Van Winkle 18yr Specialty Bottling for Blue Smoke

[Rockefeller]

Went up for auction and sold for $17k.  Whaaaaaaaaatttttt?!!

 

It it that much rarer than ORVW23 Decanter?  Seems like the price is too insane.  What has the world of bourbon become?

 

Old Rip Van Winkle 18 Years Old

 

 

[jsrudd]

$17K is insane. 

 

Generally, these one-of bottlings are the most expensive at auction. For example, the Lenell's Red Hook Rye and the Bitter Truth Rye can fetch around $6K. There is also a rare Lotta's Home version of the ORVW Rye that is rather expensive. 

[Richnimrod]

I passed on this one at my local retailer a couple weex ago in favor of 548 bottles of Henry McKenna BIB.     HA!      (Kidding.....

[camduncan]

What an absolute joke!  That'd fund my bourbon buying for the next 5 years.... and give me 2 10 day trips to KY from Australia thrown in for good measure.

[Louisiana]

I agree. Some people have more money than sense!

[T Comp]

Yeah but...12 occasions of two once pours at $17,000  seems good value and worth more than 1 two hour Hamilton at $10,000. http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/03/media/hamilton-tickets-lin-manuel-miranda/

 

Crazy money for most but chump change for more than a few. 

[smokinjoe]

Which brings me to this:  If someone posts on this site that they came across a bottle of this in their recently deceased dad's bar, and asks what they should do with it, I'm shooting the first ignotz who pipes up with, "Drink it with friends like it was intended!"  

 

i 

[kjbeggs]

2 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

Which brings me to this:  If someone posts on this site that they came across a bottle of this in their recently deceased dad's bar, and asks what they should do with it, I'm shooting the first ignotz who pipes up with, "Drink it with friends like it was intended!"  

 

i 

Right, no one has friends that good.

 

[Rockefeller]

But you are probably not buying this bottle to drink, only to collect.  Couldn't you almost replicate the 18yr by mixing PVW15 and 20?

[LCWoody]

Damnit... I shouldn't have drank the bottle I had

[T Comp]

Since we have Blue in the theme here. In some respects, this bemuses me as much. Standard Maker's, $24.99 or the same in the American Pharoah commemorative bottle, $50 more at $79.99. Which is cheaper than the $89 when first released at the Derby Museum, May 1. However, as Fred Minnick wrote, Beam-Maker's did donate $100,000 to the museum. 

[garbanzobean]

On 7/1/2016 at 10:06 AM, smokinjoe said:

Which brings me to this:  If someone posts on this site that they came across a bottle of this in their recently deceased dad's bar, and asks what they should do with it, I'm shooting the first ignotz who pipes up with, "Drink it with friends like it was intended!"  

 

i 

There's often a point at which principles get in the way of common sense.  This is one of those instances.

 

Though if I had a high end bar in a city full of drunk rich people, say NYC or Vegas, I'd totally bid on such a thing and charge $2000 an ounce.

[Richnimrod]

50 minutes ago, garbanzobean said:

Though if I had a high end bar in a city full of drunk rich people, say NYC or Vegas, I'd totally bid on such a thing and charge $2000 an ounce.

....And, G'Bean, you'd likely get it often enough to allow you to drain that bottle down to where you'd feel duty-bound to polish it off yourself... Just to be sure the juice didn't deteriorate to the point that it was no longer a good value to your customers... with all that air in the bottle, ya' know.   Just sayin'......

Edited July 3, 2016 by Richnimrod
OOOOOps, Typo!

[garbanzobean]

4 hours ago, Richnimrod said:

....And, G'Bean, you'd likely get it often enough to allow you to drain that bottle down to where you'd feel duty-bound to polish it off yourself... Just to be sure the juice didn't deteriorate to the point that it was no longer a good value to your customers... with all that air in the bottle, ya' know.   Just sayin'......

Let's be honest here, if I'm the kind of person who pays 17k for a bottle of whiskey to serve to drunk rich people, I'm probably also the kind of person who keeps some OWA or Orphan Barrel in the back to make sure the bottle fill never gets too low . . . 

[BSS]

Which is more sought after, this or the Van Winkle Special Reserve Binny's 18yr Barrel Proof from the same year?

[Special Reserve]

I'd think that the BP would be more desireable, at those prices it's all about desire, emotions, the lack of self control, and a big pile of disposable money.

[Rockefeller]

For people who have tasted either, do you think a blend of the 15 and 20yr (%'s tbd) could mirror the taste profile?  Seems like the age and proof of the mixture would get fairly close.

[BourbonGuy]

Insanity.  But maybe insanity for me as I can't afford it.  For a guy that is a billionaire, maybe not.  But it is funny how some people desire what they can't have.   Thankfully there are a lot of  $25 to $50 bourbons that are available and very good. 

[beasled]

22 hours ago, BourbonGuy said:

Insanity.  But maybe insanity for me as I can't afford it.  For a guy that is a billionaire, maybe not.  But it is funny how some people desire what they can't have.   Thankfully there are a lot of  $25 to $50 bourbons that are available and very good. 

 

I wouldn't have thought it's going to get drunk...

[JM5034]

On July 1, 2016 at 5:47 PM, Rockefeller said:

But you are probably not buying this bottle to drink, only to collect.  Couldn't you almost replicate the 18yr by mixing PVW15 and 20?

If you combined the brain power of Wendy the Slow Adult and Jeff the Drunk you would "almost replicate" a comment as bad as the one above. 

[Paddy]

12 minutes ago, JM5034 said:

If you combined the brain power of Wendy the Slow Adult and Jeff the Drunk you would "almost replicate" a comment as bad as the one above. 

Nice asshat intro there JM.  Welcome to the board! 

[JM5034]

6 minutes ago, Paddy said:

Nice asshat intro there JM.  Welcome to the board! 

True, I'm a Stern fan..."him 'em with theHein"

[flahute]

2 hours ago, JM5034 said:

True, I'm a Stern fan..."him 'em with theHein"

Not sure that Paddy meant that as a compliment. 

Someone well known could make a statement like that because we know them, or they have a reputation, but more importantly they have a track record of knowledge and/or good will on this board. 

As a first time post, however, it comes off as a bit of a jerk move. We don't know anything about you or your knowledge. You might be right, but it's not a great way of introducing yourself. You might consider trying again.

[Clueby]

On 7/3/2016 at 0:39 PM, garbanzobean said:

Let's be honest here, if I'm the kind of person who pays 17k for a bottle of whiskey to serve to drunk rich people, I'm probably also the kind of person who keeps some OWA or Orphan Barrel in the back to make sure the bottle fill never gets too low . . . 

Does anyone ever wonder (or fear) that the pour you are paying for in a bar is really what's written on the label?

[Richnimrod]

15 hours ago, Clueby said:

Does anyone ever wonder (or fear) that the pour you are paying for in a bar is really what's written on the label?

Indeed that does happen.   There was an expose' of sorts about this in some well-known establishments in some big cities a few years ago.  

The only antidote is to frequent taverns that are known to you as honorable establishments. 

...And I do mean frequent.   If you go often enough to keep an eye on the Pappy (or whatever), and you don't see the fill-level lowering as you expect... or even rising occasionally... well then, you should scrape yourself off that place. 

If you never go, or go only infrequently, you're at the mercy of the honor, and honesty of whomever runs the tavern.

Consider wisely those options, I say.