Did you know that there's a bottle of bourbon that costs over $12,000? What about $53,000?!
Keep watching to hear about some of the best — and worst — expensive bourbons on the market.
The first bourbon on this list has just simply run out.
The Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Family Reserve 16 Year Old is a real unicorn: it was originally
bottled from the family's personal reserve in 1990 by Julian Van Winkle the third,
after he had taken over the family business from his father Julian Jr. in 1981. He continued to
release limited numbers of the prized 90-proof bourbon until it was depleted during the 2000s.
Before Stitzel-Weller Distillery was acquired by Buffalo Trace,
it was Julian Sr. — affectionately known as Pappy Van Winkle — who founded
the distillery and created the first line of Van Winkle whiskies in 1931
at the age of 61. Over the years following, the brand contended with periodic declines
in bourbon consumption and family disputes about the business after his passing in 1965.
For those who do somehow manage to hunt down a bottle of this Family Reserve – on the secondary
market – you can currently expect to pay a very sturdy $19,463, and that's just the average.
Bottled in a lush pure crystal decanter and held in a gorgeous silver box with patterned eagle
feathers, the Double Eagle Very Rare is a limited release that first arrived on the market in 2019.
Since then, a limited number of bottles have been released,
each with its own numbered mark of authenticity.
At 20 years old, it matured for double the length of the Eagle Rare Bourbon, and has a 101 proof,
which is similar to that of the Eagle Rare Bourbon when it was released for the first time 1975.
Like several other bourbons on this list, Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon is distilled and
bottled at Buffalo Trace Distillery. It's currently priced at an average of $16,267.
While it comes in beautiful packaging and is indeed, as its name suggests,
very rare, Whiskey Advocate has said,
"[It's] made for collectors and bragging rights,
regardless of how the whiskey in the bottle may actually taste."
With a stiff average price tag of $14,001, the Bottled Single-Barrel 21 Year Old, part
of the Willett Family Estate line, is a coveted collectible that's released quite sporadically.
Interestingly, the Willett Family Estate Bottled Bourbon label was
specifically created for the family's Private Barrel Selection program, which offers:
"An unfiltered, barrel proof, straight Bourbon Whiskey of unusual depth and complexity."
"Bourbon."
"You drink it. I've had enough stimulation for one day."
A Reddit user, reviewing the "Eagle" version of the 21 Year Old, wrote:
"Interesting stuff. Tastes like a bygone era. Really hard to describe and even harder to rate."
The Buffalo Trace O.F.C. Bourbon is a collector's
bottle whose release comes as a nod to its distillers.
The O.F.C. Distillery is a National Historic Landmark now known as Buffalo Trace Distillery.
First launched in 2016, the 25-year-old 1994 edition is the fourth release in the OFC Bourbon
vintage line. Its predecessors — the 1980, 1982 and 1983 — have never been placed on the retail
market, as they were exclusively released to non-profit organizations who raised nearly $1.2
million for various causes. Some of these causes included children's rights, cancer services,
and creative arts foundations, among many others.
At the time of release, the vintage Buffalo Trace O.F.C. Bourbon retailed at $2,500.
Currently, you can expect to fork out an average of $7,222 on the resale market.
With tasting notes that center scents of cherries, cinnamon and oak on the palate and a herby coffee
finish, this bourbon comes in a crystal bottle with hand applied labels and copper lettering.
It's encased within a wooden display box,
and contains a provenance card that outlines the year's notable milestones.
Originally commissioned by Adolph Hirsch and distilled at Michter's Distillery in 1974, the A.H
Hirsch Reserve Straight Bourbon seems to garner much of its popularity from the collaborative
process of its creation. In a conversation with Jake Emen of The Whiskey Wash, Chuck Cowdery said:
"It was a serendipity in the sense that a lot of people that didn't necessarily have anything to
do with each other came together and created it. It was just some bourbon that they made,
but the fact that the guy that they made it for didn't really have anything to do with it
was why it sat for so long."
Well-known among bourbon lovers, it's no wonder that this 16 year old reserve is now a rare
collectible with a current average price tag of $7,524. If you manage to locate a bottle,
you can expect hints of caramel, vanilla, oak and toffee to the nose, a complex
balance of sweet richness on the palate, and a peppery dry finish. According to Smoky Beast:
"Rarely in life has anything so completely lived up to this ridiculous a level of anticipation."
Of all the bourbons listed here, this is probably the most mysterious. It's
not entirely clear where it really comes from, but according to The Whiskey Wash,
Black Maple Hill was initially launched in 2000 by CVI Brands. Rather than function as a distillery,
CVI Brands imports and bottles a range of spirits including cognac, rum, and grappa.
A bottle of Black Maple Hill 16 Year Old Small Batch Bourbon
cost $125 when it was released in 2010, per L.A. Whisk(e)y Society. Currently,
it's a collectors item priced at an average of $8,483 on the secondary market.
An L.A. Whiskey Society reviewer asserts that it's a:
"Very well rounded and balanced bourbon."
Mentions of highly coveted wheated bourbons are usually connected to Pappy Van Winkle.
However, John E. Fitzgerald can be referenced along this similar line.
Made using the Stitzel-Weller Distillery's 12 original barrels of wheat bourbon,
the John E. Fitzgerald Very Special Reserve is a collectors item that celebrates its history.
After a carefully tended maturation process,
aging was stopped in 2013 until the bourbon was ready to be bottled.
Today, this rare release goes for an average of $5,789. The 90-proof bourbon comes wrapped
in an attractive handmade box with die cut keyholes and magnetized hinged doors.
Inside, the cut glass crystal 375-milliliter bottle has the bourbon's label information
engraved onto the glass, with a key graphic made of gold and platinum.
The key is a pointed nod to the Larceny logo and to Fitzgerald,
who served as the treasury agent to the warehouse. Per Wine Enthusiast, this bourbon boasts:
"A very dark, ruddy hue and complex, sweet aroma that suggests dried figs and vanilla bean."
The E.H. Taylor, Jr. Old Fashioned Sour Mash is an honorary tribute to an old souring method.
During the late 19th century, Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. became known for
making sour mash bourbon by holding cooked mash in a "drop tub" for about three to five days.
This allowed the pH in the mash to naturally decrease, hence preparing it for fermentation
and distillation. Interestingly, Taylor not only spearheaded this souring method,
his legacy also lies in his fight for the 1987 Bottled-in-Bond Act which
continues to assure bourbons' authenticity to this day, according to Sipping History.
"E.H. Taylor, we talk about how he was you know really an innovator. Innovation was
just a part of who he was and we want to carry that through on the brand."
In 2002, Buffalo Trace Distillery used this technique to create their new bourbon.
It was released in 2011 as a limited edition,
one so rare that when it does show up on the market, you'll have to part with a hefty $25,961.
As it turns out, the E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C Tornado Surviving is not just a strange name,
rather, it's one that celebrates the stunning story of how one of the most
expensive bourbons in the world came to be.
According to Buffalo Trace Distillery, when a tornado ripped through Central Kentucky in April,
2006, it left two distillery warehouses damaged in its wake. One of those was the roof and northern
brick wall of Warehouse C, which had been built in 1885 by Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr.
The damage left several barrels exposed to the open climate while the warehouse
was being fixed. Years later, when the distillers tasted these surviving barrels,
they found that the bourbon's exposure to the hot climate had created rich,
unique flavors. They went on to bottle this special bourbon and released it in 2011.
Today, a bottle of the Warehouse C Surviving Tornado is priced at an average of $12,243 on
the secondary market. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Warehouse C has now also become a popular
landmark of the distillery, and now houses more than 24,000 barrels.
Since 2007, Heaven Hill Distillery selects a specialty bourbon every fall to be
released as part of their limited-edition Parker's Heritage Collection. Marked as
an annual tribute to Master Distiller Parker Beam, who passed away in 2017,
each release is coveted by collectors — but some more than others.
Priced at an average of $4,788 on the secondary market,
the Parker Heritage Collection 2nd Edition Small Batch Bourbon
is the collection's most aged whiskey at 27 years old, and can hardly ever be found at auction.
It's a 96 proof, deep amber bourbon whose notes include the sweetness of mangoes and peaches,
complemented by exotic spices, chalky corn, and tobacco — with 15 editions
to date and superior ratings from Whisky Advocate and Wine Enthusiast.
"The story had me a little confused. Maybe it was the bourbon."
The 2019 edition of Michter's Celebration Sour Mash is a 115.6 proof bourbon that is bottled by
hand and labeled with 18-carat gold lettering. Dan McKee collaborated with the distillery's
Master of Maturation, Andrea Wilson, to make this his first release as Master Distiller.
Together, they made their selections from six barrels to create this limited release blend.
Of the barrels selected, two were Kentucky straight bourbons,
and four were Kentucky straight rye whiskies, each of them aged between 10 and 30 years.
According to The Bourbon Review, 277 bottles of the Celebration Sour Mash made it to the market
at $5,000 each. As of 2022, the average price you can expect to pay is $16,511.
As the oldest of the Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserves, and unlike the floral and fruity notes
of its 15- and 20 year old predecessors, the 96 proof 23 year old is a, quote,
"woody powerhouse" with a potent dry finish, according to Smoky Beast.
Given the evolution of this brand's partnerships, the question of who makes the whiskey inside any
one bottle of Pappy Van Winkle remains hotly contested among bourbon enthusiasts to this day.
"Partly it's a matter of the lore they've built up. It's
the story behind it. And making it something that everybody wants and no one can find."
The current $7,018 average price tag, on the other hand,
is not nearly as contested. Smoky Beast referred to the drink as:
"A victory drink if you won a Nobel Prize or just made your first million."
Before Buffalo Trace Distillery acquired its new name in 1999, it was the George T. Stagg
Distillery. This is where The Last Drop Buffalo Trace Bourbon Whiskey was originally distilled
by Gary Gayheart, who left it to age in a nook hidden in the warehouse in 1980.
When the distillery was acquired in 1992, those barrels were left behind and the
bourbon continued to mature uninterrupted. It was eventually discovered by Gayheart's apprentice,
Harlan Wheatley, who halted the aging process in 2000.
According to Bourbon Paddy, this 20 Year Old, 90 proof, $21,154 bourbon is:
"Almost perfume-like and carries all the hallmarks of a 'dusty' bourbon. It has butterscotch funk,
minty oak, dark chocolate, dried red and dark fruit, and a little barrel spice to boot."
Michter's Distillery's second appearance on this list arrives
on the wings of the highly coveted 25 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
According to Whiskey Culture, this ultra limited bourbon boasts:
"[B]old vanilla, mild orange citrus, and hints of wood on the nose,
heavy oak on the palette and a "long and spicy finish."
This particular bourbon was released for the first time in 2008,
and Michter's has since only bottled it intermittently.
Currently, a bottle of Michter's 25 Year will set you back about $12,865 on the secondary market. If
that's too much for you, you'll just have to hope that Michter's releases more in the near future.
Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old is the most expensive bourbon in the world as of 2021,
according to Wine-Searcher. The average price for a bottle has gone up since
then — it's currently an astronomical $53,165. According to Whisky Advocate,
this bourbon was distilled in 1989 at Stitzel-Weller Distillery, moved to Buffalo
Trace Distillery in 2002, and then later moved from barrels to stainless steel tanks in 2014.
When it was released in 2017, a handcrafted glass decanter of
Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old carried a recommended retail price
of $1,800. Each of these decanters is made by Glencairn Crystal Studio
and comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Julian Van Winkle the third.
With only 710 units ever placed on the market,
this bourbon has become an extremely rare and coveted find.
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