Pappy Van Winkle is the white whale of the whiskey world. And, starting tomorrow, the Ahabs of the world will have their chance to enter a lottery to buy a bottle. The only thing is: You have to be a resident of the great state of Virginia.
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Virginia’s state government, like some other states in the U.S., controls the sale and distribution of booze. By doing so, Virginia is able to regulate the price of Pappy Van Winkle despite its ever-growing popularity. Virginia’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, or ABC, holds occasional lotteries for folks to enter to get the chance to buy a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
This year, there are two Pappys up for grabs: Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year ($80) and Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12 Year ($90). To enter the lottery, which runs from March 23 through March 27, you must be 21 or older and have a valid Virginia driver’s license. Winners will be announced on April 11,
And to clarify, the lottery means you get the opportunity to buy a bottle at retail price — it’s not free. The lottery includes 289 bottles of the 10 Year and 966 bottles of the 12 Year. A handful of bottles are also set aside for restaurants to enter the lottery.
For the uninitiated, the cheapest bottle of Pappy can go for over $1,000 on the resale market. The oldest and most expensive bottle of Pappy, Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 23 Year, has an MSRP of $300, with a resale price tag equivalent to a semester’s worth of college tuition. This is the second Pappy Van Winkle lottery hosted by the Virginia ABC this year. Earlier this month, the ABC had Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 15 Year, 20 Year and 23 Year up for grabs in even scarcer amounts.
The Virginia ABC opens up its lottery tomorrow, and you can submit an entry through its website. In submitting an entry, you’ll be prompted to select which Virginia liquor store you’d like to pick up a bottle if you win. Duplicate entries will be discarded, so don’t even try.