Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 23 Years Old

Producer: Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, Frankfort, KY

Distiller: Unknown (maybe a blend of remaining Stitzel-Weller, remaining Old Boone and new Bernheim distillate)

Age: 23 years

Bottled: 2017

Proof: 95.6

Finish: None

This is the most prized possession in the Bourbon Roxx collection that is still available for annual purchase. It is the most sought after bourbon in the world. Welcome to the Pappy hype. If you win this in a lottery, you are a very lucky individual. If you don't, be prepared to pay around $7,000 on the internet. My bottle was released in 2017, but where was it distilled? Nobody quite knows. 1994 was no man's land in Van Winkle history. The Stitzel-Weller distillery had closed in 1992. Distillation at Buffalo Trace didn't begin until 2002. The Van Winkle family still had some remaining Stitzel-Weller stock. They also had some remaining stock from the defunct Old Boone distillery. This whiskey was rapidly being depleted as they bottled their new Pappy line. They also had new make from the Bernheim distillery, which they'd recently started aging. All of this whiskey was eventually transferred to Buffalo Trace. Chances are this bottle is a blend of those three sources.

Color: Auburn

Body: Full, clings to the glass

Nose: Sweet cherries, pie crust, more vanilla, less caramel, cotton candy

Palate: Less sweet, allspice, tobacco, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, drinks a little hotter than its proof, butterscotch, oak tannins, vanilla bread pudding, second sip brings back that rich cherry pie with a deliciously baked crust, water brings some plum and more tobacco

Finish: Long, caramel, oak

Score: Ace

Song: Cherry Pie - Warrant

I slowly collected my full line of Van Winkle bourbons, and they occupy the most exclusive shelf in my bourbon collection. This is my third bottle of Pappy 23. The first was before the Pappy boom. It was reasonably priced. The second was in the midst of the Pappy boom. It was less reasonably priced. The third was to build my collection for Bourbon Roxx. It wasn't reasonably priced at all, but I had to do it, because this is perhaps the best bourbon in the world. How does it compare to the remaining Van Winkle bourbons? You'll have to watch the Pappy flight video. This is a very complex bourbon, which shows its age and its heritage. The oak is strong, but it's better tempered and less dry than the 25 year old. There's a perfect balance between the sweetness, the spiciness and the softness of this bourbon. Cherries, vanilla and butterscotch bring the sweetness. Cinnamon and allspice bring the spiciness. Pie crust, toast and bread pudding bring the softness. It's everything a highly aged, wheated bourbon should be, and the cherry bomb is unmistakably Pappy. I love to describe bourbon as food, not just individual flavors, but a complex dish. This is a rich cherry pie with a deliciously baked crust, topped by a spiced vanilla cream. Hence, I suggest pairing it with Cherry Pie by Warrant. It's perfectly balanced. You can taste the age, but it stands strong at 23 years. Only a handful of bourbons in the world can compete with this. You can still acquire this bourbon, but you'll pay a lot for it. It's released annually, so enter the lottery if you can.