When it comes to bourbon, there’s one name that stands out from the rest: Pappy Van Winkle.
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is running a lottery for the opportunity to purchase one of 1,931 bottles of six varieties of Pappy bourbons and rye whiskey, it announced this week.
Pappy is highly-regarded and sought-after. It’s not unusual for bourbon connoisseurs and flippers to spend hours in line outside stores that expect to get some bottles in stock, and they fetch high prices on the secondary market.
The bourbon is produced by Buffalo Trace, a distillery in Frankfort, Ky. The distiller says Pappy’s taste includes "early aromas of caramel and cream with soft notes of oak, nuts and leather. Features a sweet taste composed of vanilla, maple and honey joined by complimentary flavors of citrus and spice. Has a long lasting oaky finish, along with many of the early flavors."
The prices range from $89.99 for a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle handmade straight bourbon 10-year-old 107 proof, up to $399.99 for a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle’s family reserve straight bourbon 23-year-old 95.6 proof.
The control board will hold separate drawings for anyone interested in buying the different varieties.
Potentially purchasers can enter one drawing or up to all six. However, winners will be removed from subsequent drawings.
The catch is that the lotteries are open only to Pennsylvania residents. Anyone 21 and older in Pennsylvania can sign up on the control board’s Fine Wine & Good Spirits website to participate in the lottery.
Registration will close at 5 p.m. Jan. 11 and the drawings will be conducted during that week. Officials said they would notify entrants by Jan. 29.
Winners will have to pick up their bottle from a PLCB store and show valid photo ID.
The control board regulates the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Pennsylvania, operating 600 stores across the state.