Old Rip Van Winkle, Kentucky Straight Rye Van Winkle Family Reserve 13YO

I always say that PVW 15 and PVW Rye are my two favorites of their lineup, but whenever I have the 20, it makes me reassess. This bottle is truly a beauty. Despite the age, it's not so marred by oak that it loses its caramel, fruit, and balance. Crazy how good these car, and one of the very few bourbons I can understand as having such resell appeal.

Pre Christmas Wine Dinner (Hawksmoor Guildhall, London) : Very few can arrive at the end of a long and cherished wine flight and raise an eyebrow. The OG or the grand master did , just effortlessly smooth, full of oaky, caramel tones but ever balanced and elegant. Dangerously welcoming and an experience always!

Pineapple and butterscotch, with a touch of smoke, perfect with baba. 95

Return to Core (Core by Clare Smyth, London) : By the glass to finish our full on Lunch at Core by Clare Smyth, London. Mellow, rich, round and with an oaky edge, light kiss of caramel and smoke. Maybe the name works more magic than the bourbon but still very solid. Just neat

Underwhelming compared to the hype

Right up there with Pappy Rye for me. Decadent body of brown sugar, caramel, and sweet spices. Perfect way to close out an amazing evening.

Drank alongside Pappy 23y; I prefer this given lighter texture and a less overwhelmingly vanilla nose; more minerally and peppery;

Louisville 2024 Trip; 8/21/2024-8/24/2024 : Presumably 2024 - I mean when doesn't this deliver? Always fantastic, but compared to M20 I mean it's not even in the same ballpark.

Orange, vanilla, cocoa, cedar, meadow-wood, more substantial and powerful. 94-95

PNP into whisky glass (“Root” to “Flower” day): Deep copperish amber to the eyes. Complex and ethereal notes of smoke, coffee. A signature floral spicy note on the palate that set this apart for me. Simply the best bourbon I ever tasted so far. Wow. 95 points easy.

Ultra smooth and fine, tropical, pineapple, smoked pecan, light butterscotch, vanilla, pastry cream, toffee, caramel, lots of mixed spice. Light in disguise with depth, perhaps not too strong which makes it my favorite Pappy to date. 95

On the lean side, smoky, orange, lots of coffee notes. Notably liking the 10/15/23 more than this. 93

Love the nose and fruity plus oaky flavours. Just lacks a bit of depth of flavour (although this improves in time with opened bottles). I also like the strength… it doesn’t need water. Objectively over-valued but it is very well made. Top tip is to drink this at Nobu, where it’s extremely well priced. Much prefer this to Pappys 10. 95pts

This is a sincere and genuine blind tasting review. I work for a Wine and Spirits merchant, selling Fine Wine to private collectors. My knowledge and expertise (and taste) is pretty much exclusively wine. On a visit to the London HQ, we spent an hour with the growing Spirits team who poured a selection of a few whiskies for us to try. Hand on heart I did not recognise this label and had no idea what it was. Tasting blind, …

Poured this for Billie's milestone birthday at CChoe and Alyssa's place. A truly wonderful, memorable moment of tasting/experiencing the heights of the whisky world with friends. Bottle value sits at around $3k today. Wild!

S. Sample 1oz pour Nose/Floral - aromatically fantastic. Jumps out of the glass with light ethanol and bright candied citrus Sweet - more oak. Some butterscotch Nutty - marcona almond Spicy - cinnamon Earthy - black pepper and tobacco Smoky - Woody - bright clean well integrated and not musty cedar notes Fruit - some apple, orange but less than other years Color - dark gold Palate - astringency up front, then fruit Finish - and quite nice staying power, …

2021 vintage

I Almost wish it didn’t live up to the hype. Now I really want a bottle

With the hopes of a better year ahead - at least better than the last two - we drained the last 100 drams or so from this bottle and toasted to 2022. Even if '22 turns out to be as lousy as '21 & '20, at least we started the year by treating our palates to this elixir. As good as - no, better - than my previous TN (11/21/15) showing honey, caramel, toffee, burnt sugar, and (thank you Andrew …

No bottle has eluded me or mystified me more than this. Profoundly mind-bending juice that's uber complex and regal in every way. Unmatched stuff that knocks you off your feet. I had a brief moment of pause, as the clouds parted in wonderment.

Orange creamsicle, oak forward. Delicate and beautiful but the lower proof hiders it compared to its siblings

Drank at Black Book Incredible how this tastes. No wonder people love it

Classic wonderful Bourbon

More (older) oak, tannin forward and a touch hotter than the BTEC due to the oak profile. More cinnamon & red hots, less orange. That being said they’re very very similar. Vanilla notes run thru both.

Opened

Caramel and orange, still my favorite Van Winkle except for the 23. Nose is absolutely intoxicating. Floral - touch, more fruit driven Sweet - big time, unabashedly corn forward bourbon. Dessert and caramel central. Candied orange. Rich - in a robust full way yes Nutty - touch of almond Spicy - some cinnamon, but I get some spice from the Proof more than possibly the bourbon itself Earthy - no Smoky - no Woody - big time, not as over …

Lower proof makes the nose more muted. More caramel than orange

Willett Barrel Pick & Tour of Louisville : Overhyped. Okay, good, but watered down mutes a lot of what I enjoy about Rye. Less spice. Less cinnamon. Just watered down. Builds a little with air but still not amazing as most "Pappy/VW" level stuff is. Complex and restrained for sure. Maybe I just hit this on an off day.

The star of the night/tasting. Easter was a perfect time to crack this bottle. Classic Buffalo Trace orange and caramel notes. This is wonderful, like and older version of the 10 year as it's at the same proof and similar taste profile, but it does lack the room filling caramel aromatics of the 23 year. Still wonderful in its own right.

All orange, citrus, and great fruit notes

Palate off? Fell flat. May have sat out too long

Stolen from an employee

Consistent notes. More cedar than the 23, less fruit, more straightforward oak that isn’t quite as well integrated. Virtually perfect

2014 vintage

Medium-dark copper color. Nose is dominated by a steely, grainy note, being altogether more linear and clean than the Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Old Bourbon I tasted this alongside. On the palate, an initial burst of lemon and a rye-like spiciness gives way to a bubblegum-like sweetness, with some exotically fruity tastes of ripe lychee. A bit mute at midpalate, this subsequently finishes long, with some perky citric fruit flavors. Interesting enough, but I'd be unlikely to pay …

Sweet Jesus. This is where it’s at. Less caramel than this year’s 23 year Pappy, that being said it’s still a caramel bomb. Cinnamon, huge oak, Aromatically as complex as it gets. Finish so long it’ll haunt your dreams

2014 vintage

Saw this at a local bar and just had to get a pour after I missed out on a bottle this year. On the nose we got stewed cherries, brown sugar, pecans, vanilla, varnish, and bananas. On the palate, we got cinnamon, clove, and pecan pie. The finish is medium long and semi-dry. Overall, a very fruity dram, much like 107. While we enjoyed the pour, its hard to believe that anyone would wait in line for this stuff or …

2017 vintage

CARAMEL city. Orange. Well rounded

Orange, caramel, well integrated and restrained. Very elegant

Not a harsh note to be found. Incredible body, vanilla and space. Not especially fruity or floral. More carmel and candied rind.

Tasted vs. William larue weller. I give wlw the edge. Pappy had a nice charred barrel and toasted wheat flavor. But wlw has sweetness around the edges but an impressive core

2014 vintage

Orange peel, caramel, good stuff

Dark brown cola color with amber glints. This has an intriguing nose with sticky sweet aromas of molasses, spicy smells of cracked black pepper, and the grainy, slightly bitter scents of rye and caraway. The palate is where this really comes together- waves of hot, sweet, and tangy/citric flavors. This has remarkable persistence, with the pulsating re-emergence of grapefruit and stony flavors lingering long after the last swallow. A single neat dram of this whisky allows one to sit and …

Orange peel, caramel, molasses. Less hot than the 10 year. Not as woody or complex as the 20 & 23 year old. Either way just killer stuff.

2006 Spanish Horizontal - Bodegas Numanthia, El Nido & AALTO (Asheville, NC) : Consistent notes, about as good as Bourbon gets except for their older versions, carmel city, orange peel. Amazing.

Love it, but there's better quality and value out there by far

Closer to the 10 year in terms of being hotter and less mellow with complex aged caramel notes you find in the 20 & 23 yr. Amazing bourbon, do love it

Sorry I waited so long..... Caught on to Bourbon only a handful of years ago. After spending several days visiting the Holy Land (KY Bourbon Triangle), I became a big fan of wheated bourbons -- so smooth and balanced. Bought this bottle at auction. Primary element was honey, then caramel, toffee and burnt sugar (props to other TNers). The finish went on and on and on........ Found it to be just a touch hot when served neat. One ice cube …

Very well balanced. Peach, dried apricot and cooked banana nose lead to vanilla on the tongue with pleasantly round finish. Light charred persistent smokiness.

2014 vintage

Nose: faint but pleasant. Palate: Very, very smooth. Not a rough edge anywhere. Charred or sauteed mushrooms. With a few drops of water: honey. There is a great amount of subtly pleasing quality to this that is hard to describe. Ethereal but wonderful. I detect a little bit of chalk and smoke, and some Palo Cortado. After some aeration, flavors and aromas of heather creep in. I can understand the attraction to this Bourbon, but I don't think it merits …

Pappy was smoky but lighter and more Carmel than the 23yr. Love it. Smooth. Honey. Cinnamon.

2014 vintage

Second bottle now. Candy corn on the nose, very very heavy and silky smooth on the tongue, you can almost chew on it. Naturally a large amount of vanilla along with handful of fruit mix. Long finish. Still my number one pick.

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Old Rip Van Winkle, Kentucky Straight Rye Van Winkle Family Reserve 13YO

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