirits have always been expensive and sought-after. These are characteristics of the best bourbons, and a growing cult of aficionados is willing to pay an astonishing amount of money for these increasingly scarce premium American spirits - and even bend or break laws.
These are characteristics of the best bourbons, and a growing cult of aficionados is willing to pay an astonishing amount of money for these increasingly scarce premium spirits - and even bend or break laws.
A collection of bottles of Pappy Van Winkle bourbons are seen on the top shelf right, among other fine whiskies at the “Far Bar,” located in the historic Far East Building in the heart of Little Tokyo in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
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