New Van Winkle Product?

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Stopped at a store I rarely visit and found something new....at least new to me. It was a Van Winkle squatty bottle poking its neck out of one of those red velvet bags. The neck label says 10years old.......but there is no front label. I looked at the rest of the bottles and they're all the same. So I think its just the 10yr old/90 Proof missing the front label and gussied up in velvet. I look at the back label which reads:

Old Rip Van Winkle

Very Special Stock

"This fine bourbon was distilled for us in the fall of 1994. It has improved each year with age and today has no equal for character and flavor."

90.4 Proof (that's right, not the 90 proof)

Has anyone else seen it and is the single label intentional? This label has no resemblance to the "old timey" look of the 10yo/90 and 10yo/107's.

I'd post a pic, but the camera is being used by Val.

Randy

[barturtle]

The only Van Winkles I've seen before with no front label were the one's the are intended to be personalized. One of the liquor stores in Louisville used to carry these, but I don't remember the proof being different that standard.

[Rughi]

Randy,

You may remember I asked Julian about exactly the same situation at the gazebo. My bottle was a 10 year, 90.4 proof. It was from Chuck's in Bowling Green.

It turns out it was a promotional special where a partially handwritten front label was supposed to be affixed with an inscription of the buyer's choice (Old Forester did a lot of this in the 1960s).

Julian told me that if I'd like it inscribed I should send him a letter to his business address, and he'd have a label inscribed for me.

I haven't done it, because it seems the perfect chance to have a gift label made up, and I'm not sure what I'd want to ask for.

Roger

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Was the plan for each individual buyer to have a personalized label made up....or for each store to do something special? My store had no idea as to why there was no front label.....but this makes sense now......particularly with the red velvet bag. I'll give Julian a ring and see if some labels are still available.

Randy

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Julian said it was/is a KY only product and he has someone usually personalize it in the store at the time of sale. Anyway....some strays made it down here to Texas. Attached is a picture of how it is supposed to look with the personalized front label.

Randy

[jvanwinkle]

These bottles were shipped to Texas by mistake in place of our regular 10-year 90 Proof.

I have a girl here in Louisville hand-inscribe in caligraphy names on the labels-mostly this time of year. We only have about 30 cases to sell, so they all stay here in Kentucky.

Julian