Pappy spotted at the bar of the defunct

Carle Place Branch of Nassau OTB  on Glen Cove Road Carle Place.
Business seems to have picked up since Pappy came to town.

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October 18, 2013

Kentucky’s Case of the Missing Bourbon

By TRIP GABRIEL

FRANKFORT, Ky. — America’s decade-old romance with Kentucky bourbon, a drink formerly as plebeian as a Chevrolet, has come to this: high-end bar chefs and foodies everywhere have been abuzz since 65 cases of Pappy Van Winkle, one of the nation’s most expensive and sought-after bourbons, disappeared from a warehouse here.

The release of small batches of Pappy Van Winkle to bars and retailers each autumn is tracked by connoisseurs who snatch it up as soon as it hits shelves. “We get phone calls from people asking, ‘Do you have Pappy in stock?’ ” said Bill Thomas, owner of the Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, where a two-ounce shot of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle costs $65, and the even rarer 23-year-old is $75. “It’s the Christmas toy that’s been hot now for multiple Christmases.”

The disappearance, considered a theft by Sheriff Pat Melton of Franklin County, was reported Tuesday, the sheriff said. He suspects an inside job that took place in the past month or two, after the white-oak barrels, aging on the cooler lower floor of a warehouse, were debunged and the amber bourbon bottled and labeled before the annual deliveries.

Sheriff Melton said the culprit stole 195 bottles in three-bottle cases of Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year, which has a suggested retail price of $130 a bottle, and nine cases of 13-year-old Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye, with a suggested price of $69. The thief had an obvious motive: the secondary market for the scarce whiskey is hot. A single bottle of 20-year-old Pappy, as aficionados know it, sold at Bonham’s auction in New York on Sunday for $1,190.

“It’s the most complex bourbon you’ve ever tasted, but it’s smooth as silk,” said Sean Brock, an owner of Husk Restaurants in Nashville and Charleston, S.C. “That’s why people go crazy for it.”

The day the theft was reported, Mr. Brock’s e-mail and Twitter feed pinged constantly with chatter and speculation about who might have been responsible. He has a theory of his own: “I’m pretty sure it was George Clooney and the boys from ‘Ocean’s 11.’ “

The sheriff said the theft occurred from a locked area in one of the 13 warehouses at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, which makes the Van Winkle brand in partnership with the original family owners. He suspects the thief or thieves smuggled it out a case or two at a time. “I don’t think anyone could walk out with 74 cases of bourbon,” he said, citing security at the 119-acre distillery.

Workers at the distillery, where a water tower presides over century-old brick buildings blackened by hot Kentucky summers, did not want to discuss the matter as they came off their shift on Thursday.

“It’s the talk of the town,” is all one bottling line worker would say, declining to give his name.

Carey Graham, who instructs tourists he takes through the Blanton Bottling Hall to inhale the aroma of the product he calls “hooch,” said visitors always ask to buy Pappy at the gift shop. “I say, ‘You might as well go chase your tail.’ ”

Even the chief executive of Buffalo Trace, Mark Brown, is out of luck. “I was in a steakhouse in Louisville Monday night which had three bottles of the 23-year-old locked in a display cabinet,” he said. “I had guests who were dying to try it, but they wouldn’t sell me any. They said, ‘No, this is just part of our stash.’ ”

Unlike most Kentucky bourbon that is made from corn, rye and malted barley, Van Winkle substitutes wheat for rye. The taste is softer and milder and allows for longer aging, connoisseurs say. The Van Winkle brand includes bourbons aged 10, 12, 15, 20 and 23 years, with the younger ones more moderately priced: Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year sells for about $39 in stores.

But it is the 20-year-old Pappy that has a cult following like a 99-point California cabernet. “The nose is intensely fruited but also bears a tantalizing citrus zest note,” according to Wine Enthusiast magazine. “The body is huge and almost chewable and the palate is tremendously buttery with some sherry notes, a dash of dried fruits and some rich, creamy vanilla. The finish is long and elegant.”

If bourbon was once a mass-market drink, a humble Southern favorite that provided the kick in Manhattans and mint juleps on Kentucky Derby Day, artisanal small-batch bourbons have caught fire as urban drinkers pushed past Scotch and hip locavores sought out high-quality products.

Bourbon sales by distillers exceeded $2.2 billion last year, up from $1.3 billion in 2003, a boom driven by high-end brands, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Foreign sales have also been on a tear as drinkers in Europe and Asia discover the quintessential American whiskey.

“We opened our first bourbon bar 13 years ago,” said Mr. Thomas, who in addition to a restaurant owns two bars named Bourbon in Washington. “I would never have thought I’d sell a bourbon for $75.”

“Pappy” is named for Julian P. Van Winkle Sr., whose roots in the bourbon business date to the late 1800s. He made the brands Old Fitzgerald and Rebel Yell. In 2002, the third and fourth generations of the Van Winkle family formed a partnership with Buffalo Trace, a sprawling operation on the Kentucky River where whiskey has been made for more than 200 years. It was the first to commercially market a single-barrel bourbon — one not blended from different batches — in 1984 when it introduced Blanton’s.

J. Preston Van Winkle, the fourth generation in the business, said that he and his father, Julian Van Winkle III, are raising production because of the demand, but that it takes time. “You can’t make 20-year bourbon in less than 20 years,” he said.

There are other super-premium bourbons, some costing more than Pappy Van Winkle. But none, bar owners and retailers say, have the same cachet.

“It’s definitely the No. 1 whiskey people request,” said John Wiseman, an owner of the Whiskey Shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who counts himself lucky to be allocated a few bottles at a time from his distributor. They sell out instantly. Two weeks ago, Mr. Wiseman was contacted by an executive assistant who had called shops as far away as Europe trying to buy some for her boss’s birthday.

“She was pleading with us to get a bottle of Pappy 23,” Mr. Wiseman said. “I was like, I would love to help you, but I don’t have any.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 19, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated Sean Brock’s affiliation with Husk Restaurants in Nashville and Charleston, S.C. He is a part owner, not the sole owner.