Bottle of 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon sells for 17 times the pre-sale estimate

This weekend a new auction record was set for Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon at Sotheby’s in New York when a bottle of 23 Year Old Family Reserve sold for US$52,500 — going “far beyond anyone’s expectations”.

Two collectors pushed the final sale price up by more than 17 times the pre-sale estimate ($3,000-4,000) in a head-to-head battle for the coveted bottle.

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s head of whisky & spirits, North America and EMEA, said that the auction “marked a remarkable end to a year that has seen prices soar for American whiskey at Sotheby’s”.

“It was exciting to be on the rostrum conducting the sale for this record-breaking bottle, which went far beyond anyone’s expectations,” he added.

Fourteen individual bottles of Pappy Van Winkle were up for auction, each of which sold for a sum in excess of its high estimates. The 14 bottles achieving a combined total of $396,250 against an estimate of $31,000-44,000.

Individual records were also set for the Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Old ($9,375) and 20 Year Old ($27,500).

This year has seen sales of whisky at Sotheby’s in New York double, from $5.4 million in 2021 to $11.9 million in 2022. The lots formed part of Whisky & Whiskey | Seasonal Spirits and The Yamazaki 55, which brought a total of $1,786,625, surpassing pre-sale expectations (est. $885,050 – 1,302,050).

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was originally introduced prior to Prohibition in the US, but was reintroduced in 1972 following the repeal.

In 2021, an infamous, huge theft of highly valuable Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon was made the subject of a Netflix true crime documentary series, Heist.

In 2013, the massive theft of Kentucky Bourbon had become infamous, making national newspaper headlines. The investigation into the heist even had daily press briefings from police as they attempted to apprehend the perpetrator. Read more on that story here.