Some of the most coveted bottles of bourbon are up for grabs this week as the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board kicks off a lottery that some might consider a whiskey lover’s dream.
In all, 1,208 bottles of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery’s bourbons are available to Pennsylvanians through the limited-release lottery that is open until 5 p.m. Friday.
The most anticipated release, and the offering with the fewest bottles, is the Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Straight Bourbon 23 Year Old that rings in at $399.99 per bottle. The PLCB has 31 bottles available for individuals and 10 for restaurants, bars and clubs. Other bottles range between $89.99 and $249.99.
Despite the prices, there likely will be plenty of competition throughout the lottery, which attracts “tens of thousands of entries,” said Shawn Kelly, PLCB spokesman. In 2020, the state had 167,180 individual entries and 1,784 licensee entries in the Van Winkle lottery.
That demand led the PLCB in 2015 to organize the lottery system. According to Kelly, the state would receive a limited number of bottles, which would then be listed for sale on the website. High demand led to the website crashing, meaning people were unable to purchase any products until the site was restored.
“It’s difficult to get in the state in general,” said Frank Cekus, manager at Industry Public House in North Fayette. “To my knowledge, the only way you can get it is via lottery. That being said, I have friends living in other states that have it on the shelf, but the price is so high due to it not being through the centralized liquor control board-type situation.”
Cekus noted that Pappy’s is popular at Industry when they have it in stock, “but it’s not something people call for a lot just due to the price.” When Industry does have a bottle, it typically costs between $40 and $50 an ounce. According to Cekus, the restaurant’s owners are in charge of signing up for the lottery.
In all, only about 7,000 cases are produced by the distillery each year, The Atlantic reported.
With only small quantities of Pappy being produced each year, it quickly became classified as a “unicorn” among whiskeys.
“It is rare,” Cekus said. “They only release so much in general. The bourbon industry right now is kind of in a flux. It got super, super popular and just the supply has not reached the demand. You have that issue and then you have just a really rare product.”
This year’s lottery will look a little different with only five whiskeys being offered instead of six because the 2021 Van Winkle Family Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey 13 Year Old was not released. There also are fewer bottles of the 10-, 12- and 15-year-old products than in previous years.
Quantities of the 20- and 23-year-old products, however, have slightly increased compared to previous years.
“If you take a look at the production of bourbon versus the demand for bourbon, these products have to sit in a barrel for at least 10 years, in some cases you’re talking more than 20, 23 years, 25 years,” Kelly said. “If you don’t guess the demand that you will see at least a decade in the future, you’re not going to have the right number of bottles available.”
Other factors, such as issues throughout production, also could impact the final product, he said.
Those interested in participating in the lottery can register online at finewineandgoodspirits.com. Separate drawings will be conducted for each of the whiskeys, and participants can opt into as many drawings as they want.
The right to purchase is limited to one bottle per participant. If a participant wins the right to purchase a bottle, they will be removed from subsequent drawings in the sale.
Winners will be selected the week of Feb. 7.
