Bob Posted April 27, 2003 Share Posted April 27, 2003 To all Van Winkle Fanantics:I noted a few months ago that Sam's would be bottling an exclusive cask of Van Winkle bourbon. The time is here! I learned from Sam's Spirits Specialist (that must be a good job!) that they are only expecting to get approximatley 70 bottles from this cask; bottling will begin next week; Sam's should have the goods in about 3 weeks; and the cost is $100 per bottle. If you want a bottle, give them a call ASAP, as they are expecting it to be all gone in less than 1 month. I wrote to Julian Van Winkle to inquire about this bourbon, and he informed me of the following: it is 20 years old, 105 proof, it is not chill filtered, and he stated that it is excellent.Despite the price, I decided that I have to try this, so my order is in! I wanted all Van Winkle fans from StraightBourbon land to be aware of this as well.Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted April 27, 2003 Share Posted April 27, 2003 That is way too cool Bob! A single barrel unfiltered Van Winkel! I want one.. no wait two.. 70 bottles you say? I'll take them all! => Linn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted April 27, 2003 Author Share Posted April 27, 2003 Linn, Sorry, but you can't have 'em all, cause my orders in already! You can, and should, get the rest though! Then we can DRINK IT MAN, DRINK IT!!! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted April 27, 2003 Share Posted April 27, 2003 I hear 'ya Bob! You've got mail! => just Linn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 I both love and hate this news. I love it because the bourbon market is strong enough to encourage distillers to offer expressions like this and I know that ultimately benefits me. I hate it because $100 is way more than I want to pay for a bottle of bourbon even from someone like Julian who I rank as my most favored bourbon maker. If too many other expressions from Julian and/or other distillers are available in such limited quantities at such high prices, I will be sitting on the sidelines. I am much more interested in distillers making less limited and more readily available expressions. I'd rather have thousands of bottles available so that, once I try it, I can go back and buy a few more to bunker. Perfect examples of this are GTS and OFBB. I hope that this event is just a master at work (which I like to see) and not a trend of uber bourbons that send prices sky high like those of the "s" word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvanwinkle Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Just to keep you guys up to date, we had a little label issue with the Feds. The whiskey was always inteded to be bottled at cask strength. We had the proof too low on the label for it to stll be called cask strength. So now we have decided to bottle the whiskey at actual cask strength, with not one drop of water added. It just so happened that the barrel Sean Ludford of Sam's picked out was 133.2 proof, so that's what it will be. It will take a couple of more weeks to get the label approved, so hang in there.JulianPS. It is still remarkably mellow at that proof! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesbassdad Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Julian,Will the higher proof affect the pricing, or are you giving away the additional $26 worth (by my calculation -- 133/105 X $100) of bourbon for free?I was going to try to resist buying this bottling, but I am weakening.Yours truly,Dave Morefield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted May 2, 2003 Author Share Posted May 2, 2003 Julian, Thanks for this info!!! Now I am looking forward to my order more than ever, and I know someone else here is as well!!! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Supposedly there will be only about 70 bottles to go around... I see Bob has his order in and after my order which includes bottles for me and some friends , there are already 7 gone (if Bob ordered 1 bottle). Better get those orders in fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Weakening, the will is weakening. The wallet is opening. I can't resist. Cask-strength ORVW. Now that would be worth the money, despite my earlier comments on this thread. Dang, another $100 gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 I hear ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Be strong men! Steady now. Steel your nerves and do not waver. Stay the course, AND BUY THEM ALL! CHARGE!!! BLeeeeE!!! HUZZAH!!! Barrel proof unfiltered Van Winkle is what Julian's been drinking all his life. So that's what happened to his hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrel_Proof Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 My order's in, too! You didn't think B_P would pass on a barrel proof Van Winkle, did you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyc Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 I'm thinking I can do without this one , But now I'm not so sure, I'll regret it if I don't . Gee with FRSB coming in August or thereabouts , this one, new Stagg and Birthday Bourbon, Maybe a separate Pot Still from Woodford, Is this the golden age or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrel_Proof Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Speaking of FRSB, I'm still kicking myself for only bringing back one .7L bottle from Paris a couple of years back. Last year, it was nowhere to be found. It was the best bourbon on the shelves of the Franc Prix grocery chain and priced at only $12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 It will be interesting to see how much they charge for it here in the states... In Japan it goes for around $21 after conversion. I found a bottle in 2 different stores here in the US and they were selling for $39.99 at both. Though this was the older style bottle when it was sold here. If it was that much then when it was out (90's I think), I'm scared to see if it gets raised higher now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 I kind of feel the same way, but the barrel proof is what drew me over the edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvanwinkle Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 I spoke with Sean at Sam's on Friday. The pricing is not up to him but the powers to be a Sam's, (Bob Bofman). I think the price will remain at about $100.00 per bottle, even though the proof is higher. The price of this bottling is stickly being driven by the supply which is very limited. We expect to get about 60 bottles from the barrel. Each bottle will be numbered, which should make it interesteing.Julian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted May 5, 2003 Author Share Posted May 5, 2003 Hi Julian,Thanks for this update. Only 60 bottles...the angels sure got their share! I can't wait to try this. Could you fill us in on the status of the bottling? Has this been completed? Any idea when Sam's will have it in their possession?Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvanwinkle Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 We had to reapply for BATF label approval. That takes two weeks. It is tricky picking out the label proof and still call the whiskey "cask strength". I believe we've decided on 133.4 proof, since the actual barrel proof was 133.7 proof. You loose a few 10ths in filtering.So it could be another three weeks before the whiskey is on the shelf in Sam's. I'll keep you posted.Julian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Thanks for the updates Julian, that damn BATF... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgiammarco Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Out of curiosity, what is the deal with the BATF when you want to make a bourbon where the proof is not printed on the label, but is just left blank to be filled in later on by hand, like bookers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesbassdad Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 David Soto of Sam's has confirmed that I'm in.Get 'em quick guys and gals.Yours truly,Dave Morefield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 Good question. I was wondering the same since they write the proof in by hand on Stagg. Maybe Sam's is the one who ordered the labels, not Julian. That would explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 I put my order in today for one bottle. They mentioned that someone had ordered six bottles. I figured that it was Paradox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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