{"product_id":"old-rip-van-winkle-handmade-10-year-old-kentucky-straight-bourbon-whiskey","title":"Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade 10 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey","description":"\u003cp\u003eOld Rip Van Winkle Handmade 10 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the muscular side of the Van Winkle house style: a decade-old wheated bourbon bottled at a formidable 107 proof, with just enough limestone water added at bottling to bring it close to its natural barrel strength. Rich caramel and vanilla meet roasted pecan, dried fruit, cherry, seasoned oak, and charred barrel, while the elevated proof drives a long finish of peppery brown spice, honey, wheat, and lingering oak. Where the 12 Year Special Reserve favors softness and restraint, the 10 Year delivers greater concentration and force without losing the rounded texture that defines the family's wheated bourbon tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduct Details:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eProducer:\u003c\/strong\u003e Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, in partnership with Buffalo Trace Distillery\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePresident:\u003c\/strong\u003e Julian P. Van Winkle III\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFamily Leadership:\u003c\/strong\u003e Julian P. Van Winkle III and Preston Van Winkle\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eProduction:\u003c\/strong\u003e Buffalo Trace Distillery\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eClassification:\u003c\/strong\u003e Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10 years\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eProof:\u003c\/strong\u003e 107 proof\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAlcohol:\u003c\/strong\u003e 53.5% ABV\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMash:\u003c\/strong\u003e Wheated bourbon mash, using wheat rather than rye as the flavoring grain; exact proportions are undisclosed\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaturation:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10 years in new charred oak barrels\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBottling:\u003c\/strong\u003e Bottled close to barrel proof with a small addition of Kentucky limestone water\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRelease:\u003c\/strong\u003e Limited annual release\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSensory:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDeep copper in the glass, Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year opens with substantial aromas of vanilla, caramel, pecan, sweet brown spice, and oak, developing toward the producer's distinctive description of caramel-nut fudge. The palate is broad and concentrated, with robust wheat giving the whiskey a rounded foundation beneath dried fruit, cherry, toasted nuts, caramel, and mature oak. At 107 proof there is genuine weight and warmth, but the alcohol is integrated into the whiskey's dense fruit and barrel character rather than standing apart from it. Peppery brown spice gathers through the finish alongside floral honey, smoky wheat, charred oak, fruit, and drying tannin. The result is powerful but composed, with significantly more intensity than the lower-proof 12 Year Special Reserve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProducer's Background:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story of Old Rip Van Winkle reaches back through one of the foundational families of American bourbon. Julian P. \"Pappy\" Van Winkle Sr. entered the whiskey trade with W.L. Weller \u0026amp; Sons in the late nineteenth century and later became one of the principals behind Stitzel-Weller Distillery, which opened on Derby Day in 1935. The distillery became closely associated with wheated bourbon, replacing the rye normally used as bourbon's secondary grain with wheat to create a rounder style that became central to the Van Winkle identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the Van Winkle family lost control of Stitzel-Weller in 1972, Pappy's son Julian Van Winkle Jr. continued in whiskey under the Old Rip Van Winkle name. The brand allowed the family to maintain an independent presence after the sale of the distillery, initially drawing upon mature bourbon stocks connected to the family's earlier operations. Julian P. Van Winkle III joined his father in 1977 and assumed control of the business following Julian Jr.'s death in 1981.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe 10 Year occupies an unusually important place in that history. When Julian III entered the family business in 1977, Old Rip Van Winkle's wheated bourbon range consisted of two 10-year expressions, one bottled at 90 proof and the other at 107 proof. The 107-proof version therefore predates the later expansion of the Van Winkle portfolio into the 12, 15, 20, and 23-year bourbons that would make the family name internationally famous. Over time, the lower-proof version disappeared and the 107-proof whiskey became the enduring expression of the Old Rip Van Winkle label.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor years, Old Rip Van Winkle whiskey was sourced from increasingly precious stocks associated with the family's earlier Kentucky whiskey history. Julian III operated from the former Hoffman Distillery in Lawrenceburg under the Old Commonwealth Distillery name and continued bottling mature bourbon while gradually expanding the family's portfolio. These older bottlings, including historic examples of the 10 Year made with Stitzel-Weller-distilled whiskey, now belong to an earlier chapter of the brand and should not be confused with the whiskey in contemporary releases.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJulian's son Preston Van Winkle joined the family business in 2001, becoming its fourth generation. In 2002, the Van Winkles entered into a production partnership with Buffalo Trace Distillery. Buffalo Trace subsequently assumed responsibility for producing, aging, and bottling the family's whiskey according to the Van Winkle specifications, while Julian and Preston continued their stewardship of the brands. Contemporary Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year is therefore Buffalo Trace-distilled bourbon, not remaining Stitzel-Weller whiskey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe partnership also preserved the family's defining use of a wheated bourbon recipe. Rather than rye providing the customary spicy counterpoint to corn, wheat occupies that role, contributing a broad, rounded foundation that allows fruit, caramel, and oak to emerge differently during long maturation. In the 10 Year, that profile is presented at 107 proof, considerably stronger than the 90.4-proof Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year. The difference is fundamental to the expression: the 12 Year emphasizes additional maturity and softness, while Old Rip 10 retains greater proof, concentration, spice, and barrel-driven force.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eToday, Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year remains the direct standard-bearer for the Old Rip Van Winkle name within the larger Van Winkle collection. Its scarcity and reputation have made it an intensely sought-after annual release, but its importance goes beyond rarity. Long before the later Pappy Van Winkle age statements became icons of American whiskey, a 10-year Old Rip Van Winkle at 107 proof was already at the center of the family's post-Stitzel-Weller business. The modern bottling preserves that combination of age, wheated mash, and unusually high bottling strength.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eServing Suggestions:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eServe neat at approximately 18 to 21 degrees Celsius in a tulip-shaped whiskey glass and allow several minutes for the whiskey to open. At 107 proof it has enough concentration to benefit from time in the glass. Taste it first without dilution; a few drops of water can then be added to soften the alcohol and expose more of the fruit, toasted nut, caramel, and oak character. Its combination of proof and maturity also makes it a compelling slow after-dinner pour, particularly alongside toasted pecans, walnuts, or restrained dark chocolate.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wine Dispensary","offers":[{"title":"750mL","offer_id":42430171480119,"sku":null,"price":1200.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2699\/1632\/files\/Old_Rip_Van_Winkle_Handmade_10_Year_Old_Kentucky_Straight_Bourbon_Whiskey.png?v=1788635538","url":"https:\/\/www.winedispensary.com\/products\/old-rip-van-winkle-handmade-10-year-old-kentucky-straight-bourbon-whiskey","provider":"Wine Dispensary","version":"1.0","type":"link"}