Why Is Pappy Van Winkle So Popular? We Asked Four Experts

Pappy sells for as much as $6,000 on the secondhand market.

Published February 4, 2024

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No brand is more associated with the 21st-century bourbon boom than Pappy Van Winkle. Over the past decade-plus, bourbon popularity has exploded, with hype driving market prices for many bottles to sometimes ridiculous levels. Pappy Van Winkle is the most obvious example of the trend. Expensive whiskey to begin with, Pappy’s priciest bottle — the 23-year — has an SRP of $300. The current average market price? $6,525. Even the ostensibly affordable Pappy, the $70-stickered 10-year-old bourbon, goes for an average of $1,143 in the real world.

Those prices are, frankly, insane. If you talked to someone from Buffalo Trace Distillery, which distills Pappy these days, they’ll tell you the same. (The brand’s standard reply, generally, is that it prices its whiskeys at the number it feels customers should pay for them and disavows the activity of the secondhand market and flippers.)

We have written a lot about the history of Pappy Van Winkle, how it’s produced today, how to actually go about purchasing it, and so on (for a deep dive into all that, read this). But one thing we haven’t done is examine the why. What is it about Pappy Van Winkle that has turned it into the ultimate unicorn of the bourbon world? Obviously, it’s great bourbon (and rye), but there are a lot of great bourbons out there. Why do people seem to love Pappy Van Winkle so damn much?

To find out, I reached out to four different whiskey experts from across the spectrum — a whiskey journalist, a whiskey educator, a whiskey curator and a whisky brand ambassador — to get their unique takes on what it is about Pappy that has managed to capture the whiskey-loving public’s attention like no other label. Here’s what they said.

Brad Japhe — writer, whiskey expert and Kentucky Colonel

“As a brand, Pappy has so much going for it. Not the least of which is that it has a cool name that screams heritage and folksiness. It also happened to be at the right place at the right time, capturing the imagination of connoisseurs at the precise moment when the very concept of luxury bourbon was being birthed. But all this takes a backseat to the quality of the liquid behind the label. And it’s important to note that when it comes to Pappy, the source of that liquid has shifted.

“Nothing in the bottle today comes from the legendary Stitzel-Weller facility, which continued to fuel the brand for years after it shuttered in 1992. Today, it all comes from Buffalo Trace Distillery, a modern legend in its own right. So whether you love it or leave it, at least acknowledge that the whiskey has necessarily evolved over the years. The through-line is that Pappy continues to be a wheated bourbon. And if that’s the specific profile you’re into, it undoubtedly remains one of the most compelling ways to wet your whistle.”

a bottle of bourbon — The insatiable demand for Pappy has caused an uber-hot market for other wheated bourbons from Buffalo Trace, like Weller.

Sarah Jeltema — Certified Specialist of Spirits, whiskey educator and Whisky Nomad founder

“If you ponder Pappy for any amount of time, eventually, you have to start asking and answering one question: What is luxury whiskey? Things like brand heritage, exclusivity and quality resources come to mind. Two out of those three come down to marketing, and all three are leveraged to create a prestigious image.

“After the sale of the Stitzel-Weller distillery, the Van Winkle family was no longer in the distillation game. They were in the sales game, and they mastered it. We know this because Buffalo Trace could sell the brand name to another distillery that could change the entire process and ingredients that go into the bottle, and people would still pay exorbitant prices because of the label. As long as they always bottle less whiskey than they can sell, people will pay.”

Lee Diaz — eCommerce Director and Single Barrel Curator at ReserveBar

“I feel that the prevailing popularity of Pappy today seems as if it was due to a perfect storm of compelling moments and branding mystique that most marketers can only dream of. Following a significant period of struggle for visibility and sales that seemed insurmountable in bourbon, a mix of tastemakers, writers and influencers shifted consumer interests toward bourbon. At the same time, a cultural focus on nostalgia helped historic distilleries (and labels) shine, and moments like “Pappygate” put an intriguing spotlight on the brand.

“Today, you can mix all of these moments together with a (seemingly unnecessarily) heavily allocated product and a burgeoning generation of whiskey collectors that pine after hard-to-find releases, which allows scarcity and FOMO to push ongoing demand. Combine this with a Buffalo Trace team that has clearly struck while the iron is hot by recognizing, honoring and capitalizing on Pappy’s popularity in compelling ways, and you have an incredible movement.”

a plate of hot dogs and bottles of sauce on a table — The whiskey’s vast cultural impact has allowed the Van Winkle family’s separate Pappy & Company to successfully slap the name on non-bourbon products, like maple syrup.

Ewan Morgan — DIAGEO National U.S. Luxury Ambassador

“What I’ve always loved about bourbon is the pioneering spirit and tenacity of the people who craft it. For Pappy Van Winkle, that begins with Julian ‘Pappy’ Van Winkle, the patriarch of the still-standing Stitzel-Weller Distillery.

“If you ever have an opportunity to visit Stitzel-Weller (where Pappy was distilled by Pappy until he was 91 years old), you’ll see and hear why it was nicknamed ‘The Cathedral of Bourbon,’ as that vast whiskey landmark pioneered so many things, from the use of rickhouses to the banning of ‘chemists’ to ensure the Bourbon was made the precise way Julian Van Winkle wanted without interference.

“To me, all the modern hype aside, Pappy Van Winkle is more than just a brand; it’s a milestone in distilling that embodies the ethos of quality above all else.

“There’s a wonderful quote by the man himself that still resonates today: ‘We make fine bourbon at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon.’”