A BDX-style blend that is still as fresh and tightly-wound as if it were 5 years old. Absolutely needs decanting. Dark, deeply concentrated purple with almost no rim variation. Toasty nose with prevalent oak and dried fruits, dry leaves.
Linear, tight, acidic, hot (14.5). Balanced by complex fruit and a masculine structure. Dried leather?
Very sophisticated.
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Old Rip Van Winkle 15 Year “Handmade Bourbon” was produced from 1989-2003, when it was replaced by Pappy 15. Most connoisseurs prefer the Old Rip to the Pappy, and the Lawrenceburg bottles are especially valued. Early ORVWs came in a slightly taller bottle with a sharper angle on the shoulder. Most (but not all) of the whiskey that made the Pappy Van Winkle brand famous was distilled at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery. The distillery was built by Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle, Sr., along with Alex T. Farnsley, and Arthur Phillip Stitzel. The facility opened on Derby Day in 1935. The facility produced brands such as W. L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, Pappy Van Winkle, Old Weller, Rebel Yell, and Weller's Cabin Still. Farnsley and Stitzel died in 1941 and 47 respectively, leaving the distillery in the control of Van Winkle. Van Winkle himself died in 1965, and operations passed to his son Julian Van Winkle Jr.
The facility was eventually sold in 1972 to Norton-Simon, amidst a broad depression in the sales of whiskey. The sale was made under the condition that Pappy's son would be able to procure old stocks from the site, and maintain the Van Winkle brand name. Since Pappy Van Winkle led the most current bourbon craze, and the flavor profile has changed as of late, there is a large market demand for the old Stitzel-Weller versions.
From a 2008 discussion forum on StraightBourbon.com: “Any ORVW 15 you find will be Stitzel-Weller because when he couldn't keep making it all SW, Julian (Van Winkle) stopped making the ORVW 15 altogether and created the more expensive Pappy 15. Then eventually he didn't have enough SW to supply the Pappy 15, so now the newer bottles of that have either Bernheim or BT whiskey in them. I haven't sampled a lot of Pappy 15, but I haven't heard anyone say it lost a step when it stopped being all SW. At the same time as he discontinued the ORVW 15, the ORVW 10 became all Bernheim/BT, no SW. That's where you need to find older bottlings when the 10-year-old was all SW too. I don't remember when that was, but it wasn't too many years ago, maybe 2003 or 2004.”
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2009 Tenuta di Arceno Valadorna di Arcanum Toscana IGT
6/10/2019 - TaylorCleary Likes this wine: 90 Points
A BDX-style blend that is still as fresh and tightly-wound as if it were 5 years old. Absolutely needs decanting. Dark, deeply concentrated purple with almost no rim variation. Toasty nose with prevalent oak and dried fruits, dry leaves.
Linear, tight, acidic, hot (14.5). Balanced by complex fruit and a masculine structure. Dried leather?
Very sophisticated.
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NV Old Rip Van Winkle 15 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 53.5%
5/18/2019 - TaylorCleary wrote: 97 Points
Old Rip Van Winkle 15 Year “Handmade Bourbon” was produced from 1989-2003, when it was replaced by Pappy 15. Most connoisseurs prefer the Old Rip to the Pappy, and the Lawrenceburg bottles are especially valued. Early ORVWs came in a slightly taller bottle with a sharper angle on the shoulder.
Most (but not all) of the whiskey that made the Pappy Van Winkle brand famous was distilled at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery. The distillery was built by Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle, Sr., along with Alex T. Farnsley, and Arthur Phillip Stitzel. The facility opened on Derby Day in 1935. The facility produced brands such as W. L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, Pappy Van Winkle, Old Weller, Rebel Yell, and Weller's Cabin Still. Farnsley and Stitzel died in 1941 and 47 respectively, leaving the distillery in the control of Van Winkle. Van Winkle himself died in 1965, and operations passed to his son Julian Van Winkle Jr.
The facility was eventually sold in 1972 to Norton-Simon, amidst a broad depression in the sales of whiskey. The sale was made under the condition that Pappy's son would be able to procure old stocks from the site, and maintain the Van Winkle brand name. Since Pappy Van Winkle led the most current bourbon craze, and the flavor profile has changed as of late, there is a large market demand for the old Stitzel-Weller versions.
From a 2008 discussion forum on StraightBourbon.com: “Any ORVW 15 you find will be Stitzel-Weller because when he couldn't keep making it all SW, Julian (Van Winkle) stopped making the ORVW 15 altogether and created the more expensive Pappy 15. Then eventually he didn't have enough SW to supply the Pappy 15, so now the newer bottles of that have either Bernheim or BT whiskey in them. I haven't sampled a lot of Pappy 15, but I haven't heard anyone say it lost a step when it stopped being all SW.
At the same time as he discontinued the ORVW 15, the ORVW 10 became all Bernheim/BT, no SW. That's where you need to find older bottlings when the 10-year-old was all SW too. I don't remember when that was, but it wasn't too many years ago, maybe 2003 or 2004.”
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2017 Santo Wines Nykteri
2/12/2019 - TaylorCleary Likes this wine: 88 Points
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