Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Discuss any bourbon related topics here that do not belong in a forum below.

Moderator: Squire

Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby whiskey buyer » Thu Jun 02, 2016 12:47 pm

I am curious: Who where has had the opportunity to try Pappy Van Winkle's 15 year Family Reserve? What were your thought on it? What would you compare it to?
Thanks
whiskey buyer
Registered User
 
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2016 7:45 am

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby fricky » Thu Jun 02, 2016 3:36 pm

The last time I had Pappy 15 was about 2 years ago in the gazebo. It was a recent bottling. I didn't like it. I thought it was inferior to older bottlings. I thought Old Weller Antique was superior.
User avatar
fricky
Registered User
 
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:10 pm
Location: PA

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby fishnbowljoe » Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:24 pm

fricky wrote:The last time I had Pappy 15 was about 2 years ago in the gazebo. It was a recent bottling. I didn't like it. I thought it was inferior to older bottlings. I thought Old Weller Antique was superior.


I agree with Fricky.

About four years ago, I was picked in a lottery to purchase one bottle of a Van Winkle product. The store I was at actually had bottles of the Van Winkle offerings open to have a small taste from. (Except the Pappy 23.) The Pappy 15 was hot and tannic. I couldn't believe how dry and bitter it was. It wasn't anything like any Pappy 15 I'd had before. That year, IMHO, the Lot B was heads and above the best of the bunch. I passed on the Pappy 15 and others, and chose a bottle of LotB. The same thing happened to me the next year at another store. The only difference that time was the Old Rip Van Winkle 10 yr 107 proof was the one that I thought was great. I passed on the more high profile Van Winkle's and walked out of the store with a ORVW 10/107. Since then, I just haven't thought too much about any of the Van Winkle's with the possible exception of the Lot B and/or ORVW 10/107. Besides, the price on all that stuff is getting way too crazy. It's hard to believe, but the price on the ORVW 10/107 is now about the same as what Pappy 15 used to sell for just a few short years ago.

No Pappy? No problem. As Fricky alluded to, Old Weller Antique is a more than reasonable alternative.
"The only bad bourbon, is the one you didn't have."

Please drink responsibly
fishnbowljoe
Registered User
 
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:25 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby RandyG » Fri Jun 03, 2016 3:34 am

Everyone's tastes are different. I like older, bolder, high proof whiskey's (not just bourbon). I like the taste of the barrel and the numbing sensation that lingers afterwards.

I have also had the good [mis]fortune to have picked up a few Van Winkle products in recent years.

My first bottle was a 2010 or 2011 Pappy 15 year old and I will say it was probably THE BEST whiskey I have ever had. SO good in fact, I am afraid to open the two 2012 Pappy 15's I got the following year. Those three bottles of Pappy 15 will likely be the first AND last 15's I will ever see. Comparable whiskey's that come to mind would be a 2010 BTAC Weller I had, and some Willett Family Estate bottlings I had a few years back. Another one would be the 108 Wild Turkey Rare Breed.

Since my first encounter with their 15 I have had both their 12 year old (Lot B) and their 10 year old 107. I have had 3 bottles of the 12. The first two I thought were a little sharp (spicey?). Much like Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit or Four Roses Single Barrel. The third bottle was a little smoother. I think the 107 tastes closer to the 15 and actually prefer it to the12.

Cheers,
RG
User avatar
RandyG
Registered User
 
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:10 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby Mike » Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:38 pm

I still have a bit of Pappy 15 left over from times past. As I sip some now it achieves almost perfect balance between the corn, the wheat, and the barrel. Now, like RandyG above, I like older bourbons and find a certain level of delicacy introduced by the proper use of barrel aging. It is just before the point of becoming too tannic and is why I have always found the 15 YO and the 12 YO to be superior to the 20 YO and certainly to the 23 YO.

I happened to be in a small tourist town in the North Georgia mountains a couple of weeks ago and, to my complete surprise, found the liquor store there to be very well supplied. This is no doubt because it is a tourist town and only about 100 miles north of Atlanta.

In any case, they had two bottles of Pappy 15 on an out of the way shelf and as I complemented them on the very good variety of bourbons, they allowed as how they would sell me a Pappy 15 for $1100, discounted from their regular price of $1500. Well, since I am fabulously rich and money is no object with me (if there is no smile on your face there should be), I came back with an offer (to be in alignment with the ridiculousness of their price) of $29.95. There was no haggling.

So I bought a bottle of 10 YO Eagle Rare for $35, and was pleased with it.

What would I really be willing to pay for a bottle of Pappy 15? The same as I paid for the bottle that is on my shelf and that is on its last legs, $80. And that only because I am fabulously rich (surely NOW there is a smile on your face).
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
Mike
Registered User
 
Posts: 2231
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: Savannah, GA

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby ebo » Wed Jun 08, 2016 9:16 pm

I'm smiling from ear to ear, Mike. :)
User avatar
ebo
Registered User
 
Posts: 223
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:45 pm
Location: Massillon, Oh...... home of the Tigers.

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby Clueby » Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:00 pm

I had the opportunity to try 10, 12, and 15 side by side. A local bar was offering pours at "retail" price.
I believe it was 2014. I still think that the 15 was the best bourbon I've ever tasted. It just hit all the right notes and was noticeably more complex than the others. I preferred the 10 year ORVW to the 12 year Lot B. Part of that could have been the proof but the 12 year had a slightly bitter finish that I didn't care for. I drink Wellers pretty regularly. I didn't think the 10 year was THAT far off from Antique. I would prefer Weller 12 to the 12 year. The SB/PMP blend of W12/OWA wasn't all that far off from PVW15...but again not quite there.
Are they (the Van Winkles) worth their retail prices...absolutely. Are they worth the secondary prices...absolutely not.
My $.02.
Clueby
Registered User
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 5:37 pm

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby gauze » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:53 pm

Hey, while we're at it how can you tell different bottlings apart from recent year batches? I have a few bottles on my shelf bought a few years apart but I am not sure which are which anymore. I'm a bit blind these days so where to start looking would help me if there is any kind of obscure print on the bottles.
User avatar
gauze
Registered User
 
Posts: 377
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:58 pm
Location: providence, ri, 02909

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby RandyG » Fri Jan 20, 2017 3:16 am

gauze wrote:Hey, while we're at it how can you tell different bottlings apart from recent year batches? I have a few bottles on my shelf bought a few years apart but I am not sure which are which anymore. I'm a bit blind these days so where to start looking would help me if there is any kind of obscure print on the bottles.


If I remember right, my 2012 [15's] have some laser marked codes on the bottle. Also if I remember right, they had "2012" or '12" in this code somewhere.
User avatar
RandyG
Registered User
 
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:10 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Who has tried Pappey Van Winkle 15 yr Fanmily Reserve?

Unread postby gauze » Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:46 am

RandyG wrote:
gauze wrote:Hey, while we're at it how can you tell different bottlings apart from recent year batches? I have a few bottles on my shelf bought a few years apart but I am not sure which are which anymore. I'm a bit blind these days so where to start looking would help me if there is any kind of obscure print on the bottles.


If I remember right, my 2012 [15's] have some laser marked codes on the bottle. Also if I remember right, they had "2012" or '12" in this code somewhere.


ok taking a bottle into better light I located some stamped codes on the lower 1" of the bottles and the last 6 digits I think are YYHH:MM format, the rest are internal codes for other information (which machine it came off of, day/week of year etc) I don't care much to decipher.
User avatar
gauze
Registered User
 
Posts: 377
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:58 pm
Location: providence, ri, 02909


Return to Bourbon, Straight

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 24 guests