Pappy Van Winkle’s 20 Year Family Reserve

Description
The production of this very rare limited edition bourbon requires generations of distilling expertise. Only the most careful and expensive distillation method can be used to produce such a special whiskey. This is the same distillation used for our famous 20 year old Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve. These barrels were carefully selected from the heart of the warehouse. Aroma. Oak, pepper and charcoal; a little maple. Palate. Oily and thick with a big helping of oak, spice and tobacco; buttered bread lingers. Finish. Lots of wood and charcoal, caramelized sugar, prunes and dried plums.

Alright, we’re not going to make a big fuss about it. It’s no longer from the old Stitzel-Weller Distillery, but is apparently made at Buffalo Trace. Gotta love the bourbon bloggers. That being said, I really liked the last or second to last Stitzel-Weller Pappy 20 (2012, WF 89). Color: full gold. Nose: very fruity, not that far from, say, a Benriach. Plums, guavas, gooseberries, plus lots of custard and crème au beurre, and quite a nice earthiness. The most Scottish of all the bourbons I could taste (but admittedly, I didn’t taste tens of thousands of them). I’m even thinking of some lighter cognacs, imagine that. Pistachio Paste. Pappy Van Winkle 20 yo ‘Family Reserve.

Mouth: very good, a bit of apples and Calvados at first (almost more than the Brooklyn Rye), then more of tea and crushed almonds and walnuts. I find less fruitiness on the palate, but there are melons and peaches. What I really like here is that there’s not just vanilla, coconut and ginger/cinnamon cake. Finish: a pile of sponge cake with preserved apricots and vanilla flavored whipped cream. Or some kind of puff pastry filled with custard and diced peaches. Either way. Comment: excellent and surprisingly fresh. Too bad every Tom, Dick and Harry is trying to hawk them.